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Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016 film)

Alice Through the Looking Glass is a 2016 American live-action/animated fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Pictures in association with Roth Films, Team Todd, and Tim Burton Productions. It was directed by James Bobin, written by Linda Woolverton, and produced by Tim Burton, Joe Roth, and the filmmaking duo of Suzanne and Jennifer Todd. It is based on the characters created by Lewis Carroll and is the sequel to Alice in Wonderland (2010). Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Matt Lucas, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Barbara Windsor, Timothy Spall, Paul Whitehouse, Lindsay Duncan, Geraldine James, and Leo Bill reprise their roles from the previous film with Rhys Ifans, Andrew Sachs, Matt Vogel and Sacha Baron Cohen joining the cast. In the film, a now 22-year-old Alice comes across a magical looking glass that takes her back to Wonderland, where she finds that the Mad Hatter is acting madder than usual and wants to discover the truth about his family. Alice then travels through time (with the "Chronosphere"), comes across friends and enemies at different points of their lives, and embarks on a race to save the Hatter before time runs out.

Alice Through the Looking Glass premiered in London on May 10, 2016, and was theatrically released on May 27, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, who praised its visuals but criticized its story. It was also a box-office bomb, grossing roughly $299.5 million against a production budget of $170 million.

Plot

For three years, Alice Kingsleigh has been following her father's footsteps and sailing the high seas. Returning to London from China, she learns that her ex-fiancé Hamish Ascot has taken over his deceased father's company and plans to have Alice sign over her father's ship in exchange for her family home.

Alice follows a butterfly she recognizes as Absolem, who was previously a caterpillar, and returns to Wonderland through a mirror. Alice is greeted by the White Queen, the White Rabbit, the Tweedles, the Dormouse, the March Hare, the Bloodhound and the Cheshire Cat, who reveal that the Mad Hatter is acting madder than usual because his family is missing.

Alice tries to console the Hatter, but he remains certain that his family survived the attack of the Jabberwocky. Believing that finding his family is the only way to restore his health, The White Queen sends Alice to consult Time and convince him to save the Hatter's family in the past. The Queen warns Alice that history will be destroyed if a person's past and present selves meet. In Time's Castle of Eternity lies the Chronosphere, an object that controls all of time in Wonderland. After Time tells Alice that altering the past is impossible, she steals the Chronosphere and travels back in time, shortly after finding the exiled Red Queen in Time's care. The Red Queen orders Time to pursue Alice, who accidentally travels to the Red Queen's coronation. There, a younger Mad Hatter mocks the Red Queen when the royal crown does not fit her abnormal head, and her crown breaks. When her father deems her unfit to rule, after she deathly threatened her subjects for mocking her, and passes the title of queen to her younger sister, the White Queen, after his death, the Red Queen throws a tantrum that causes her head to swell.

Alice learns of an event in both the Queens' pasts that causes friction between the two and travels back in time again, hoping to change the Red Queen's character and stop the Jabberwocky from killing the Hatter's family. The young White Queen steals a tart from her mother and leaves the crumbs under her sister's bed. When confronted by their mother, she lies and lets her sister take the blame, causing the princess to run out of the castle. Alice sees her about to run into a clock being carried across the square; believing this to be the event that changes her head, she shoves the clock out of the way. However, the princess still falls and hits her head. Alice is confronted by a weakened Time, who berates her for putting all of time in danger. She runs into a nearby mirror back into the real world, where she wakes up in a mental hospital, diagnosed with female hysteria. With the help of her mother, she returns to Wonderland, travels to the Jabberwocky attack and discovers that the Hatter's family did not die, but were captured by the Red Queen's Red Knights.

Returning to the present, Alice discovers the Mad Hatter is at the brink of death. After Alice tearfully says she believes him, the Hatter awakens and reforms back to his normal self. The Wonderlanders go to the Red Queen's castle and find the Hatter's family shrunk and trapped in an ant farm. The Red Queen apprehends them and steals the Chronosphere from Alice, taking her sister back to the day she lied about the tart to hide behind a door and listen to the scene. The White Queen whispers 'no' as her younger self denies stealing the tart and the Red Queen is so furious she bursts through the door and screams 'liar' at her sister's younger self. The young Red Queen sees her older self, creating a time paradox, and first their faces and bodies rust before all of Wonderland rusts.

