Why did you want to make a movie out of a fantasy which was written more than 140 years ago? Is it still relevant?
It somehow taps a subconscious thing.That’s why all those great stories stay around because they tap into the things that people probably aren’t even aware of on a conscious level.There’s definitely something about those images.That’s why there have been so many versions of it. The attempt with this one is to take the idea of those stories and shape them into something that’s not literal from the book but keeps the spirit of it.
Which was your favourite children’s book when you were growing up?
I was a Dr. Seuss fan.It was easy to read.I liked his drawings.
You have shown a fascination to cast Johnny Depp in most of your recent movies. Is it okay to say that he has become your muse?
Nah, he’s just a piece of meat (laugh). You can’t really work with method actors too much on a movie like this.You need people to go out on a limb and just go for it, without a lot of material.So, yeah, Johnny’s good at that. And, you know, for me, too, I think it was really hard, because I’d never really done a movie like this.And it’s quite eye-opening.I would think for an actor, it’s really challenging.
Lots of movies are being made in 3D today which also has live action mixed in it. Tell us what you think is the future of movie-making?
Well, 3D is not a fad.It’s here to stay.It doesn’t mean that every movie’s going to be made in 3D.But at the same time, Alice in 3D, just because of the material, it seemed to fit.So it’s matching the medium with the material. I was in animation several years ago.It was pronounced dead, and then they stopped doing hand drawn.So, the good news is that there are more forms for everything now, which is great.There should be 3D, drawn animation, computer animation, stop-motion. And it’s better now than it’s ever been. I was struggling for 10 years to get a stop-motion movie made.Now, you can do it — no problem.
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