Ship Captain? I guess I need to read the book again. The movie doesn't have to follow the book exactly, but these two movies (Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass) seem to be only based upon the characters created by Carroll. It would be cool if movie adaptations followed Carroll's books b/c both of them are fantastical. You don't need to push the envelope. Carroll already did.
shareI think the problem with transferring the book to the screen is that the book has no narrative. It's just Alice meeting a series of characters before waking up. Burton takes the characters and constructs an actual storyline - hence why such a lot of additional and original ideas to make it all hang together.
The book is great as a book; but not as a film.
Yes, they are based on the characters and not the story. That is pretty evident.
If you saw Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" then you should know that it is not an adaption of the book and instead it is a pseudo sequel showing where Alice is as a young woman. Knowing this, what happens in "Through the Looking glass" should not bring any comparisons to the book of the same name.
No one was "pushing the envelope" they were telling a story about a beloved character that took place after the events of the books.