Using the Chronosphere, Alice and the Hatter race back to the present, where Alice runs for her life to place the Chronosphere back in its original place. Initially the rust outruns her, but she is stopped with her hand just above the stand. Sparks make the connection and the rust dissolves. The Mad Hatter reunites with his family, while the White Queen apologizes to the redeemed Red Queen for lying. Alice bids her friends farewell and returns to the real world.

Upon Alice's return, her mother refuses to turn Alice's ship over to Hamish. Alice and her mother start their own company and travel on it's behalf.

Cast

Johnny Depp as Tarrant Hightopp / Mad Hatter
- Louis Ashbourne Serkis as young Tarrant Hightopp
Mia Wasikowska as Alice Kingsleigh
Anne Hathaway as Mirana / White Queen
- Amelia Crouch as young Mirana
Helena Bonham Carter as Iracebeth / Red Queen
- Leilah de Meza as young Iracebeth
Sacha Baron Cohen as Time, a powerful god-like human/clockwork hybrid who rules over all of time "himself" in Wonderland using the Chronosphere in a castle of eternity.
Leo Bill as Hamish Ascot, now "Lord Ascot" following his father's death.
Matt Lucas as Tweedledee / Tweedledum
Rhys Ifans as Zanik Hightopp, the Mad Hatter's father.
Lindsay Duncan as Helen Kingsleigh, Alice's mother.
Geraldine James as Lady Ascot, Hamish's mother.
Ed Speleers as James Harcourt, an employee of the Ascots.
Andrew Scott as Dr. Addison Bennett, a cruel psychiatric doctor.
Richard Armitage as King Oleron, Iracebeth and Mirana's father.
Hattie Morahan as Queen Elsemere, Iracebeth and Mirana's mother and King Oleron's wife.
Joanna Bobin as Alexandra Ascot, Hamish's wife.
Simone Kirby as Tyva Hightopp, the Mad Hatter's mother.
Joe Hurst as Bim Hightopp, The Mad Hatter's nephew.
- Oliver Hawkes as an infant Bim Hightopp
Siobhan Redmond as Bumalic Hightopp, The Mad Hatter's sister.
Frederick Warder as Poomally Hightopp, The Mad Hatter's brother.
Eve Hedderwick Turner as Baloo Hightopp, The Mad Hatter's other sister.
Tom Godwin as Pimlick Hightopp, The Mad Hatter's other brother.

Voice cast

Alan Rickman as Absolem the Butterfly (formerly the Caterpillar)
Stephen Fry as Cheshire
Michael Sheen as Nivens McTwisp / White Rabbit
Timothy Spall as Bayard Hamar / Bloodhound
- Kyle Hebert as a puppy Bayard
Barbara Windsor as Mallymkun the Dormouse
Matt Vogel as Wilkins, Time's long-suffering manservant who leads his Seconds.
Paul Whitehouse as Thackery Earwicket / March Hare
Wally Wingert as Humpty Dumpty
Meera Syal as Nobody
Edward Petherbridge as Gentleman Fish
Owain Rhys Davies as Delivery Frog
Paul Hunter as White Chess King
Andrew Sachs as Mantel Clock (Uncredited)

Production

Development

The film was announced via Variety in December 2012. Bobin was first approached about the project while doing post-production work on Disney's Muppets Most Wanted. Of being asked, Bobin has said that "I just couldn't pass it up", as he has a passion for the works of Lewis Carroll as well as history in general. On January 21, 2014, the film was again retitled to Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass.

Casting

In July 2013, it was announced that Johnny Depp would return as the Hatter, with Mia Wasikowska's return confirmed the following November. In January 2014, Sacha Baron Cohen joined the cast to play Time. In May 2014, Rhys Ifans joined the cast to play Zanik Hightopp, the Mad Hatter's father. In developing the character of "Time", Bobin sought to avoid creating a "straight-up bad guy", noting that it would be "a bit dull", and also that the role in that universe already existed in the form of The Red Queen. Instead, Bobin sought to make Time a "Twit", further explaining that "There's no one better at playing the confident idiot trope than Sacha Baron Cohen", and adding that "it was very much with Sacha in mind". Additionally, Toby Jones and John Sessions were originally announced to voice Wilkins and Humpty Dumpty in the film, the roles were eventually given to Matt Vogel and Wally Wingert.

Filming

Principal photography began on August 4, 2014, at Shepperton Studios. In August 2014, filming took place in Gloucester Docks, which included the use of at least four historic ships: Kathleen and May, Irene, Excelsior, and the Earl of Pembroke, the last of which was renamed The Wonder for filming. Principal photography ended on October 31, 2014.

