Alice in Wonderland

I am officially in the long list of people eagerly awaiting Mr. Tim Burton's newest creation: Alice in Wonderland. Unsurprisingly he is using some of his favourite cast to recreate this children's classic story, with a dark side of course.

If you have been in a hole for the last year, I will enlighten you. Burton uses a technique of combining live action and animation to create an updated version of the original stories Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Caroll. Johnny Depp plays the Mad Hatter, whilst Burton's wife, Helena Bonham Carter plays the rather terrifying Queen of Hearts (see images above).

The film is out in the UK, nationwide on March 5th, 2010. And of course 2010 is the era of 3D cinema, so of course this is the only way to watch Alice in Wonderland. Maybe even IMAX if the budget stretches...hmmm...

Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends

I had temporarily forgotten how great this cartoon is. Cartoon Network produced this bit of visual loveliness and rumour has it, it's made entirely in Flash. Which as a Flash rookie (which in itself is a slight overstatement), I am absolutely baffled.

The basic premice of the show is summed up in this wikipedia reference:

"In the Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends universe, imaginary friends (or "friends" for short) become physical beings the instant a child imagines them; unlike how the concept often works on other shows, an Imaginary Friend takes physical and emotional form after a child creates specific details about that character. Unfortunately for them, the children eventually outgrow them around ages 7–8. When this happens, the friends are left to fend for themselves. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends was founded by the elderly Madame Foster to provide a foster home for abandoned imaginary friends."

So I suppose my message to you is, give it a go. Yes, cartoons are generally for children under the age of fourteen, but if you want to indulge yourself in a bit of pure imagination then find yourself an episode!