Disney has released a new Alice Through the Looking Glass TV spot. Director Tim Burton steps back into simply a producer role on the follow-up, which sees The Muppets helmer James Bobin stepping into the director’s chair. The story returns to Underland but also travels back in time, with an all-new story based on Lewis Carroll‘s classic. Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham Carter all reprise their roles from the first movie with Sacha Baron Cohen and Rhys Ifans coming along for the ride this time around as the villainous half-machine/half-human Time and the Mad Hatter’s father, respectively.
There aren’t many movies in 2016 we need less than an Alice in Wonderland sequel, but here we are, and here’s hoping that Bobin can tap into some of the magic that got lost in Burton’s level of unintentional self-parody. The film, like the original, certainly looks gorgeous, but that’s not enough, and it’s tough to give this one of the benefit of the doubt when it’s done nothing to earn it (keep in mind that while Bobin did well with The Muppets, he also dropped the ball with the sequel Muppets Most Wanted).
Check out the new Alive Through the Looking Glass TV spot below. The film opens May 27th and also stars Matt Lucas, Ed Speelers, and the voices of Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Toby Jones, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Paul Whitehouse, and Barbara Windsor.
Here’s the official synopsis for Alice Through the Looking Glass:
In Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” an all-new spectacular adventure featuring the unforgettable characters from Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories, Alice returns to the whimsical world of Underland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter. Directed by James Bobin, who brings his own unique vision to the spectacular world Tim Burton created on screen in 2010 with “Alice in Wonderland,” the film is written by Linda Woolverton based on characters created by Lewis Carroll and produced by Joe Roth, Suzanne Todd and Jennifer Todd and Tim Burton with John G. Scotti serving as executive producer. “Alice Through the Looking Glass” reunites the all-star cast from the worldwide blockbuster phenomenon, including: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter along with the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. We are also introduced to several new characters: Zanik Hightopp (Rhys Ifans), the Mad Hatter’s father and Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen), a peculiar creature who is part human, part clock.
Alice Kingsleigh (Wasikowska) has spent the past few years following in her father’s footsteps and sailing the high seas. Upon her return to London, she comes across a magical looking glass and returns to the fantastical realm of Underland and her friends the White Rabbit (Sheen), Absolem (Rickman), the Cheshire Cat (Fry) and the Mad Hatter (Depp), who is not himself. The Hatter has lost his Muchness, so Mirana (Hathaway) sends Alice on a quest to borrow the Chronosphere, a metallic globe inside the chamber of the Grand Clock which powers all time. Returning to the past, she comes across friends – and enemies – at different points in their lives, and embarks on a perilous race to save the Hatter before time runs out. Presented in Digital 3D™, Real D 3D and IMAX® 3D, Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass” opens in U.S. theaters on May 27, 2016.
