Interview: "Alice" Character Designer Michael Kutsche

Gerrick Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times has an interview with Alice in Wonderland character designer Michael Kutsche:

GK: “Alice in Wonderland” was your first experience working on a film. How did you fall into the world of Wonderland and Tim Burton?

MK: It was a huge leap for me because I’m from Germany. I’ve been a pretty successful illustrator but not in the field of movies, and I was doing illustrations for games -- like the packaging. Two years ago I put all the work that I did online [because] I never really took good care about making myself public. When you’re working full-time you’re not really thinking about other jobs. One day I was working in my studio in Berlin and I got this e-mail from Sony Imageworks that was like we have this movie project and we found your portfolio would you like to work on a movie? This was a big deal for me.

GK: But you didn’t know you were “auditioning” to work on Alice in Wonderland?

MK: They said there were a couple of illustrators -- kinda like a competition -- so would you please draw a caterpillar. Like think of “Pan's Labyrinth,” real actors with animated features. I did that in one day … I tried to do the best that I could. I got the job and finally met the vice president of Sony Imageworks [Debbie Denise]. She said what movie I’d be working on. She said it was Tim Burton and “Alice in Wonderland.” I was totally like fainting.

GK: What type of creative freedom did you have in your work? Burton has a very unique style. How did you adapt to that?

MK: I worked with visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston – this is the guy who did “Star Wars”! He said we were very early on in the production, we don’t have much direction, take some characters, get some ideas for it and go crazy. That’s what I did. In the beginning, I was a little over the top with it. A little too frightening.



GK:In your early sketches, the Cheshire Cat is more human-like and is slight and slinky, with hot pink stripes and an unsettling, toothy grin, and your Mad Hatter wore industrial goggles and had less whimsy...

MK: Because it’s a Disney production [some of that] didn’t really have that mass appeal. It would have shocked the kids. Tim Burton is a big fan of that book, and the original illustrator. Tim had his own drawings in his London office, so he wanted to have a little bit of a classic feel, so that the animals were more like animals with a twist instead of having a far-off fantasy. Sometimes he gave like a very quick sketch that was really helpful. I would take that and make it really detailed.

GK: With this being a reimagining, as opposed to a remake, how much of the original did you have in your mind as you did your designs?

MK: I was looking at the original drawings from John Tenniel and Arthur Rackham and I also looked at the clothing from that time to have the feel for this period so that it's rooted in some sort of reality. We gave those characters clothing from that time.

GK: Everyone, of course, is focused on the 3-D element of the film. Did knowing that it would be seen in 3-D have any influence on your designs?

MK: Not for this one. I would doubt, maybe in terms of environment. In terms of design itself, even if you look at it in 3-D the brain kinda recognizes it. It's more about the shape and the perspective.

GK: When did you first get into illustrating?

MK: I was always drawing, from kindergarten age. I didn’t really go to art school, I just self trained. At that time I always felt self-conscious that I don’t know too much, now I kinda find that’s what makes it a little more special. It’s not the taste of the professors or one of my [peers].



GK: You’re from Germany and a lot of the work on “Alice” was done in London. How did that work for you?

MK: I worked from home on “Alice” for half a year. I asked if it was a good idea to come to London. They put me on a plane, and took me to Tim’s office. They took me to the set so I could get a feel for the movie, and the production so that the characters aren’t disconnected. After awhile in Plymouth [where large portions of the film were shot] and in London, when the production moved to Culver City they moved me into a little trailer. They asked if I wanted to sit in the Sony building but I wanted to be as close to the set as possible. Of course I wanted to get a peek at what they were doing, so I had this little trailer in the backyard.

GK: People never see the step-by-step process of creative work, the process that went into it.

MK: Of course I read the script in the beginning, then they would send me an e-mail about a character that they needed urgently. I would start doing some sketches, scanning them and putting them in the computer and then making the color refinement. But I would also add some fur textures, little things so in the end it didn’t look like a painting on the computer. It had a more realistic feeling. When they decided on Alan Rickman to be the caterpillar I looked at photos of his face. It wasn’t Photoshopping photos of his face that wouldn’t work. So it had to be a design of its own, it kinda has the character of his eyes and the cheeks. Even if they didn’t cast characters, I always try to imagine who could it be, to try and get as much personality as possible. I think it’s crucial.



GK: You worked on a number of characters, also including the Red Queen and Knave of Hearts. Is there one that sticks out as your favorite?

MK: I think the caterpillar. But I also like the twins in a way, which that’s a design that Bobby Chiu did. As crazy as they are they kinda work together really well. I also think that because usually you have a big group of artists working on one character, because we only had like three people designing them (Kutsche, Chiu and Kei Acedera), they were really distinct. They didn’t get watered down. Like too many cooks [in the kitchen]. I think he was careful not to work with too many people.

