Pop culture savvy readers should have no trouble recognizing The Simpsons reference in today’s comic. It’s Homer’s revolutionary makeup gun from episode 5F21 – “The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace!”

Do I like The Simpsons? Um, yeah. Like, a lot.

I know it’s kind of shameless to lift a joke like this, but I can’t look at Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter and think of anything else. The makeup is so scatter-shot and sloppy. It looks like he visited a nursing home and told the ladies to “go wild” giving him a makeover.

I know this is kind of stupid, but the vacancy in Depp’s stare as afforded to him by those contact lenses really bugs me. Yeah, I get that he’s supposed to be, y’know, insane. So a little vacancy is appropriate. But what usually makes Depp’s characters interesting to me is that they either know they’re insane and play into it or they know they’re insane and don’t care. His characters have a foundation of intelligence that elevates them a little bit.

From what I’ve seen of Depp’s performance in the trailers and commercials indicates to me that it’s basically him prancing around, hooting and hollering for the length of the movie. There’s no substance.

I guess that’s my problem with Alice in Wonderland in general. I’ve never been a fan of the material. What is fun or interesting about portraying insanity in a way that is untethered to real-life circumstances. It’s silly for the sake of being silly.

I read Owen Gleiberman’s review in Entertainment Weekly and I thought he hit on a particular truth. “Once Alice tumbles into Wonderland, everyone she meets is, if not certifiable, then a blithely self-absorbed, nattering crackpot-narcissist. The book is a visionary satire of the newly emerging modern world, in which everyone is really babbling to no one but themselves. The challenge of adapting Alice in Wonderland is this: How do you create relationships, a story, a purpose out of a tale whose prime purpose is not to have one?”

I guess I’m skeptical that Burton and Depp can assign any significance to the material beyond the visual punch.

I’ve likely beat this dead horse into dust by this point, so I’ll hang it up for now. If anyone here sees Alice in Wonderland, I’d love to hear your opinons. You can leave them in the comments section below!

Have a great weekend, everyone!