DANNY ELFMAN on 'ALICE IN WONDERLAND'

Contributed by Michael J. Lee, Executive Editor for RadioFree.com
February 20, 2010

In 2010's Alice in Wonderland, director Tim Burton re-imagines the mythology born of Lewis Carroll's stories about a young girl named Alice and her adventures in a fantastical world filled with an eccentric cast of characters. In this updated incarnation, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returns to the fairy tale world of her childhood as a young woman, only to find that the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) has usurped her sister the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and subjugated all of Wonderland under her erratic rule. Lacking faith in herself and her own perception of reality, Alice teams up with old friends like the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) to regain her long lost self-confidence and free Wonderland from the Red Queen.

Alice in Wonderland utilizes a variety of techniques to present a signature visual experience. From obvious effects (the Red Queen's disproportionate head, Alice's ever-changing height) to subtle tweaks (the size of the Hatter's eyes, the length of the Knave's legs), the movie revels in creating a unique style with color, costuming, and perspective.

In this interview, acclaimed composer Danny Elfman talks about re-uniting with Tim Burton on yet another project perfectly matched to their talents. The two have previously collaborated on films such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, and 1989's Batman.

MEDIA: How would you describe your collaboration process with Tim? We understand that most of your work together evolves through the course of filming, without much advance planning...

DANNY: You know, I learned that way back on Beetlejuice, where I thought that I'd read the script and write a bunch of music, get a head start. And not one note of it made it in the movie, of course. And then I learned to actually take the opposite point of view, with absolutely no thoughts at all of what to expect, [which] serves me much better. On this film in particular, [Tim] told me a year ago that this is going to be like the craziest rollercoaster ride we've ever taken together in 12 or 13 films. [jokes, referring to the color of his own hair] And when I first saw it, I was extremely offended because I thought the whole film was just about the questionable and dubious nature of redheads. I had to work through that. And then once I became okay with that, there was a point halfway through where he had me visit the set. Because I've done what I've always done on all the films I've worked with him--you know, to spend a little time and just see what it's like on the set. And I actually wrote the Batman theme walking through Gotham City with Tim and seeing just a little bit of footage. It was enough to get the real flavor and the feel. And this was the first time ever I visited the set and... [laughs] In the distance was Mia on wires with a greenscreen. And he warned me, "Nothing about what you're going to see is going to help you." And he was absolutely right. So I just had to wait till the cut came in. But it was just exactly as Tim said--a wild rollercoaster ride with everything coming together at the very end. And so knowing that, and having been on a lot of rollercoasters with Tim, I just felt that I would roll with it. And that's the best way to go with Tim's films--we're going to try a lot of different things, we're going to experiment, and to be as loose as possible and just go with it. And it was an intense ride, as Tim had predicted, but a great one, as the best rollercoasters are.



When were you first exposed to Lewis Carroll's stories about Alice, and what impact did they have on you?

The book had a profound influence on me, but in a way much different than most people. Because I was only about 3 or 4, and we had it in the bookshelf, and there was a picture on the book of Alice with her neck distended--very long. I'm not sure if it was on the spine or [the front of] the book--I can't remember--but it scared me. And in frightening me, I became infatuated with the picture. And it actually began what became a lifelong obsession and infatuation with physical anomalies which I still have. [laughs] But I had many nightmares about this girl with this incredibly long neck. So it became part of my subconscious from an incredibly early age. Then, of course, I read it later, but the effect was there from [when I was] very, very young.