Tim Burton's mind-bending take on Alice in Wonderland is released in March. Oxford's tourism authority is hoping that the film will reignite interest in the the city where Lewis Carroll's orginal books, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Alice through the Looking Glass (1871), were set.
Lewis Carroll was the pseudonym for Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a maths academic who attended Christ Church at Oxford University in 1851. He based the character of Alice on Alice Liddell, the daughter of his college dean.
Fantastical Hollywood director Tim Burton's latest offering, Alice in Wonderland, is set to bring tourists flocking to the locations that inspired the original book's author Lewis Carroll.
The Walt Disney film, to be released on March 5th, sees Burton favourite Johnny Depp and the director's wife, Helena Bonham Carter, reunited on screen as the Mad Hatter and the Red Queen.
Lewis Carroll based the character of Alice on the daughter of his Dean at Christ Church College, Oxford University.The city already has an Alice trail for interested visitors which highlights key locations in Carroll's books and officials are optimistic new fans will enjoy the historic locations.
“Alice and Lewis Carroll are an absolute asset to Oxford and a key part of the Oxford brand," Colin Cook, executive member for the city centre, told the Oxford Mail.
“The Alice story is intimately associated with the city and many of the things that inspired him are still around. You can still see the treacle well in Binsey village and the fireguards in the hall at Christ Church.
"The Jabberwocky tree is also still in Christ Church and Alice and her sisters could see it from the Dean’s lodgings.“
The film recreates the story of Alice, who flees a party in pursuit of a white rabbit which takes her to Wonderland. Young actress Mia Wasikowska plays Alice and Stephen Fry appears as the Cheshire Cat. Michael Sheen and comedian Matt Lucas also star.
Tourism manager for the city council, Joanne Butler, said: “At the moment we run the Alice tour several times a month, but we will increase that frequency when demand picks up.
“The new film is bound to increase the number of people coming to Oxford to find out more about Alice and Lewis Carroll.
“Christ Church is one of the main locations on the two-hour tour and we also visit Christ Church Meadow, and the Museum of Natural History because of the Dodo connection.”
It wouldn't be the first time Christ Church College has enjoyed the attentions of movie fans. The college has appeared several times in the Harry Potter films.
source: dailymail