“ Alice in Wonderland” opens across the Philippines on March 4 in conventional theaters, Digital 3D and IMAX 3D.

From Walt Disney Pictures and visionary director Tim Burton comes an epic 3D fantasy adventure “ Alice in Wonderland,” a magical and imaginative twist on some of the most beloved stories of all time. Johnny Depp stars as the Mad Hatter and Mia Wasikowska as 19-year-old Alice, who returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting with her childhood friends:  the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter.  Alice embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen’s reign of terror.  The all-star cast also includes Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and Crispin Glover.

Capturing the wonder of Lewis Carroll’s beloved “ Alice ’s Adventures in Wonderland” (1865) and “Through the Looking-Glass” (1871) with stunning, avant-garde visuals and the most charismatic characters in literary history, “ Alice in Wonderland” comes to the big screen in Disney Digital 3D™ and IMAX 3D.

You might have gone down the rabbit hole before. But never with a guide quite as attuned to the fantastic as Tim Burton.  Those who have grown curiouser and curiouser about what the offbeat re-inventor of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” might conjure up in his version of “ Alice in Wonderland” can feast their eyes on these new images recently released by Disney .

“It has been Burton-ized” is how producer Richard Zanuck describes the director’s vision of the Lewis Carroll classic. Many elements are familiar, from the enigmatic Caterpillar (Alan Rickman) to the fierce Jabberwock (Christopher Lee). But none has been presented in this sort of visually surreal fashion.

“We finished shooting in December after only 40 days,” Zanuck says. Now the live action is being merged with CG animation and motion-capture creatures, and then transferred into 3-D.

The traditional tale has been freshened with a blast of girl power, courtesy of writer Linda Woolverton (“Beauty and the Beast”). Alice , 17, attends a party at a Victorian estate only to find she is about to be proposed to in front of hundreds of snooty society types. Off she runs, following a white rabbit into a hole and ending up in Wonderland, a place she visited 10 years before yet doesn’t remember.

Among those who welcome her back is the Mad Hatter, a part tailor-made for Johnny Depp as he collaborates with Burton for the seventh time. “This character is off his rocker,” Zanuck says.

Aussie actress Mia Wasikowska, 19, best known for HBO’s “In Treatment,” has the coveted title role. “There is something real, honest and sincere about her,” Zanuck says. “She’s not a typical Hollywood starlet.”

There is the usual Burton-esque ghoulishness (Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen, whose favorite retort is “Off with their heads,” has a moat filled with bobbing noggins), but Zanuck assures most kids can handle it. “The book itself is pretty dark,” he notes. “This is for little people and people who read it when they were little 50 years ago.”

Opening soon across the Philippines , “ Alice in Wonderland” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

From Walt Disney Pictures and visionary director Tim Burton comes an epic 3D fantasy adventure ALICE IN WONDERLAND, a magical and imaginative twist on some of the most beloved stories of all time. JOHNNY DEPP stars as the Mad Hatter and MIA WASIKOWSKA as 19-year-old Alice, who returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting with her childhood friends:  the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter.  Alice embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen’s reign of terror.  The all-star cast also includes ANNE HATHAWAY, HELENA BONHAM CARTER and CRISPIN GLOVER.

Capturing the wonder of Lewis Carroll’s beloved “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (1865) and “Through the Looking-Glass” (1871) with stunning, avant-garde visuals and the most charismatic characters in literary history, ALICE IN WONDERLAND comes to the big screen in Disney Digital 3D™ on March 4, 2010.

Disney has provided new first-look images from the eagerly anticipated motion picture.
Below are the descriptions of the newly released images.

UNDERLAND, says screenwriter Linda Woolverton, is a part of the earth.  “But it lies somewhere far beneath our world. The only way to get there is to fall down a rabbit hole.”  It is the same fantastical land that Alice visited as a child, but she misheard the word “Underland” and thought they said “Wonderland.”  Alice, now age 19, heads back down the rabbit hole and though she has no memory of her previous adventures in Underland, she is reunited with its inhabitants, including a swashbuckling Dormouse, an off-his-rocker Mad Hatter, a grinning Cheshire Cat, a caterpillar called Absolem, a beautiful White Queen and her spiteful older sister the Red Queen. “Time has passed,” says Woolverton. “The Red Queen rules the whole land. It’s under her thumb. And the people of Underland need Alice.” Underland has come upon hard times since the malevolent Red Queen took over the throne.  It is, however, a truly wonderful land, which might explain why the girl who mistook it for Wonderland has been called upon to help return it to its glory.  But, says Woolverton, “Underland has always been Underland since the Beginning, no matter who sits on the throne. It will remain Underland until the End.”

ALICE (Mia Wasikowska) is a 19-year-old woman contemplating her future.  An independent soul, she feels trapped in the narrow-minded views of women in aristocratic Victorian London. Alice Kingsleigh is uncertain how to balance her dreams with other people’s expectations.  Following the death of her beloved father, she attends a garden party with her mother and sister, although, unbeknownst to her, it’s been planned as her engagement party. Just as the arrogant and dull Hamish Ascot proposes to her, Alice spots a White Rabbit wearing a waistcoat and pocket watch scurrying across the grounds.  She rushes off after the furry fellow, tumbling down a rabbit hole and into Underland, a place she first visited as a child (and called Wonderland)—though she has no memory of it or its inhabitants.  Alice nevertheless reunites with her childhood friends, including Absolem the caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and of course, the Mad Hatter—and seeks her true destiny. “In the beginning, Alice is very awkward and uncomfortable in her skin,” Wasikowska says.  “So her experience in Underland is about reconnecting with herself and finding she has the strength to be more self-assured in figuring out what she wants.”

CHESSUR, THE CHESHIRE CAT (voice of Stephen Fry) is a dapper tabby with the ability to appear and disappear. He is all calm, casual sensuality with a seductive grin that masks his cowardice. It’s the cat’s disembodied head that first appears to Alice in Tulgey Wood after she’s been attacked by the vicious Bandersnatch. He offers to purify the gashes on her arm by licking them. Alice declines, although she allows him to lead her to the Hatter’s Tea Party where the Hatter blames him for deserting them on the day the Red Queen seized control of Underland. Using his skills and the Hatter’s coveted top hat, Chessur later finds a way to redeem himself.

THE MARCH HARE (voice of Paul Whitehouse) hosts the Mad Hatter’s Tea Parties at his Hare House.  Paranoid, anxious and slightly insane, he constantly wrings his paws and ears and has a thing for tossing teapots and other items.  He has a penchant for cooking and is one of the few Underland inhabitants to escape the Red Queen’s clutches all together.

Watch for The Big Reveal Part 2, coming soon!

Some of the cast..

Wonderland was a peaceful kingdom until the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) took power.
The White Queen (Anne  Hathaway), who was overthrown by her sister, “is beautiful but over the top.
Johnny Depp concocts another memorably trippy character as the Mad Hatter.

Source: usatoday.com