Disney, with their children classics, usually hit all the right notes both with their signature style and substance. But they got the aforementioned substance majorly wrong in “Alice Through The Looking Glass. ” It’s been six years since Tim Burton’s quirky, fun and clever “Alice in Wonderland.” Alas, time hasn’t been kind to this sequel, which opens this Friday. Directed surprisingly haphazardly by “Muppets” director James Bobin, and written equally so by Linda Wolverton, the film is unfortunately devoid of charm and whimsy and never seems to quite come together.

The actors are certainly game, returning veterans include Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Sacha Baron Cohen as the Chronosphere from Time and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. It was also lovely to hear the late Alan Rickman as the voice of the butterfly Abolsem as well as Stephen Fry as the Cheshire cat and Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit.

But even with all that uber talent, the film bottom line doesn’t work on many levels. The plot is basically this: Alice, years after her Wonderland adventure, is now a liberated, saucy sea captain who has traveled worldwide, comes home and faces the danger of losing her beloved home and ship. The film then majorly stumbles, as she transports through the Looking Glass to figure out a way to fix her problems and herself. She winds up back in time to an ethereal, magical world filled with colors and magic. But other than the superbly engaging visuals, the boring and most times incoherent plot, not to mention truly scary at times with it’s zombie and death scenes for the young ones, well the film simply never clicks.

The actors all seem to be in their own movies. To be fair, Bonham Carter does stand out with her over the top relish and Depp does hit some poignant moments in the last part of the film. Sacha Baron Cohen is committed, but unfortunately his accent, as well as some of the other actors’ thick caricature like accents, make them hard to understand. Lewis Carroll would not be pleased at with his beloved stories being squandered like this. Maybe best if our beloved Alice should go on a way long break.

PS “Alice” has a 30 on Rotten Tomatoes, which doesn’t bode well. Expect a big Saturday afternoon but a lukewarm weekend at the box office.

There’s no amber alert for chimpanzees, but maybe there should be. Tommy, the chimp who was at the center of a much publicized lawsuit over his rights and “personhood” last year, is missing.

Tommy is featured in an Oscar worthy documentary opening today in New York called “Unlocking the Cage” by Oscar nominee Chris Hegedus and lifetime Oscar winner DA Pennebaker.

Last night the film was screened at HBO (which will air it once “ULC” has a theatrical run across the country over the next few months) for a bevy of impressive filmmakers including Joel Coen, Nancy Biurski (“The Loving Story”) and Oscar and Emmy winner Karen Goodman.

Florida based attorney Steven Wise, who teaches at Harvard Law School, has devoted himself now to animal rights. With his Nonhuman Rights Project, Wise has become internationally known as an animal rights advocate. He sued in 2013 to have Tommy moved from a horrible cage in upstate Gloversville, New York to the beautiful Save the Chimps sanctuary in Ft. Pierce, Florida. Wise got the case all the way up to State Supreme Court in New York.

In the interim, Tommy was moved from his Gloversville cage to a roadside zoo in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Tragically, reports now are that Tommy has disappeared altogether. So far, there’s been no report of his death– which must be reported. Wise and his staff are now on a furious mission to find Tommy.

“A wealthy benefactor has even offered to buy him and bring him to Save the Chimps,” Wise told me last night. “But there may be issues there, too.”

“Unlocking the Cage” traces Wise’s transformation from a lawyer with a large full time human practice to an advocate determined to secure “personhood” rights for all animals. He is not a animal fanatic– he just has a cute dog. But he is insistent that- so to speak– every dog have its day.

Like all Pennebaker Hegedus Films, access here is mesmerizing as the filmmakers managed to get into places like courtrooms where cameras are never allowed. You get to see surprising and disappointing examples of how an appeals court is run by justices who you hope you’ll never have to depend on for human rights.

And where is Tommy? The hunt is on. Believe me, once you see the chimps featured in this film you’ll want them all moved to Save the Chimps by federal decree.

There’s a lot of Hollywood royalty in this story: “American Horror Story” star Lily Rabe, known to New Yorkers as the best young theater actress, is going to play silent film star Mary Pickford in a new film.

Rabe, of course, is the daughter of playwright David Rabe and the late great actress Jill Clayburgh.

“The First” is being produced by Jen DeLia and Julie Pacino, who is also the daughter of Al Pacino. They’ve been working on this project a long time and now it’s ready to roll. They’ve also got Michael Pitt as ‘Owen Moore’, Julia Stiles as ‘Frances Marion’, Billy Magnussen as ‘Jack Pickford’, Louisa Krause as ‘Lottie Pickford’, Josephine de La Baume as ‘Elsie Janis’, and Ryan Simpkins as a younger ‘Mary Pickford’. 

More names are to come soon including D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Adolf Zukor, Samuel Goldwyn, Lillian Gish and Charlotte Hennessy (Mary’s mother).Of course, Lily Rabe’s real life boyfriend and frequent acting partner, Hamish Linklater, would be a great Fairbanks.

DeLia is directing from a script written by her with Josh Fagin.

“The First” will be cast by Bonnie Timmermann and Adrienne Stern, with cinematography by Larry Smith who shot Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, production design by Oscar-nominee Anastasia Masaro, costume design by Amit Gajwani, and hair and make-up design by Oscar-winner Jan Archibald.  The production companies are Poverty Row Entertainment, Katsize Films, and IMC Entertainment.

This movie will not be silent, by a long shot. Pickford, Fairbanks, and Chaplin were among the group that founded United Artists Pictures in the 1920s.