Up next for the 32-year-old who said he didn’t “expect to stay in America this long” is character work on “Thor” and “John Carter of Mars,” slated for release in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Third Times Online Sneak Peek of "Alice in Wonderland"

The third and final exclusive sneak peek of Alice in Wonderland has made its debut on Times Online.

Click here for the video. This short clip includes words from Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, and Mia Wasikowska.

Some of the images featured in the slideshow. (Captions from the website, which contains SPOILERS.):


Bandersnatch illustration by Bobby Chiu.




Bayard illustration by Bobby Chiu.


Baynard the Bloodhound is voiced by Timothy Spall.


The Tweedles sketch by Tim Burton.


"I imagine them as naughty Victorian children, with their hand in the honey jar," says Matt Lucas, the British comedian and actor who plays them both. "And so I have made them quite child-like, which does come naturally to me, because I’m a big kid anyway."


Dodo illustration by Michael Kutsche.


Michael Gough lends his voice for the Dodo.


All images from Disney Enterprises, Inc.

More High Resolution "Alice" Images

More Alice in Wonderland art, images, and information on the technology of the film in high resolution detail, courtesy of animatie.blog.nl. Click on the images below to enlarge them:

"Alice": Behind-the-Scenes Image Galleries and Video

Times Online released their second series of exclusive Alice in Wonderland behind-the-scenes material.

Click here to see a short video with footage from the movie and input from Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, producer Suzanne Todd and senior visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston.

UPDATE: The video is now on YouTube:





Also from Times Online are these images that demonstrate the evolution of a few of the many wild characters of Underland, from sketches and illustrations by Tim Burton and Michael Kutsche to their final rendered, costumed, and realized forms. (Captions in quotes are directly from the Times Online galleries. Potential spoilers have been omitted in this article. Go to the original galleries to learn more about the characters, their relationships, and the storyline of the film.):


"The first animated character Alice encounters is the White Rabbit. Here, a storyboard sketch is done as the first step in creating the scene in the film."



"The artists at Imageworks create a low-resolution version of the CG character and place it in the CG environment - low-res allows the animators speed and flexibility while working on the scene."



"Once the character animation is completed, a high-res version of White Rabbit’s performance is checked on a more detailed model called a pit render."


"The performance approved, the Rabbit gets his fur and clothing. There are complex programs designed to make hair, fur and fabric move and behave as realistically as possible."


"This scene shot shows the final product, with all of the high-resolution elements including a furry and clothed Rabbit, his computer-generated surroundings, the matte painting background, the effects of moving leaves - all lit and textured. Elements are combined by a compositor."


"Here is the White Rabbit as illustrated by Michael Kutsche."


"Knave of Hearts sketch by Tim Burton."


"Knave of Hearts illustration by Michael Kutsche."


"The final product: Ilosovic Stayne, The Knave of Hearts, in the film," played by Crispin Glover.


"Red Queen sketch by Tim Burton."



"The final product: Helena Bonham Carter is the tyrannical monarch of Underland. With her oversized head, fiery temper and propensity to scream for people’s heads to be chopped off, she rules her subjects through fear."


"The iconic shot of Alice’s first meeting with the Cheshire Cat, who’s grinning at her from his tree limb, begins with what’s similar to a storyboard sketch, using an assemblage of low-resolution character stills."


"The scene moves to animation, where the character is dropped into a low-resolution environment: the images are kept low-res to allow Imageworks’ animators to create the Cat’s performance without having a lot of data to manipulate."


"The biggest challenge is to create a realistic cat that can generate the trademark exaggerated grin. Here, the all-important hair has been added, ensuring it behaves as it should, where it should be, with the Cat now curled on his limb."


"Here, final lighting is added, along with a full-resolution environment behind the Cat, including the flora and atmosphere added for visual effect."


All images are courtesy of Disney Enterprises.

Mad Hatter Concept Art

More concept art from character designer Michael Kutsche -- this time of the Mad Hatter.

Red Queen Concept Art

Character designer Michael Kutsche has posted a piece of concept art he made of the Red Queen for Alice in Wonderland.

On the DeviantArt page, Kutsche describes his experience with working on the film:


"In 2008 I had the opportunity to do a lot of the character designs for Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland".


I was very lucky to meet Tim Burton as well as Ken Ralston from Sony Imageworks, I've been working directly at the film set in Plymouth and later on at the set in LA, it's been a great time working for one of my favourite directors.
Seeing Johnny Depp's performance was also mindblowing, he's amazingly talented.

Since some images have already been released, including an image of Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, I thought it could be nice to show the initial concept art.
I had a very quick sketch by Tim Burton to start with, the final costume that Helena is wearing is Colleen Atwood's work, she's a fantastic academy award-winning costume designer.
The artwork is completely done with Corel Painter X.

My IMDb page: [link]

Enjoy!"