Music

The film's score was composed by Danny Elfman. The soundtrack was released on May 27, 2016, by Walt Disney Records. Pink recorded the song "Just Like Fire" for the film, and also covered Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit", only used in the film's promotional material.

Track listing

All music composed by Danny Elfman.

Release

Alice Through the Looking Glass premiered in London on May 10, 2016, and was theatrically released on May 27, 2016, in the United States by Walt Disney Pictures.

Box office

Alice Through the Looking Glass grossed $77 million in the United States and Canada and $222.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $299.5 million, against a production budget of $170 million. The Hollywood Reporter estimated the film lost the studio around $70 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.

Alice Through the Looking Glass opened in the United States and Canada on May 27, 2016, alongside X-Men: Apocalypse, and was initially projected to gross $55–60 million from 3,763 theaters over its four-day Memorial Day opening weekend, but projections were continuously revised downwards due to poor word of mouth. It had the added benefit of playing in over 3,100 3D theaters, 380 IMAX screens, 77 premium large formats and 79 D-box locations. It made $1.5 million from Thursday previews (to the first film's $3.9 million) and just $9.7 million on its first day, compared to the $41 million opening Friday of its predecessor. Through its opening weekend, it earned $26.9 million, which when compared to its predecessor's $116 million opening is down 70%. While 3D represented 71% ($82 million) of the original film's opening gross, 3D constituted only 41% ($11 million) for this sequel, with 29% coming from traditional 2D shows, 11% from IMAX, and 1% from premium large formats. It was the studio's third production with a low Memorial Day opening after Tomorrowland in 2015 and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in 2010. During its first week, the film grossed $40.1 million. In its second weekend, the film grossed $11.3 million (a 55.1% drop), finishing 4th at the box office.

The film was released across 43 countries (72% of its total market place) the same weekend as the US, and was estimated to gross $80–100 million in its opening weekend. It faced competition from Warcraft and X-Men: Apocalypse. It ended up grossing $62.7 million, which is well below the projections of which $4.1 million came from IMAX shows. It had an opening weekend gross in Mexico ($4.5 million), Brazil ($4.1 million), and Russia ($3.9 million). In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it had an unsuccessful opening by grossing just £2.23 million ($3.1 million) during its opening weekend, a mere 21% of the first film's £10.56 million ($15.2 million) opening from 603 theaters. It debuted in second place behind X-Men: Apocalypse which was on its second weekend of play. In China, it had an opening day of an estimated $7.3 million and went on to score the second biggest Disney live-action (non-Marvel or Lucasfilm) opening ever with $26.6 million, behind only The Jungle Book. However, this was down from its $35–45 million projections. It debuted at the No. 1 spot among newly released film in Japan with $5.2 million and $4.1 million on Saturday and Sunday. By comparison, the first film opened with $14 million on its way to a $133.6 million a total.

Home media

Alice Through the Looking Glass was released on Blu-ray, DVD, Blu-ray 3D and digital download on October 18, 2016, by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. It debuted at No. 2 in the Blu-ray Disc sales charts.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes reports that 28% of 261 reviews are positive, and the average rating is 4.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Alice Through the Looking Glass is just as visually impressive as its predecessor, but that isn't enough to cover for an underwhelming story that fails to live up to its classic characters." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 34 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, the same grade earned by its predecessor, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 79% and a "definite recommend" of 51%.

Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote in his review, "What does all this have to do with Lewis Carroll? Hardly anything" and that overall, "It's just an excuse on which to hang two trite overbearing fables and one amusing one". Ty Burr of The Boston Globe gave the movie 1.5 out of 4 stars and called the film, "gaudy, loud, complacent, and vulgar." Stephen Whitty of New York Daily News called the film "hugely expensive and extravagantly stupid" and that, overall, the movie "is just one more silly Hollywood mashup, an innocent fantasy morphed into a noisy would-be blockbuster". Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com was deeply critical of Alice Through the Looking Glass, calling it "junk rehashed from a movie that was itself a rehash of Lewis Carroll" and describing it as "the most offensive kind of film" due to its blockbuster tropes, lack of magic and wonder, and perceived sole purpose of financial gain.

Matthew Lickona of San Diego Reader said that while he found the visual effects to be "stupidly expensive" and the story familiar, he called it, "a solid kids’ movie in the old style".