"Alice" Wins Two Oscars

Alice in Wonderland won two of the three Oscars it was nominated for this Sunday at the 83rd annual Academy Awards.

The film won in the categories of Best Costume Design, with Colleen Atwood receiving her third Oscar, and Best Art Direction, given to Robert Stromberg (Production Designer) and Karen O'Hara (Set Decorator).

Here is Atwood's acceptance speech:

"Thank you to the Academy and especially to my fellow nominees who are just so much fun to sit with tonight and who have been so supportive, it's great to be part of such a great group of people. The story, "Alice in Wonderland," was described by its publisher in 1865 as a story valued for its rare imagination, priceless humor, and power to transport the reader into a world of pure fantasy, a gift to us all. The heart of any movie lies with the director and I've been incredibly lucky on this and many films to work with the singular Tim Burton. Tim's imagination along with the amazing cast Johnny's incandescent Hatter, Mia's Alice for all girls, all times, Helena's the fearless big headed Queen, and our crystalline snowflake princess, Anne Hathaway, made my job a delight. We had the support of a production team headed by Richard Zanuck and Katterli Frauenfelder. Supported by Joe Roth, Suzanne and Jen Todd, and Disney, but I couldn't have done it without my team Christine Cantella and my entire group. Thank you all very much."

This is the ninth Academy Award nomination for Colleen Atwood. She was previously nominated for:

NINE (2009) -- Nominee, Costume Design
SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (2007) -- Nominee, Costume Design
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (2005) -- Winner, Costume Design
LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (2004) -- Nominee, Costume Design
CHICAGO (2002) -- Winner, Costume Design
SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999) -- Nominee, Costume Design
BELOVED (1998) -- Nominee, Costume Design
LITTLE WOMEN (1994) -- Nominee, Costume Design

Atwood also filled out a questionnaire sheet, giving us some tidbits of her interests, inspirations, and memories from working on Alice (click the thumbnail to enlarge the image):



And here is the joined acceptnce speech from Stromberg and O'Hara:


STROMBERG: Why didn't I lose that 20 lbs? First of all, the other nominees, Guy, all you guys deserve to be up here. Everyone at Disney from Iger and Ross and Bailey, Bruce Hendricks, Art Repola, the great Joe Roth. The Art Department led by Stefan Dechant, Crissy Wilson, and Todd Cherniawsky. This great set decorator. I'm standing here because of three people, Ken Ralston, the great Richard Zanuck, and the wacky world of Tim Burton. There he is!

O'HARA: Tim, this is yours. Thank you.

STROMBERG: Meet me with a saw because half of this is yours. There's one last bit of art direction for a Tim Burton Film. There it is. Thank You Academy and to my wife and kids and I dedicate this to my Dad.

This is the third Academy Award nomination for Robert Stromberg. He was previously nominated for:

AVATAR (2009) -- Winner, Art Direction
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD (2003) -- Nominee, Visual Effects

This is the second Academy Award nomination for Karen O'Hara. She was previously nominated for:

THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986) -- Nominee, Art Direction



Daniel Haim of Bloginity interviewed O'Hara and Stromberg back stage:

Q. Congratulations. What did you put on top of the Oscar? Oh, now I can see it.

A. You couldn’t see it? It’s a little Mad Hatter’s hat.

Q. Did you make that?

A. I had one of my prop makers make it, and I just thought it was a nice little punctuation to the end of the show. Could you not see it on the broadcast? You could see it.

Q. Congratulations. I just want to ask you, what was your biggest production design challenge on this film because it seemed like every scene probably would have been, but can you talk about that, but also in terms of set direction, what was your biggest challenge?

A. Well, you know, any time you work on a Tim Burton film, there’s a bar that you have to meet, and the challenge for a film like this is that we had a great deal of digital sets, but there were some challenging physical sets. And the biggest challenge was sort of making sure the director, the actors knew where they were at all times in these green environments through, having virtual versions of those sets available to them; physical models, and illustrations.

Q. The Academy made a big splash of connecting art direction, cinematography, and yet Alice’s other big below the line nomination is in visual effects. So, in an increasingly rendered age, what is the relationship between production design and the visual effects department?

A. You guys ask a set decorating question next. Well, I come from visual effects. But the difference between how we work now in these types of films is that the production designer is involved with the visual effects probably more heavily, and involved more in post production, which is actually good because the way it normally works is the production designer will sort of leave after the end of principal photography, and then you are relying on visual effects people to fill in those green screens. So, this keeps a more cohesive design coming from visual effects myself.

Q. This is your second in a row in art direction after your first nomination being in visual effects. Where do you see your art evolving from here?

A. I should probably retire (laughs). You know, I feel honestly, I feel that I’ve always done creative things, but design is design no matter what you do, no matter what form. We have lots of new technology that we’re trying and I feel like we are pioneering fusing art and machine. I am very proud of that because the next generation of kids coming up will know what they are doing.

Q. I just want to get some reaction from you, you’ve been up there before is it different the second time, and I want to hear from both of you about this?

A. Stromberg: Honestly, I was not expecting it. I was sort of following INCEPTION. I thought it had the upper hand this year, but I’m very proud that it was recognized and very happy to win, but all the nominees I take my hat off to.

A. Karen O’Hara: I think that the most difficult time that we had was when Johnny decided to walk across the table and suddenly all of our china and our tables, we had to triplicate. Other than that, though, we had a wonderful time working with Tim and this is really a nod to him and his supportive artists.
A. [Stromberg] Thank you all.

