Avril Lavigne among artists on Disney’s ’Almost Alice,’ out Tuesday

Photo by Disney

Mia Wasikowska stars in "Alice in Wonderland."

Photo by Disney

Mia Wasikowska stars in "Alice in Wonderland."

Three days before Tim Burton’s 3-D reimagining of “Alice in Wonderland” with Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway hits U.S. theaters, Buena Vista Records will release an “inspired by” album that offers as much star power as the film. “Almost Alice,” due Tuesday, features original songs from pop and rock acts like 3OH!3, the All-American Rejects and Franz Ferdinand and a marketing campaign that highlights their broad appeal.

Avril Lavigne’s empowering new track, “Alice,” has sold 45,000 copies in four weeks of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and will play over the film’s end credits. The artist signed on to the project because of the film’s unique charm. “I’ve always liked the story,” she says, “and it was exciting to see Tim Burton put his cool twist on it.”

When Buena Vista reached out to other artists to contribute tracks for the album late last year, the label encountered similarly enthusiastic responses from self-professed fans of Burton’s work. The project came together as a radio-friendly addendum to Danny Elfman’s original score to the film, also coming March 2 on Walt Disney Records.

“Danny Elfman creates these wonderful soundscapes and his fans will buy whatever he releases,” Walt Disney Records vice president of marketing Rob Souriall says. “But at the core of 1/8” Almost Alice “3/8 is Tim Burton’s vision and this amazing list of artists it has inspired.”

The 16 tracks on “Almost Alice” include cuts by Metro Station, Kerli, Shinedown, Motion City Soundtrack and the Cure’s Robert Smith, who offers a lively take on “Very Good Advice,” the only song from Disney’s 1951 animated version to be featured on the soundtrack. Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, who collaborated with Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz on “In Transit,” says the strong lineup will encourage listeners to explore the full record.

“There will be people who will pick and choose certain songs to download,” Hoppus says, “but this album will be something people are going to want to have as a whole.”

The track list’s diversity has also allowed the label to service the album to four radio formats — pop, hot AC, alternative and rock — with different songs attracting buzz from separate demographics. “Follow Me Down” by 3OH!3 featuring Neon Hitch, for example, debuts this week at No. 89 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 21 on Radio Disney’s most-requested songs list, while alternative KYSR-FM Los Angeles has been receiving requests for “In Transit.”

After Lavigne’s “Alice” premiered on the “On Air With Ryan Seacrest” radio program in late January, Buena Vista began streaming songs from “Almost Alice” online in a partnership with MySpace Music. On Feb. 19, 3OH!3 and Metro Station performed live at a fan event at L.A.’s Hollywood & Highland Center, which also had a costume contest and a cast appearance. In addition to two bonus tracks available through iTunes, an exclusive version of “Almost Alice” featuring three bonus tracks will be available through fashion retailer Hot Topic beginning March 2.

Buena Vista will boost promotion of “Almost Alice” during its week of release. Lavigne will perform “Alice” March 3 on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” while advertisements for the album will run before screenings of “Alice in Wonderland.”

For Lavigne, contributing to “Almost Alice” was the perfect platform to lead up to her “somewhat more raw” fourth album, which is slated for a June release. “It was a cool way for me to get out there again,” she says. “This was such an amazing project for me to be a part of that I never could have turned it down.”

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