Tim Burton's most successful film has aged much worse than the alternative version, which cost almost 10 times less to make

However Tim Burton had a long career and his most successful film was a box office hit, it hasn't aged as well as a 1999 made-for-TV movie that cost a fraction of Burton's budget. Tim Burton's films have had wild swings in terms of success, with their heyday arguably coming in the 1980s and early 90s, with classics like Eduardo Scissorhands, Beetle juice, The Nightmare Before Christmas (although Burton did not direct), and Batman Returns. Since then, his career has been more sporadic, with highs like those of 2003 Big Fishbut also some real lows, like the one in 2012 Dark Shadowswith corresponding box office and reviews.

Recently, Burton has experienced a career resurgence, thanks to trying something new while also returning to an old friend. The sequence Beetle juice Beetle juice was a box office success, generating largely positive reviews and grossing US$451 million on a budget of US$100 million. Meanwhile, the series Wednesday was a legitimate hit for Netflix, with Wednesday 2nd season on the way. Yet, nothing has reached the heights of their greatest financial success to date.

Alice in Wonderland is still Tim Burton's biggest box office hit

It's not even close

While some of Burton's films have been considered box office successes, none have come close to touching his 2010 adaptation of Alice in WonderlandBurton's biggest hit of all time. Starring Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, the film was a juggernaut upon its release. It grossed $1.025 billion at the box office, and even though its budget was a hefty $200 million, it's still a huge success by any metric. The date, his second most successful film, 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factoryit didn't even earn half, US$475 million.

While Alice in WonderlandThe critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were terrible, it captured something in the zeitgeist of the time. Despite his spotty track record, the prospect of seeing Tim Burton involved in a major Disney live-action remake has attracted a curious audience. Disney's marketing campaign also intrigued new audiences and those attracted by the nostalgia of Lewis Carroll's classic. Without Burton's direction, the 2016 sequel Alice through the looking glass bombedearning just under US$300 million at the box office. Even so, Burton Alice in Wonderland It didn't have much of a cultural impact and can't be compared to a 1999 version that did even better.

NBC's 1999 Version of Alice in Wonderland Explained

The cast was incredible

Eleven years before Burton's film adaptation of Alice in WonderlandNBC did a made-for-TV version that was fantastic. It was made for US$21 milliona huge amount of money for a TV movie at the time and almost $40 million today. Remember, this was before the era of peak TV and HBO released a slew of prestige TV shows that cost between $10 and 20 million per episode. For 1999, it was a big event.

The price went to the production design and sets, but probably some of it also went to the talent. Directed by Nick Willing, the cast was absolutely full of talentfrom A-list actors to veteran actors. His talent elevated the made-for-TV movie, a phrase normally reserved for cheesy, low-budget films.

The star-studded cast tackled a story who made some considerable changes to Lewis Carroll's original version of Alice in Wonderlandwhile incorporating parts of Through the looking glass. He told the reimagined story through the combination of live action and puppetry, courtesy of Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Instead of Alice falling asleep and having a dream, the dream is induced by the stress caused by her performance anxiety, wisely adding a real character arc for the protagonist.

25 years later, NBC's Alice in Wonderland has aged better than Burton's

Burton's was very dark, both visually and tonally

Despite its considerable changes to the story NBC's Alice in Wonderland The TV movie has aged better than Tim Burton's 2010 version, even with its very outdated CGI at the time. While Burton Alice in Wonderland It's sometimes visually stunning, yet it's unmistakably a Tim Burton film: whimsical but strongly Gothic in its aesthetic, with its Wonderland not glittering but decaying and dilapidated. On the other hand, the NBC version feels much more authentically Lewis Carroll, retaining the author's absurdist whimsy but without Burton's darkness. Likewise, the setting and character designs align much more closely with John Tenniel's original illustrations than Burton's signature visuals, despite the story deviating further.

The NBC version is also less dark tonally. Burton's version of Alice is little more than a one-note character adventure, lacking the development of the 1999 version's Alice. Burton's film deals with some pretty heavy themesfrom depression to the subplot of Alice's cruel mother intending to marry her off to a hateful man. Her Alice, now a grown woman, is bullied and cowardly at first rather than simply a little girl trying to find her way. The NBC version still maintains the whimsy of a little girl in a fantasy world. It may have been his biggest success, but Tim Burton Should have watched the 1999 version before trying Alice in Wonderland.