Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Fans of Roald Dahl, who wrote the novel, have generally never been happy with the 1971 Gene Wilder version released as Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory because–as happened with so many of Dahl’s stories–the movie manicured off his slightly demented twists and edges.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was worth making because director Tim Burton and his frequent partners in the bizarre Johnny Depp and writer John August (who wrote Burton’s Big Fish and Corpse Bride and his his feature directing debut The Nines premiering tonight at Sundance) share Dahl’s sensibility. Taking into account the far more sophisticated special effects available today, this is very similar to the first in the big picture: the same five kid/parent characters meet the same five ends, Charlie lives in a barely standing shack where his four grandparents remain in a single big bed/dinner table (though Jack Albertson probably gave a better performance than David Kelly as Grandpa Joe) and the Oompah Loompahs sing and dance as they clean up after the greedy, grasping kids.

But Burton uses a smart twist unavailable to Mel Stuart 35 years ago, casting only a single man, the short-statured Deep Roy, as all 165 Oompah Loompahs (male and female) and additionally throws in flashbacks to Wonka’s own childhood that illuminate his brilliant insanity where Wilder seemed meanspirited; how the possessive nut sorting squirrels take care of Veruca Salt et pere was simply a hoot. I have to admit that I’d probably have joined Augustus Gloop in that amazing chocolate river.
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