Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland - Neverland with Jolie

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Let's take a look at a new fairy tale with the stunning Angelina Jolie. Despite the fact that the crew had to create amazing fantasy worlds, the filmmakers of Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland did not rely too much on the visuals.

“I didn't want to follow the path of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland,” explains Chapman. - I didn't even try to compete with him or try to break into this territory. I thought our story was too realistic for that. So I didn't want to overdo it with the effects."

Neverland, Wonderland and Victorian England

“The World Is Made of Faith, Trust, and Fairy Dust” - Peter Pan, JM Barry.

“Our film wasn’t filmed with a chroma key,” adds Richards. - We tried to restrain ourselves in visual effects. Even when children find themselves in their realistic fantasies, we used effects that only slightly change the real world. For example, in the scene when Alice is throwing a spear, you will see a real spear flying. And only when it sticks into the ground, you will understand that this is an ordinary branch."

Filming began in the summer of 2018 in the UK. Scenes in Victorian England and the amazing worlds of Neverland and Wonderland were filmed in real locations and in real buildings.

"The Victorian reality can be easily found in our country," says Spring, "so we decided to take this chance."

To create intertwined worlds, Chapman and the producers recruited production designer Luciana Arrigi (Howards End, Sense and Sensibility), costume design veteran Louise Stiernsward (The Passenger, Hotel Marigold ": The best of the exotic") and cameraman Jules O'Laughlin ("The Hitman's Bodyguard", "Angel Fall").

“What I loved the most was the prospect of creating a partial reality in both set and props,” says Arrigi. "Unexpectedly for yourself, you start to notice the elements of fantasy, so you can hardly believe your eyes."

“I liked the script,” admits Stjernsward, “especially the part that touched on ethnicity. When you make films that are set in the Victorian era, you tend to be dealing with the same old people who are portraying Victorian extras. We had amazing, interesting characters in incredible costumes. Any designer can only dream of such work”.

The main challenge for Chapman and her team was the costumes of the legendary characters - a blue dress with an apron for Alice and a green suit with a hat for Peter Pan. Heroes should be recognizable, but not too prominent in the real world.

“Peter's costume is not exactly what it was in, for example, a Disney movie,” notes Stjernsward. - I have not seen a similar costume in any other film. Ours was, in theory, sewn for Peter by his mother."

Goodhill's script had many visual references to the worlds described by Barry and Carroll. Alice had a toy white rabbit, her mother gave her a copper bell, and Peter had a telescope and a drawn map of Neverland. “It was interesting to look for points that didn't seem too obvious,” says Chapman. - Some you will recognize immediately, others, perhaps, you will miss. For example, Charlie devours oysters, like the Walrus in The Walrus and the Carpenter, and Mr. Brown eats veal's head soup that tastes like tortoiseshell."

The most important location was the Littleton's house, which was supposed to look like a real building. At the same time, it should have been clear that such a house feeds the children's imagination. “I wanted to see a little house from a fairy tale,” explains Chapman. "Something unusual, from a fantasy world."

The ideal location was found near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England, a charming 16th century home.

“The building was really ancient, the roof was made of thatch,” says Yeats. "She created an indescribable atmosphere." However, only exterior scenes were filmed there against the background of the house and in the garden. The interiors were built in the pavilions of Twickenham Studios in London. “On the outside, the building is impressive,” says Arrigi, “but on the inside, that feeling was lost. We needed to show that Angelina's heroine is a caring mother and mistress of the house, we wanted to decorate children's bedrooms in a special way, and so on. Everything that loomed in my imagination had to be built and furnished."

Considering Jolie's incredible busyness, the interiors for the final month of filming had to be rebuilt in the pavilions of one of the studios in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles, on which a local decorating team worked. “Angelina really liked the script and wanted to be in this film,” Richards recalls, “but she immediately said,“I can only take on this role if it is filmed in Los Angeles.” We replied that we were glad to hear it, but fulfilling her wish would be very problematic. Any change of location is fraught with additional difficulties."

Arrigi admits that she was intimidated by the move to Los Angeles: “I never worked in Los Angeles, there I only received awards and attended various parties. I like working with British teams, so the States, of course, scared me. But when we arrived at the place and started working, I thought: "This is great!" The Los Angeles team has done an excellent job.”

Moving to Los Angeles was a real adventure for young actors.

“I was eager to see the beaches and attractions,” says Nash. - Angelina was very hospitable. She sent us to the slot machine hall with her children and gave us a card for an unlimited number of games. Then we went to her house, where there was a hefty pool."

In addition to the scenes at the Littleton House, the film crew worked in various London locations, including Somerset House and the Butler Docks. Oyelowo especially liked these scenes. “I have lived in London for most of my life, but even I have not seen so many hidden corners of this city,” he admits. - Michael Caine and I filmed a scene in a small and very old pub that didn't seem to have changed at all in the last two centuries. Another memorable scene was filmed at Cion House.³… Together with Derek Jacoby we filmed in the so-called "Gallery" - the very room where Pocahontas was during her visit to the UK. Most of all, however, I remember the filming in the famous prison in the Clerkenwell area, in whose cells criminals were languishing, waiting to be sent to Australia. It was a dark, chilling place."

