Alice in Wonderland is an entertaining, exciting, and original tale with a darker tone. Although it isn’t a life changing, deeply moving film, I believe that Tim Burton has brought more meaning to the strange and weird story of Alice in Wonderland. It tips a hat to all of those who are or were called “crazy” at one point in our lives.
Parental Guide:
Violence: This is a dark tale, and could certainly frighten anyone under 9 or 10 depending on your child. Alice falls through a dark hole rapidly, (enhanced greatly in the 3D) and hits the floor hard. Three different monsters appear in various scenes. The first one is has ugly hairy teeth, and chases Alice and the creatures of wonderland, eventually making an ugly scratch on her arm. The scene can be startling, because the monster pops up rather unexpectedly. The second monster is more of a bird like monster, who carries little people away. He is not so ugly, but could frighten the younger group. The last and most terrifying of the monsters is the Jabberwocky. Ugly and dragon like, breathing different colored flames. All of these monsters may be more startling because of the realism of the 3D.
Alice crosses a moat full of bloated decapitated heads. A main character is positioned on a stage to be beheaded (by a creepy looking executioner) and the scene is very uncomfortable, but (spoiler alert) the character lives.
A frog is lead away to be executed. An angry man nearly kills a women with his sword in an act of rage. Battles prepare for war. A great monster is decapitated, and his blood (its purple blood) is placed in a bottle to drink. One monster has his eyeball plucked out by a mouse’s sword, then the eyeball is carried around by the mouse until someone returns it.
Sexual Content: A married man is caught cheating on his young wife, they are only seen making out, (clothed and standing). Alice’s dress shrinks and stretches frequently. Once it stretches so much that it looks like an old fashioned bathing suit. In one seen it is suggested that she is naked, but she is hiding behind large bushes, and only her bare shoulders are seen. The hatter accidentally finds Alice naked when he looks into the teapot she’s hiding in, but we don’t see her, and he quickly puts the top back on and apologizes, and fashions her a more sizable dress. The White Queen shows a little bit of cleavage.
Language: Name calling such as “idiot, “stupid”, “bighead”, “imbeciles”, “lunatics”, and “fat”.
Smoking and drinking: A caterpillar smokes.
