Who called it? I called it. I knew from the first announcement that this Depp guy would be playing the Mad Hatter that this movie wouldn't stay to the original work at all.
With "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass (And What Alice Saw There)" being, hands down, my all-time favorite classic pieces of literature, I get very excited when adaptations or spin-offs occur. (Yes, even the SyFy special "Alice" hit a soft spot for me... but god that was atrocious...)
Now, I will say this, Wonderland is fairly easy to make your own. As you said, Bob, the story really is Alice going from place to place observing quirky things in the world. But some things should never be done to the place. No matter how you spin it, I will always despise the Mad Hatter. Simply because of how much of a popular character he is. Sure, he was crazy, so what? Why doesn't the dormouse or the March Hare get as much recognition as he does? They were both at the tea party. How about Bill the Lizard? Or the Duchess? There are so many people who know nothing of these characters because of how popular the mad hatter is simply because he is, well, mad! But the thing most people don't realize is that every single character in Wonderland is mad. Every last one is crazy in their own regard. To make the Mad Hatter the main character (apart from Alice... oh wait...) is simply idiocy, in my opinion.
American McGee's Alice did something right that not many other spin-offs have been able to do. It was good. It was different, it was gothic, it was good. It took what every kid who goes to Hot Topic thinks they represent and made it awesome. Hell, I'll bet most of those Hot Topic kids would never even touch the game because of how grotesque it can be.
I'm sorry. I went off on so many tangents that the above are hardly able to be understood. But it is still how I feel. Screw the Hatter. Screw Depp for that matter. Give me the Walrus and the Carpenter! Give me Bill! Give me the Dodo! The Gryphon! Fuck the Hatter!
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Ahh... I am calm again...