EXCLUSIVE: 'Alice In Wonderland' -- Five Things You Didn't Know!

Disney has been hitting the world with a full-on promotional assault for "Alice in Wonderland." And it's no wonder. You've got the always-potent team-up of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. You've got one of the studio's most cherished franchises being revisited. And you've got this highly anticipated beast hitting theaters in IMAX 3-D presentations, right on the heels of the record-breaking success of "Avatar." Of course they're trying get us excited!

In the midst of the many trailers and images and posters and the like, precious few facts about how the whole production came together have been shared. There are a handful of featurettes, but it's just a taste. There's a ton of trivia yet to be revealed. Well we've spoken with Disney and secured a few tidbits for you to enjoy, just some fun facts about the work behind the scenes on "Alice." You can find them all after the break.

Johnny Depp-- Actor, Musician... Painter?
Unless you've been living at the bottom of the ocean, you're already well aware that superstar actor Johnny Depp is playing the (very fitting) role of the Mad Hatter. Apparently, when he first heard from Burton that this is the part he would play in "Alice," long before any serious production got underway, the actor took it upon himself to prepare. He did this by creating watercolor paintings of the Hatter, which he later learned fell very close to Burton's own vision for the character. Not terribly surprising, considering how frequently the two have worked together.

Resizing Alice
Anyone familiar with the classic tale of "Alice in Wonderland" knows that the titular young girl frequently changes size throughout the story. Her return trip to Burton's vision of Wonderland is no different. Star Mia Wasikowska is 5' 4" in real life. In the movie, Alice's height fluctuates, ranging from six inches all the way up to 20 feet. Rather than rely solely on digital effects, the production team took a page from Peter Jackson's work with the Hobbits and Dwarves of "The Lord of the Rings," even turning to the decidedly low-tech solution of an apple box to make Wasikowska taller.

Crispin Glover's Head
Everyone knows Crispin Glover, right? He's George McFly, from the "Back to the Future" series. He's also a really creepy presence on screen, which makes him perfect for the role of the Red Queen's lackey Stayne, the Knave of Hearts. However, only Glover's head will appear in the movie, perched on the digitally rendered body of the seven-and-a-half foot tall Knave. Glover performed his scenes perched atop a set of stilts to make himself taller.

The Unseem 'Dum
Matt Lucas has a dual role in the movie, playing both Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the portly twin brothers with a bad case of sibling rivalry. Since Lucas was unable to actually split himself into two for his scenes, another actor -- Ethan Cohen (not to be confused with "A Serious Man" filmmaker Ethan Coen) -- was hired to stand in for Tweedledum on the set. Unfortunately for Cohen, his work will not be seen in the finished cut.

The White Queen Is A "Punk Rock Vegan Pacifist"
Anne Hathaway plays the White Queen, a powerful force for good in Wonderland who many inhabitants rally around in opposition to the Red Queen. Hathaway was very concerned about making sure her character would be memorable, rather than just another white-clothed fairy queen (Hollywood has seen a few of those in the past decade). So she looked to a diverse range of influences, including Blondie, Greta Garbo, Dan Flavin and Norma Desmond in concocting her "punk rock vegan pacifist" White Queen.

Tags alice in wonderland, anne hathaway, crispin glover, johnny depp, matt lucas, Mia Wasikowska, tim burton