White House 'hushed up' Alice in Wonderland Halloween party

The White House covered up a Alice in Wonderland-themed Halloween party, which was staged by film director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp, for fear of sending out wrong messages during 2009 recession, a new book 'The Obamas' has revealed.

During the event, Depp greeted guests in the costume he sported in the film version of Lewis Carroll's fiction.

Burton was given carte blanche to transform the state dining room into a Mad Hatter's tea party in "his signature creepy-comic style," the Telegraph reported.

According to the book by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor, a long table was "set with antique-looking linens, enormous stuffed animals in chairs, and tiered serving plates with treats like bone-shaped meringue cookies".

She also claims that fruit punch was served in blood vials at the bar.eorge Lucas sent Chewbacca from Star Wars to hang around with invited guests, who included the Obamas' two daughters Malia and Sasha and friends, the children of White House staff members and military families.

The White House press corps was allowed to report on more modest festivities earlier that day for Washington-area school children, but were not permitted to release details of the more glamorous festivities that occurred later for what was the Obamas' first Halloween in office in 2009.

The only images released showed the first couple greeting children outside the dining room, with Michelle Obama in a leopard fancy dress costume.

The president's aides decided the party would end up creating a wrong impression at a time when the Tea Party was on the rise with its message against Washington's excesses and unemployment had mounted sharply to ten per cent.

"White House officials were so nervous about how a splashy, Hollywood-esque party would look to jobless Americans or their representatives in Congress, who would soon vote on health care that the event was not discussed publicly and Burton's and Depp's contributions went unacknowledged," Kantor wrote. (ANI)