The cast continues to assemble for director Tim Burton’s live-action/CG version of Alice in Wonderland. The Hollywood Reporter brings word that oddball actor/filmmaker Crispin Glover has been hired to play the Knave of Hearts in Disney’s stereoscopic 3-D adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic fable. Burton favorites Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter previously signed on for the pic, which will also feature performances by Anne Hathaway and newcomer Mia Wasikowska as Alice. The pic is slated for release on March 5, 2010.
Much of this interpretation of Alice will be created using performance-capture technology a la Beowulf and The Polar Express. Glover should be right at home with this production, having portrayed the monster Grendel in Beowulf via digital technology. As the Knave of Hearts, he will be defended by Alice when he is put on trial for stealing the Queen of Hearts’ tarts. Carter will play the Red Queen, and Hathaway the White Queen. Depp will show up as the infamous Mad Hatter.
Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Ken Ralston (Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) is on set in London as the senior visual effects supervisor, working with Sony Pictures Imageworks on the animation. David Schaub is the animation supervisor and Sean Phillips and Carey Villegas are visual effects supervisors for Imageworks.
After wrapping Alice, Burton plans to move onto a 3-D stop-motion feature based on his 1984 live-action short film Frankenweenie. The film will center on a boy named Victor who, to the horror of his neighbors, brings his dead dog back to life. Produced by Disney, the original short was shot in black-and-white and served as a love letter to the Universal horror films that have greatly influenced Burton’s work over the years.
