Amazon MGM Studios is developing an animated movie centered on the Mad Hatter, but reports calling it a Johnny Depp-character reboot are misleading.
The new project will draw from Lewis Carroll’s original literary character rather than Disney’s version played by Depp.
Johnny Depp Reinvented the Mad Hatter in 2010
Johnny Depp played Tarrant Hightopp, Tim Burton’s highly stylized interpretation of the Mad Hatter, in Disney’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland. With orange hair, exaggerated makeup, mismatched eyes and an eccentric voice, Depp made the character one of the movie’s central marketing images. His version expanded a supporting literary figure into a much larger emotional presence within Burton’s Wonderland story.
Johnny Depp Returned as Hatter in 2016
Johnny Depp reprised the Mad Hatter in Alice Through the Looking Glass in 2016. That sequel explored more of Hatter’s family history and again placed Depp prominently beside Mia Wasikowska’s Alice. The two Disney movies are why modern audiences often treat “Mad Hatter” and “Johnny Depp” as almost interchangeable terms, even though Lewis Carroll created the character more than a century before either film.
Amazon MGM Is Developing an Animated Mad Hatter
Amazon MGM Studios and animation company Aniventure are now developing their own animated feature centered on the Mad Hatter. The project was reported in late July 2026. Rather than continuing Disney’s films, the production starts again from the character introduced in Lewis Carroll’s 1865 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, giving Amazon freedom to create a completely different personality, design, and story.
Amazon MGM Attached Scott Mosier to Adapt
Amazon MGM’s Mad Hatter project has Scott Mosier attached to adapt the character. Mosier co-directed Illumination’s 2018 version of The Grinch and has a long producing history with filmmaker Kevin Smith. Adam Nagle is producing through Aniventure. Those are currently among the few confirmed creative details because Amazon MGM has kept the actual storyline secret.
Johnny Depp’s Version Belongs to Disney
Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter is specifically part of Disney’s adaptations, just as Ed Wynn voiced Disney’s earlier animated version in 1951. Amazon MGM can make its own Hatter because Lewis Carroll’s books are in the public domain. Cartoon Brew explicitly reports that the upcoming film draws from Carroll rather than the Disney interpretations, making “reboot” an inaccurate description of the relationship between the projects.
Amazon MGM Has Not Announced Its New Hatter
Amazon MGM has not announced who will voice the Mad Hatter, who will direct the film, or when it will be released. Plot details also remain under wraps. That means there is currently no basis for claims about how closely the character will resemble Depp’s interpretation—or whether the new movie will borrow anything visually from familiar Wonderland adaptations beyond concepts originating with Carroll.
Johnny Depp Is Not Attached to Amazon’s Film
Johnny Depp has not been announced as part of Amazon MGM’s new Mad Hatter project. The confirmed story is more interesting than the misleading reboot headline: one of literature’s strangest characters is getting a fresh animated feature from a different studio, with no announced connection to Depp’s Disney films. Unless future casting changes that, audiences should expect a new Hatter rather than a revived Johnny Depp version.
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