Working in the dungeon was not as easy as it was fun.

“Filming was very challenging because it’s a shabby and musty place,” explains Chapman. - We had to periodically rise to the surface to take a breath of fresh air before going down again. But we managed to capture the unique, gloomy atmosphere of the casemates."

The last and perhaps the most impressive location was the Great Windsor Forest, which filmed scenes from the games of the younger Littletons and amazing passages to Neverland and Wonderland. “Brenda’s imagination helped bring the fantasy worlds of children to life,” says Kahn. “She created lifelike sets that blend in with fantasy worlds. To showcase the imaginary worlds of each of the children, she used different colors. Therefore, the scenes in which children go to their fantastic worlds are visually different from each other."

In addition, Chapman decided to frame the shots with abundant vegetation, so that the audience has the feeling that they are spying on what is happening from the bushes or hiding behind a tree.

“It became the basis for their story,” says the director, “or, if you like, the frame for the picture. This technique created the feeling that you are not just watching the development of events, but yourself are a participant in them. This is how I usually watch animation films. I have always treated cartoons as books that you can open and then be inside, right on the pages. This is how I told the story of the film."

Despite the fact that "Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland" was Chapman's game debut, she was by no means a newcomer to the actors or the voice-over team. “I would never say that this is her first feature film,” Oyelowo admits. - Moreover, I think it's even more interesting to work with an animation director. She is constantly focused on the structure of the film, on the setting of the shot, and very economically assesses which plot milestones are important for the whole story as a whole, and which ones can be sacrificed. She works extremely effectively and is uncompromising in matters that, in her opinion, are important for the creation of history."

“She is very easy to work with because she is always open to dialogue,” echoes her colleague Chancellor. - You could say to her: “Listen, Brenda, can I try this?”, And she willingly discussed it with you. She always listened to our wishes and suggestions, but at the same time she always kept in her memory her vision of this or that scene. And besides, she is just the sweetest person in herself."

Chapman's openness and gentleness were especially relevant when working with children.

“Brenda is an amazing director,” says Chance. - She knows very well how to communicate with children. It's easy and fun to work with. She is always ready to help and support, she is not only our director, but also our friend. Especially her support came in handy in the scenes when we needed to cry. Brenda took us aside and set us up. It was very pleasant and calm from the confidence that she is always ready to help."

“She's just a miracle,” Nash agrees. - She treats the actors with understanding, spares no time for conversations and explanations. And besides, she has an amazing fantasy."

Finding a balance

"There is morality in everything, you just need to be able to find it" ~ "Alice in Wonderland", Lewis Carroll

In the work on Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, it was especially difficult to balance between drama and adventure, sorrow and fantasy, darkness and light, especially during the editing and shading period.

“Brenda made a film with a lot of ambiguous elements,” says Spring, “and first of all, this is the death of a child, which became the catalyst for all subsequent events. There is no escape from this tragedy. The audience will certainly not only feel the grief of loss that tormented the family, but will understand what decisions each of the family members made after this tragic event and why."

Speaking of the bitter sense of loss, Goodhill notes: “I hope in the finale it will be clear that hope is more important than despair. I would like the audience to leave the theater inspired. I would like to believe that the film will leave a feeling of a miracle in their hearts”.

Filmmakers are confident that the picture will be as interesting to adults as it is to children. It will be truly a family movie. “I hope that young viewers will associate themselves with the characters in the film and understand that fantasizing is good,” says Kahn. - There is nothing wrong with playing in fictional worlds. And adults, in turn, will understand that they need to accept their feelings and react to them accordingly, they need to be able to find the child in themselves and hug him tightly."

Chapman believes that it is imagination that unites us all - adults and children alike. And it doesn't matter whether it takes us to the country of eternal youth on a distant, wild island or finds itself in the depths of a rabbit hole in a phantasmagoric reflection of our reality. Any other fictional world will do. In general, it is not necessary to know well the fairy tales "Peter Pan" and "Alice in Wonderland" in order to appreciate the film "Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland".

“I would like the audience to understand how important imagination plays in our lives, how important our inner experiences are,” says the director. - It is necessary to give free rein to the subconscious, to free the soul, if you want. The young heroes of our film set their souls free as they try to fight grief. It heals them, helps them move on. Each of us does it in his own way, but there is nothing wrong with finding our own way."

Of course, the film will also offer a new interpretation of two well-known fairy tales, which will now become even more popular than they were.

“There are tons of surprises in store for you while watching,” Chapman promises. - You already have your own idea of these fairy tales. We will offer our own unusual interpretation. And the point here is not only that Peter and Alice turn out to be brother and sister, which no one else has done before us. We decided to make the heroes black. This is a completely new approach to familiar to all fairy tales and what they represent."

“It's a universal story,” Oyelowo sums up. - A story that, we hope, will be understandable to everyone, because it talks about the very nature of things in our world. That’s why I just couldn’t give up my role.”