Follow Mia Wasikowska down the rabbit hole with this Alice in Wonderland merchandise

Curiouser and curiouser...

When setting out to ‘re-imagine’ Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton had the tough task of casting the 19-year-old Alice Kingsley on his hands. A role with so much history and such an iconic look, the part was eventually given to relative newcomer Mia Wasikowska (recently seen as Sophie in In Treatment). But before that everyone from Lindsay Lohan (Mean Girls) to Amanda Seyfried (also in Mean Girls and Mamma Mia!) and even Courtney Love’s daughter, Frances Bean Cobain were considered for the role.

Mia, a trained ballet dancer from Australia, seems the perfect match for the role of the grown up Alice, particularly since she’s a huge Tim Burton fan. On her favourite of his movies, Edward Scissorhands, she says: “The amazing thing about Tim is that he articulates his thoughts, feelings and life experiences through this amazing visual language. That wide shot of the town as all the cars pull out at once says a thousand things about the place. There’s also this incredible humour. And it’s a beautiful story about a gentle, misunderstood man.”

Her understanding of the misunderstood Edward has helped her take on the role of the confused and lonely Alice. Mia says: “She’s this person who’s sort of an observer and has got a lot going on in her head but she doesn’t always express it. I understand that about her. My dance training meant I would always leave school at one o’clock, so I was never there for lunch. I was always a bit of a loner.” Tim loved these qualities in her, saying: “Mia has an old soul, but there are elements of her that feel very young and naïve.”

When it comes to the production of the film, 80 per cent of which was shot on green screen, she admits it was a bit strange: “Sure, its weird when you’re speaking to a tennis ball on a stick, and a guy in a green suit is waving it around. It’s bizarre and uncanny – all the things that Wonderland is supposed to be. But it also takes a lot of energy to remember your environment, who’s supposed to be opposite you. It’s a whole different acting style.”

Ten years after her first visit to Wonderland, Alice Kingsley has forgotten all about it, until she attends a party at a Victorian estate and history begins repeating itself. Saddened by the death of her father (Marton Csokas) and feeling like she doesn’t quite fit in to Victorian society, she follows the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen) through a maze and eventually down a rabbit hole. Once in Wonderland, she’s informed she’s the only one who can slay the Jaberwock, who terrorises the kingdom under the rule of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). The film includes a tea party with the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), meeting Tweedledum and Tweedledee (Matt Lucas), drinking some dubious potions and everything else you’d expect from Lewis Carroll’s tale with the Tim Burton twist.

So to celebrate the release of Alice in Wonderland and it’s heroine, we’ve scoured the net for the best Alice merchandise out there. The Disney Couture range designed by Tom Binns has pieces including a black ‘Drink Me’ necklace with a dangling bottle, a gold Alice charm bracelet or an intricate necklace featuring lots of little floral keyholes. For US customers there are some cute wrist warmers just like Alice’s and perfect for this in-between weather. There’s even a detailed Alice figurine, and a range of cool tee’s to satisfy your Wonderland cravings.