Danny Elfman talks Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Oh dear…I actually had some hope for this sequel at first. When Alice Through the Looking Glass was announced, I felt excited because I’d enjoyed Alice in Wonderland and I was initially up for a return to this crazy world. And then the previews started and things got…weird (and I don’t mean weird in a good way).

The more I watched and learned, the more this felt like a re-hash of the first film (with Sasha Baron Cohen thrown into the mix). I’m not ALWAYS opposed to sequels, but if the best they can do is remix the original plot…then forget it!!

The basic plot is as follows: Alice has spent the last three years sailing on the high seas (as she said she would do at the end of the first film) but finds upon returning home that her ex-fiance has bought her father’s company and wants her ship in exchange for the family home. The Butterfly leads Alice back into Underland where things are in a right mess: the Mad Hatter is “madder” than usual, convinced his family is still alive. The White Queen asks Alice to visit Time to see if he can save the Hatter’s family in the past and from there…things get slightly screwy (okay things get royally screwy).

There are several trips back into time; we learn why the Red Queen has an abnormally shaped head (because apparently she wasn’t always like that); we learn why the White Queen is the rightful ruler and we also learn why the two sisters hate each other so much. At the end of it all, time is restored, the Hatter is reunited with his family and the White Queen and the Red Queen are friends again while Alice returns home and now sails on the high seas with her mother (somehow retaining the company? or the ship? It’s confusing…)

That being said, Danny Elfman DID return to score the film, so that is one positive in a film that largely disappointed. I hope you enjoy this brief interview with the composer.