Wednesday, 2 April 2014

Who played the best Mad Hatter?

We all have that one Alice in Wonderland interpretation that we love. Whether it is the classic Disney animation or the 1985 version with the adorable Natalie Gregory, there are so many different interpretations of the book. In all of them, the most memorable character is usually the Mad Hatter. But who played the best Mad Hatter? Who was the actor that stuck close to the original madness of the character?

You have to give some love to the Disney cartoon Mad Hatter voiced by Ed Wynne. One of my favourite children movies, who could forget the Unbirthday song?, I watched it over and over when I was little. His voice can be described as amusing, in itself a joke, with the lisping and giddle cackle. The mad hatter in the animation was actually based off Ed Wynne as the artist was asked to listen to the voice and draw what he thought the character should look like. Who better then Ed Wynne to play a completely mad character?


Although he has mad dance skills, there is something about Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter that never sat well with me. I love Johnny Depp, I mean who doesn't? But the Scottish accent mixed in with the weird eyes and hair, he never appealed to me as the Mad Hatter. I was never a big fan of the 2010 Alice in Wonderland film because they focused more on the the setting and the CGI animations rather than the characters that make Alice in Wonderland, but Johnny Depp was definitely a highlight.



My favorite interpretation will always be Martin Short as the Mad Hatter. The 1999 TV movie is my go to Alice in Wonderland film and Martin Short always sticks with me. The voice he puts on, his face expressions, his actions and his outfits are exactly how I imagined they would be. Even when he sings, his actions just scream the Mad Hatter.



The Mad Hatter is still a popular character to portray in modern media. The Alice SYFY series had Andrew-Lee Potts as the Mad Hatter who played a more darker character, who seemed to be considerable less mad then other interpretations. Once Upon a Time has Sebastian Stan playing the Mad Hatter who yet again appears more darker then the original interpretations. Although both good interpretations, I still prefer the classic Mad Hatter.


There are more Mad Hatters out there. These are just some of my favourites.

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