With the reintroduction of Alice in Wonderland tothe big screen it was decided that the memiorable characters were to be given a make over. The make over transformed them into a Burtonesque variation that many people know and love.
The Mad Hatter design was drawn up by both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, strangely enough both illustrations were quite similar to each other. But it seemed that Depp was destined for the role since screenwriter Linda Woolverton created her version of the Hatter with the quirky Johnny Depp in mind and before Tim Burton was brought on to the project.
Depp comments on his feelings toward the character from the book Alice in Wonderland: A Visual Companion, "the idea that he would be so pure in the sense that you see, instantly, what he's feeling. So much so that his clothes, his skin colour, his hair, everything comes to life" (pg 41). Being the serious actor that he is Depp also did research into hatters of the period and discovered how the term 'mad as a hatter' came to be. "And the term 'mad as a hatter' actually came from real hatters when they were making these sort of beautiful beaver pelt top hats. The glue had a very high mercury content . It would stain there hands, and they would go sideways. They'd go goofy from the mercury, and go nuts" (p41). Because of the intensity of the mercury posioning, Depp believed that not only his mind should be altered by it but also his body. So the character's entire face was turned white, while his hair was bright orange as well as his fingertips and his eyes were bright green.
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