A new twist to a kiddie tale

Film review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Ads of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory should come with a warning "See at your own risk" to children and all those who have had the opportunity to watch the first film version Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on video during these past three decades. This is because this new movie will destroy whatever ideas they have developed and nurtured over the years about the story.

The first adaptation of Charlie, with Gene Wilder as the eccentric chocolate factory owner came out in 1971. Because it had a big star like Wilder in a major role and an unknown boy as Charlie, the title was changed into Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It was a thoroughly wholesome, sweetness and light rendering of the Roald Dahl book.

Dahl was not your usual kiddie story-teller. His works are creepy and disturbing. Witches, James and the Giant Peach and Matilda all put kids in bizarre situations where the adults are not of much help or should have been dispensed with. Dahl took great care though to portray the children as always intelligent, creative and able to look at things with startling clarity.

Charlie is such a kid. He has all the qualities adults believe children should have. He is honest, hardworking, obedient, caring and willing to support two sets of grandparents who have taken to their beds. In this case, literally, one bed. He wins a ticket, alongside four other children who are his exact opposites: noisy, naughty, bratty, greedy, etc., etc. to tour Wonka’s factory, an amusement park made entirely of candy. By the end of the tour, Charlie has won Wonka over enough to become heir to the chocolate empire.

The cast, Wilder, Peter Ostrum as Charlie and Jack Albertson as Grandpa Joe were charming and believable. The songs by Leslie Bricusse were melodic and clever. In fact, the soundtrack spawned two big hits, Candyman and Pure Imagination. Then there are the Oompa Loompas, little men director Mel Stuart used as a Greek chorus to tell Roald’s rhymed reasons why Charlie’s annoying rivals should be taught their lessons.

It was no perfect film. Some critics found the portrayals disconnected and the settings faked. Truth to tell, Wilder’s portrayal of Wonka, while amusing, was too laid back to connect with the other characters, particularly Charlie. But I must say they certainly connected with moviegoers and have remained so to this day. As for the sets, they were bright and colorful like props in a nursery school program. Could have been better, but they were the kind children easily identified with.

Fast forward to 34 years later and after Tim Burton, a truly imaginative director, has made a new film out of Charlie with the fearless Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. Great! A not-to-be-missed experience. This, after all, was the same team behind the affecting Edward Scissorhands. Roald Dahl is in excellent hands.

Despite the disjointed storyline, everybody knows what will happen anyway. Burton does use the book like a road map to bring the familiar characters to life and every surprising detail of the factory. He also retains a good amount of Dahl’s flair for the absurd and puts the creeps on what is seen as just another poor boy makes good tale. Served intact are all the acerbic subtleties the Wilder version did away with but which Burton and Depp too serve up with glee.

Depp, as expected is at his inventive best. He certainly enjoys transforming himself into various characters and particularly relished becoming Wonka. It is just too bad though that this is not a good time to admit that his pale face, measured speech, built-in smile and hint of the sinister were patterned after Michael Jackson. Remember, he channeled Keith Richards for his Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean and got an Oscar nomination.

Like his star, Burton also had a grand time running wild in a movie factory with the picture. Every scene is a visual treat that echoes something from his film watching past. Think sci-fi, musicals, horror, etc., etc. Then to show a mastery of digital technology, all of the Oompa Loompas are played by one actor, Deep Roy, who is multiplied hundreds of times over to do the Busby Berkeley influenced musical numbers set to the music of Danny Elfman. Impressive.

Real kids though like in Dahl’s stories can see through any razzle-dazzle served up by adults. This is why Burton should have also been given a warning, "Show at your own risk." The children are not impressed. Scary factory. Ugly Oompa Loompas. Are they singing songs? Wonka is not nice at all. I’m bored. I’m sleepy. Etc., etc. Burton has taken one of their favorite stories and turned it into a filmmakers’ showcase and they do not like the results at all. No need to wonder why the Willy Wonka video has gone up in the sales and rentals charts.

Burton cannot also use the reasoning that he just stayed true to the original. I do not know if it was an effort on his part to please Depp but Wonka has a back story in this version to explain his overly perfect set of teeth and why he built the factory. It turns out that his father is a very strict dentist who looks like Dracula or Sarinam of Lord of the Rings. To be fair though, Burton accomplished something here that Willy Wonka failed to do. Wonka and Charlie, played by Freddie Highmore of Finding Neverland, who is such a natural actor, connected with very warm results.

Comparisons are odious and connected to that is the only gripe I have about the preservation of old films and of releasing them on video. Remakes get to be compared to the original and despite technological advancements, often with disastrous results. Filmmakers and actors just seem to be more talented and more glamorous in the old days, more so when you are contending with beloved childhood memories.