Should there be an Alice in Wonderland sequel?

Disney have announced that the sequel to 2010's smash hit 'Alice in Wonderland' is set for a May 27th 2016 release.
Whilst Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska will be returning, Tim Burton will hand over his director's reins to James Bobin.
Bobin has already made his mark with the Disney studio, having directed 'The Muppets' and written and directed the sequel 'Muppets Most Wanted', due for release next year.
Linda Woolverton will return to write the screenplay but it's currently unknown what direction the sequel will take. With Alice's journey coming full circle in the original film, we don't know what will draw her back into Wonderland as we last saw her transition into adulthood by getting an apprenticeship but we can be sure that Woolverton will come up with an imaginative reason for her return.
Commercially, it's no surprise that a sequel will be hitting the big screen as 'Alice in Wonderland' earned over $1 billion at the box office but critical reviews were extremely mixed.
Much of the critical response focused on Burton's focus on style over narrative, something that was extremely distracting as a viewer and, although it was only a loose adaptation of Lewis Carroll's source material, many considered the film to be more of a retelling of the original tale than an adaptation.
You could tell that 'Alice in Wonderland' was wholeheartedly a Disney flick clearly inspired by the studio's other popular franchise adaptation, 'The Chronicles of Narnia'. Gone was the absurdity of Carroll's world of madness and in its place was a war torn landscape ruled by a dictator Queen.
So the question is, should there be a sequel? Critically, there's not much demand for it and fans of Lewis Carroll's original work were disappointed that the framework of the film digressed from the spirit of the source text.
It's rumoured that Tim Burton consciously made the decision to add an emotional grounding to the narrative as he felt it was something that hadn't been seen in 'Alice in Wonderland' adaptations before. He has also commented that he previously found it difficult to connect with the titular character whilst she was simply going from one crazy encounter to another, however, it's unknown if Bobin will have the same stance or if he'll revert back to the absurdity of the source text.
'Alice in Wonderland' was an all-action visual treat but, with a narrative that left a lot to be desired, Bobin will have his work cut out to try to balance style and substance in the sequel. Here's hoping that Woolverton produces a stellar script that shows us a sequel is being made for all the right reasons, not just because of the commercial success of its predecessor.

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