Dutch Pinball Exclusive – the recently announced joint venture between Dutch Pinball’s Barry Driessen and Melvin Brouwer-Williams – has confirmed that their launch title will be Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, based on the classic 1865 children’s book by Lewis Carrol.
In an announcement made today, Dutch Pinball Exclusive (DPX) revealed the theme of their first release, confirming the speculation recently covered in the joint Pinball News and Pinball Magazine PINcast.
DPX was created to design and manufacture small-run boutique titles. Their factory and offices are located in a building across the street from the Dutch Pinball factory in Herkenbosch in the Netherlands.
The Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland design is an evolution of the Alice in Wonderland machine conceived by John Popadiuk. This was one of the games in development by John’s Zidware company when it collapsed, although it never went beyond a cardboard mock-up.
The assets relating to Alice in Wonderland as well as the other two former Zidware titles, Magic Girl and Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland, were acquired by Melvin Brouwer-Williams. Some of these came from the two storage units of artwork, designs and development pieces sold to settle the case against John brought by a group of pre-order buyers.
The Zidware title featured line-art artwork by Jeremy Packer (a.k.a. Zombie Yeti). He is now working for Stern Pinball, so it is no surprise that the teaser poster features artwork from a different artist. Whether Jeremy’s original art will be coloured and utilised in the new game is yet to be seen, although the picture above of Barry and Melvin has them standing either side of a game, where the backglass appears to feature a coloured version of Jeremy’s drawing.
The change in name is significant too. The Alice In Wonderland title is copyrighted by Disney in relation to their 1951 movie of that name and any use of the name or film assets would need to be licensed. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland is the title of the book from 1865 on which the movie was based. That book and its title are now public domain and so can be freely used.
Perhaps not surprisingly, DPX stresses how they are not taking orders or seeking pre-order deposits at this time, but do ask anyone with interest in purchasing the game to contact their DPX distributor so they can be kept updated on pricing and availability, and to help DPX gauge likely interest.
Here’s how DPX made the announcement about Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland.
It is with great pleasure and excitement that we officially announce our new title from DPX: “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” For some time now, rumors have been circulating, but we can now confirm that this highly anticipated game is indeed “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” Some may be familiar with the original concept design by John Popadiuk, initially named “Alice in Wonderland.” This game has evolved from a paper concept into an extraordinary pinball machine. It features hand-sculpted playfield plastics, richly colored playfields, laser-finished ball guides, and a stunning interactive sculpted topper. We offer not just a pinball machine, but a piece of art for your home. The game is designed and engineered by Melvin Brouwer-Williams. More information will be revealed in the coming months. Join Alice on her wonderful adventures and see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Stay tuned! While we are not accepting orders or deposits at this time, you can contact your preferred distributor to be added to the waiting list. |
While DPX haven’t explicitly stated it, the existing Dutch Pinball distributor network is expected to manage sales of DPX titles.
This announcement from DPX is also discussed in the latest (May 2024) edition of the Pinball News & Pinball Magazine PINcast.
We’ll bring you all the latest updates and news from DPX about their upcoming Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland game right here at Pinball News.