Last night brought a wave of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton fans to the local cinemas to see Burton’s latest creation, his twisted take on Lewis Carrol’s classic, Alice in Wonderland. And of course, I was there.  Personally, I’ve always hated Alice in Wonderland, especially the Disney animated version, however I quite enjoyed the TV show Adventures in Wonderland.  But, I have long been a Depp and Burton fan, and with them composer Danny Elfman and costume designer Colleen Atwood go hand in hand, and when this quartet get together, they can do no wrong.

I’ll be honest, I have not read the original novel, I’ve had no real desire to, so to me, watching the midnight premiere of Alice was just like being Alice herself, stepping into Wonderland with no expectations (or at least very few) at all, and of course, was pleasantly surprised by it all.  I adore Burton’s warped trees and other fauna, he takes the strangeness of Carrol to the ninth degree, and you never know what’s around the corner.  And Atwood’s costumes are stunning.  I left the cinema with a slew of ideas for costumes.

I understand that Burton isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (no pun intended)  But there is no denying his intense level or artistic imagination, creativity and ability to make fantasy worlds a reality.

Of course, being the theatre kids we are, we couldn’t help dressing up, and what fun it was.  However, I can’t express the amount of laughter and joy a few 50 cent fake mustaches brought while waiting in line…