Walt Disney didn’t settle for the record profits generated by “Alice in Wonderland”, but also imagined an entire universe of accessories, jewelry, cosmetics and toys that are related to the characters and is aimed to attract both story readers and Tim Burton’s gothic world fans.
There are many opinions regarding the “Alice in Wonderland” movie. Some say that it is too fiction to be Tim Burton’s idea, others that it is too Tim Burton’s idea to be a story. Fans enjoy everything about the Disney production and love the string feminist side of Alice who is a superhero/ business woman in the end. But regardless of their opinion, they all agree that the mega-production has an incredible script and the costumes designed by Tirelli Costumi would deserve an Oscar. Tirelli has won 14 Oscars and created the costumes for “Cheri”, “The age of innocence” and “Mary Antoinette”.
Disney couldn’t have missed such an extraordinary opportunity- a fairy tale world colorful but yet gothic, with steam punk accents, Victorian atmosphere and famous characters.
Alice’s story has fascinated many generations over the years, and Burton’s new interpretation brings a different genre of public that Disney wouldn’t have access to.
The marketing plan was established long before the March release of the movie that brought a box-office profit of 116,3 million dollars in the first week-end.
Starting last year, a short film illustrating a scene from the famous “Tea Party” was put in circulation through the Disney Living Tou Tube web page.
The scenery was elaborated by Disney Consumer Products (Walt Disney’s merchandising company), at Magic Marketplace, one of the most important fashion fairs. The setting has to purpose of preparing the public and also the acquirers in the companies (as it was a business-to-business event) for the Wonderland total experience.
Acrobats, futuristic settings, eclectic make-up, crazy costumes and lots of hats were displayed in a manner that made Alice’s world the “new black”.