In case you’ve missed the freaky photos of Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter, Tim Burton has redone Alice in Wonderland. The first trailer came out this week.

I’ve seen a few different film versions of the Alice stories (and did a 15 page paper on the books while I was getting my English degree), and there a few things I thought of while watching this trailer for the first time:

• Alice seems too old (the actress is close to 20). The Alice from the books was around 6 or 7 (and really bratty and immature), but I would have taken even a 12 or 13 year-old, as long as the girl could act.
• I will say, part of the Alice looking so old could have to do with the theme of “loss of innocence”. When she shrinks, you’ll notice her little girl dress doesn’t shrink with her (which shocked me a little bit). Later in the trailer, you see her in a more grown-up version of her dress and that would only work with an older actress.
• There are characters in the movie from both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (which are two completely different stories). You see this in most film versions out there, but it will be interesting to see how Burton himself merges the two stories.

All in all, it looks to be a curiouser and curiouser take on Alice. I’m liking the cinematography in general (although the Queen of Hearts is more than a little freaky looking).

What do you all think of the trailer? What about Depp’s perfomance?