Q. Thank you, and congratulations.


Alice was also nominated for Best Visual Effects, but Inception took home that prize.

"Alice" Banned from Certain European Cinemas?

Following the announcement that Walt Disney Picture's wants to shorten the theatrical run of Alice in Wonderland in favor of an earlier home entertainment release, several cinema chains in Europe are threatening to boycott showing the film at all. This is particularly so in the UK and the Netherlands. Some Italian theater chains are also considering similar action.

Walt Disney Pictures is one of several studios that are experimenting with shorter theatrical runs and earlier home entertainment releases of upcoming films, in response to declining DVD sales. Disney said it intended to release the Alice DVD and Blu-ray about three months after the movie appears in theaters, compared with the typical four- to six-month window.

But theater owners, especially in Europe, fear that the decision may dissuade consumers from going to cinemas.

No U.S. theater chains have threatened a boycott yet, although same may pull Alice from screens as soon as the movie is available in various home entertainment formats.

"I'm getting e-mails from my colleagues all across Europe and everyone says ... this is one step too far," said Ad Weststrate, president of the International Union of Cinemas in Europe. "The guys are really fanatic now."

Some European exhibitionists have also complained that Disney had not consulted with them until very recently (unlike their American counterparts).

"It was represented like 'take it or leave,' " said one high-level European exhibition executive who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of discussions. "It was done brutally."

Vue Entertainment Ltd. and Odeon Cinemas, two of the U.K.'s three major cinema chains, currently don't plan to show the film in their theaters, two people familiar with the matter said, although talks remain ongoing.

Britain is the second-largest international market for American movies after Japan, but its potential for Alice is even larger, given that the movie, which cost about $150 million to produce, given that it is based on a British series of books and featuring a largely British cast and crew.

"Anything that would prevent maximizing Alice for the U.K. would be horrible," said Joe Roth, a producer of the film. "This would be one of the biggest pictures of the year in the U.K. But I honestly think this will be worked out."

Despite the dispute, Odeon will still host the "Royal World Premiere" of Alice at its flagship theater in London's Leicester Square next Thursday.

Lee, Rickman Enter "Wonderland" Set

Christopher Lee has been officially signed on to be in Alice in Wonderland. However, we do not know which role he will play yet.

But we do know who will play the hookah-smoking Caterpillar: Alan Rickman. The British actor worked with Tim Burton in Sweeney Todd, and now seems to have joined the Burton corral of regulars.


Filming has also begun in Culver City, California. Zack Roth (son of Joe Roth, who is producing the film) spoke of the soundstage: "The set itself was insane - the whole soundstage was draped in green-screen material, and there were dozens of motion capture cameras hanging overhead - it seemed like half the crew was there just to figure out how to make all the technologies work together."

Roth also mentioned screenwriter Linda Woolverton's adaptation of the original book and Johnny Depp's appearance:

"Luckily Johnny Depp was working that day, and I got to see him in character. He looked startlingly crazy - Burton’s take on the Mad Hatter was pretty wild. Linda Woolverton adapted the screenplay and I am told added some socio-political context to the film’s narrative."

Roth also reported that Michael Sheen will be playing the grinning Chesire Cat.

Tim Burton's Alice Revealed

Rumors have been floating around for months regarding who would play the lead in Tim Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland.
But at long last, the Hollywood Reporter has announced that Burton and Disney have found their Alice: 18-year-old Australian actress Mia Wasikowska. The young actress is reportedly in final negotiations for her part in the Lewis Carroll adaptation.

Mia Wasikowska (Getty Images photo)

Burton kept his word by casting a relative "unknown" actress in the business, but simultaneously one that has experience. Wasikowska, originally born in Canberra, began her career in the Australian TV series "All Saints" and is currently a regular on HBO's "In Treatment." Her other upcoming cinematic projects include "Defiance," a war drama which will also star Daniel Craig and be directed by Ed Zwick, and she plays a supporting role in a forthcoming biographical movie on Amelia Earhart, "Amelia," starring Hilary Swank and directed by Mira Nair.

While the rest of the cast of Alice hasn't been announced (or found?), we do already know of principle players in the making of the film. Long-time Disney scribe Linda Woolverton has written the screenplay; frequent Burton collaborator Richard D. Zanuck is producing the film, along with former Disney chairman Joe Roth and Jennifer and Suzanne Todd. Disney creative executive Jason Reed will oversee the project.

Alice in Wonderland will be a combination of live-action and performance-capture computer-generated animation. It will be released in theaters in Disney Digital 3-D in March 2010. Principal photography is said to commence this November, several months later than previously anticipated.

Hopefully, more news (and more accurate news) will come shortly!

Update: The Producers of Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" Announced

Playbill News has stated that Richard D. Zanuck, Joe Roth with Suzanne and Jennifer Todd will produce Tim Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland at Disney. Roth and the two Todds are first-time Burton collaborators, but Richard D. Zanuck has produced every live-action film by Tim Burton since 2001's Planet of the Apes. The article also stated that production for Alice will commence in January 2008. Burton will not be working on Alice and his stop-motion remake of Frankenweenie simultaneously. Instead, production on the upcoming animated film about a boy and his resurrected dog will begin after Alice. Walt Disney Pictures is expecting production on Alice to be finished by the end of May 2008.