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Alice Through the Looking Glass character portraits

Hollywood these days is certain of one thing, audiences want the familiar over the new. That’s why we’re seeing a bevy of revivals and sequels streaming into theatres. But just having familiar characters isn’t enough to draw audiences, you have to actually have something new to say.

That’s the challenge facing Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass.” What is going to make audiences want to return to Underland? We just saw the first teaser trailer, which has Alice going back in time to rescue the Mad Hatter. So we can expect the characters to all be a bit different, less evolved, than in the original.

To emphasize that point, Disney has released a set of new character portraits from the film. It’s not just the backgrounds, but also the costumes that have added a bit of the psychedelic 60s to the design.

Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Helena Bonham Carter all look fantastic, don’t you think?

Plot synopsis:

In Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” an all-new spectacular adventure featuring the unforgettable characters from Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories, Alice returns to the whimsical world of Underland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter. Directed by James Bobin, who brings his own unique vision to the spectacular world Tim Burton created on screen in 2010 with “Alice in Wonderland,” the film is written by Linda Woolverton based on characters created by Lewis Carroll and produced by Joe Roth, Suzanne Todd and Jennifer Todd and Tim Burton with John G. Scotti serving as executive producer.

“Alice Through the Looking Glass” reunites the all-star cast from the worldwide blockbuster phenomenon, including: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter along with the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. We are also introduced to several new characters: Zanik Hightopp (Rhys Ifans), the Mad Hatter’s father and Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen), a peculiar creature who is part human, part clock.

Alice Kingsleigh (Wasikowska) has spent the past few years following in her father’s footsteps and sailing the high seas. Upon her return to London, she comes across a magical looking glass and returns to the fantastical realm of Underland and her friends the White Rabbit (Sheen), Absolem (Rickman), the Cheshire Cat (Fry) and the Mad Hatter (Depp), who is not himself. The Hatter has lost his Muchness, so Mirana (Hathaway) sends Alice on a quest to borrow the Chronosphere, a metallic globe inside the chamber of the Grand Clock which powers all time. Returning to the past, she comes across friends – and enemies – at different points in their lives, and embarks on a perilous race to save the Hatter before time runs out.

Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass” opens in U.S. theaters on May 27, 2016.