Re: My Mad Hatter Thread - We May Get Close Up To MH Costume Soon!
From Jim Hill Media:
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_h...king-appearances-at-disney-s-theme-parks.aspx
It’s interesting that you bring this up now. For – on Wednesday of this week – Andy Mooney (i.e. the Chairman of Disney Consumer Products) as part of that virtual press briefing he gave to hype DCP’s participation in next week’s Licensing International Expo did talk a bit about Disney’s future plans for its Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.”
Alice, the White Queen and the MAd Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Given that Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas” (since it was initially released to theaters back in October of 1993) has become an evergreen (i.e. a property that the Company can now count to move a certain amount of merchandise, sell a predictable number of DVDs & movie tickets each Fall, etc.) … Well, Disney’s now hoping that it can turn Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” into an evergreen as well.
“And how might they do that?,” you ask. Well, given that Easter (in the U.S., anyway) is a holiday that’s already strongly associated with fashion, hats and rabbits, there are those at Disney who’d like to try and position Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” as a property that reappears every Spring.
The tentative thinking (at least according to the Company insiders that I’ve spoken with earlier this week) is that Disney will start this effort slowly. Test the waters, if you will, by putting “Alice” back in theaters for an extremely limited run (or – more likely – as a special midnight show) in the late winter / early spring of 2011. This brief return to theaters (which would mostly likely be only in big urban centers & college towns) would then be supported by a smallish selection of new Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” –themed merchandise.
Should next year’s test prove to be successful, Disney would then try and build on that success. Slowly expand the reach of Tim Burton’s version of “Alice in Wonderland” in 2012 and beyond.
The Red Queen as portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland
Copyright 2010 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Now as for a sequel … To be honest, even though this Walt Disney Pictures release has already earned over a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, what I’ve been hearing from folks at the Studio isn’t so much that execs there would like Tim to direct an “Alice in Wonderland” sequel. But – rather – that they’d like him to get started ASAP on that “Maleficent” movie. Which Mouse House management believes has big box office potential as well.
Mind you, there’s also been a big push lately for Disney to put another “Alice” – like project into production. The current front runner is “The Great and Powerful.” Which is a prequel of sorts to “The Wizard of Oz.” In that it’s an origin story for the Wizard and shows how this Kansas humbug wound up as the Big Cheese in the Emerald City.
As of this week, Disney’s trying to persuade Timur Bekmambetov to come direct “The Great and Powerful.” Which – given that Robert Downey Jr. is said to be interested in playing the Wizard – could wind up being one of Disney’s big releases for 2012. Which already looks to be a pretty competitive year for the Mouse, what with all of the high profile sequels (i.e. “Batman 3,” “Men in Black 3,” “Star Trek 2”) that the other studios will be sending out into theaters then.
Getting back to Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” now … Given how hugely popular this Walt Disney Pictures release has been, would it surprise you to hear that people have actually been dropping by Guest Relations at the theme parks, asking if there’s somewhere where they can go within the Park to meet with the Johnny Depp version of the Mad Hatter?
Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Which I know – at first glance, anyway – may seem a weird request. But then again, let’s remember that there’s a face character version of Depp’s other Disney persona (i.e. Captain Jack Sparrow) meeting & greeting with the public at WDW’s Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. So it just stands to reason that – if Johnny’s Jack Sparrow is available for autographs & pictures – shouldn’t Johnny’s Mad Hatter be available too?
So there are now reportedly conversations underway about what should be done to address this Guest request. What makes this particularly difficult is that … Well, Disney’s animated version of “Alice in Wonderland” from 1951 already has a strong presence in the Parks. More importantly, the walk-around face character version of the Mad Hatter from that film is quite popular with Guests.
So what’s the best way to handle this situation? From what I’ve been hearing, at least when it comes to Florida, the current thinking is that the version of the Mad Hatter that’s associated with Disney’s 1951 animated version will continue to appear at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot (at the U.K. pavilion) and Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa (at 1900 Park Fare) while a Johnny Depp version of the Mad Hatter could possibly start making appearances at Disney’s Hollywood Studios sometime in the not-so-distant future.
Mind you, nothing’s written in stone here. Plans could (and most likely will) change. More to the point, I have absolutely no idea how they’d handle the 1951 animated version of the Mad Hatter versus Tim Burton’s version of the Mad Hatter situation at the Disneyland Resort. Perhaps they could make the animated version a Disneyland Park exclusive while the Johnny Depp version would only make appearances at the Disney California Adventure Park.
Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland
Copyright 2010 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Not screen accurate but with some mods it can be brought up to par. It even comes with a leather sheath for free. Can't beat the price and I think it will be more for display rather than carrying except maybe to Highland Games!!
