American McGee's Alice
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American McGee's Alice is a Third Person Shooter computer game released on October 6, 2000. It was developed by Rogue Entertainment and published, distributed and marketed by Electronic Arts. It was designed by American McGee, and featured music composed by former Nine Inch Nails member Chris Vrenna. The game is powered by the Quake III engine, and has been rated M for Mature.
Set years after Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Alice features an older, more cynical and macabre incarnation of Alice. Having been institutionalised after losing her parents in a fire, Alice is called by the White Rabbit to the aid of a radically altered Wonderland, under threat from the Red Queen, the evil despot who has enslaved its people. A fierce and rather emaciated Cheshire cat is her constant companion throughout the game. Though she starts with nothing more than a rusty vorpal knife, Alice can collect various weapons throughout the game, including a deck of razor-sharp playing cards, a massive blunderbuss, and a flamingo in the form of a croquet mallet, complete with hedgehogs for balls.
Clearly not intended for children, the game contains high levels of violence, themes and imagery often deemed unsuitable for the very young. Alice reflects a very disturbing view of Wonderland, certainly not close to the Wonderland imagined by Lewis Carroll when he wrote his novels. Some of the more twisted imagery includes insane children whose laughter echoes through the game's empty halls; a spirit wall made of tortured faces; and the remnants of the Mad Hatter's sick clockwork experiments. Alice is not a game for the faint of heart.
The enemies of American McGee's Alice are almost all based upon the inhabitants of Lewis Carroll's original novels.
- Card Guards, the Queen's soldiers, are everywhere and have a strict hierachy of strength that goes Club, Diamond, Spade and (naturally) Heart.
- Snarks, frog-legged fish who inhabit the waters of Wonderland, use their fangs, gouts of toxic venom and extendable sticky tongues to put the hurt on. Worse these are the Fire Snarks, who dwell in the lava pits of the Land of Fire and Brimstone and who relish using their tongue attack to pull you into the fire.
- Boojum, ghost-like creatures who fly around and use a shriek attack that hurls you through the air.
- Others include Army Ants (vaguely humanoid ants in army uniforms), Evil Mushrooms, carnivorous Blood Roses, mechanical Ladybugs, Red Chess Pieces (Pawns, Knights, Bishops and Rooks), Clockwork Automatons, Phantasmagoria, Fire Imps, Nightmare Spiders and Magma Men.
Dark Wonderland
Dark Wonderland refers to a film adaptation of American McGee's Alice, which currently has no official status.
Before completing Alice, American McGee and two film producers pitched the idea of making a movie to Dimension Films. Head of Dimension Studios, Bob Weinstien was shown the CG trailer for the game and "then he slammed his fist down and said, 'we are making this movie.'". Dimension Films hired John August to write a film treatment and Wes Craven was supposed to direct the film. However, Craven did not care for August's treatment and despite attempts by other writers to put forth ideas for the story, no progress was made. The studio became displeased with the two film producers and the project collapsed.
According to screenwriter John August, neither the alleged title Dark Wonderland nor any rumored casting were real. Wes Craven, in answering questions about the proposed film, also indicated that the project never even reached a stage in which casting would be considered.
In April 2004, McGee stated that the film rights had been moved to 20th Century Fox. McGee wrote that they "love the project and are going to make it", but he was skeptical. Despite being the creative force behind the game, McGee does not own the rights and the film project is not in his hands. At this time, the film is said to be "in development", but nothing more is known.
On June 21, 2005 news surfaced that actress Sarah Michelle Gellar has been cast as Alice for the movie adaptation, now apparently titled Alice. The move is a Universal Studios project, with Erich and Jon Hoeber adapting the script. Marcus Nispel is set to direct.
References
- http://johnaugust.com/archives/2004/what-became-of-american-mcgees-alice
- http://www.americanmcgee.com/blosxom.cgi/home/fri1904.html
- http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/036/036660p1.html
- http://www.wescraven.com/communique_data.asp (under "New Projects")
External link
- MobyGame's entry on the game (http://www.mobygames.com/game/sheet/p,3/gameId,2703/)
- American Mcgee's Official Weblog (http://www.americanmcgee.com)de:American McGee's Alice