When someone takes your favourite book of all-time and one of your favourite films of all-time and goes and remakes it, it’s hard to be completely subjective. You take fond memories and preconceived notions as to what you want to see with you into the theater. Should the film divert from those expectations, the likely result is disappointment. But with Tim Burton helming the second adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I didn’t know what to expect as few are capable of imagining the way he can. Although the tone of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is different from both the book and 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, there is a lot to become enchanted with – even if it looks as though most every character were a product of computer animation.
Willy Wonka is the most popular guy in the world. A confectionery magician, he fills the world with sweets and cavities. After his competitors attempt to steal all of his secrets, Wonka locks the gates to his factory and candy becomes the only thing that finds its way out. Then in the dead of night, posters are posted and a contest is announced. Five children will be given a grand tour of the Wonka factory with one getting a special prize.
The audience is the honorary winner in the Wonka contest as we are invited to marvel at all the marvellous contraptions, gadgets and inventions that make up Wonka’s delicious world. Like the first film and the illustrations of Quentin Blake, Burton brings the factory to life with great detail and style. One wouldn’t expect anything less. When the group walks into the chocolate room in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I still get goosebumps. While this particular moment is a little less built up, the overall look of the factory is still extraordinary and, at times, goosebump inducing. This is the draw of the film. It’s magical and amps up one’s imagination.
It is obvious that Burton was assisted with computer graphics in the design, but this is an instance where computer effects work. Unlike something like Revenge of the Sith where CG clutters the frame and is meant to invoke a feeling of magical reality, Burton’s use of CG in Charlie compliments the entire package: his characters, the costumes, the real sets, Depp’s perfect teeth. One place that I did find the computer work to be a little odd was with the apparent airbrushing of many of the characters. When we are first introduced to Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz) I honestly thought for a moment that he might have been a digital actor. His cheeks and eyes are simply not real looking. The complexions of all of the other children except Charlie seem to have the same treatment but it’s not so obvious or creepy because their cheeks aren’t so big.
In Willy Wonka, the chocolatier’s helpers the Oompa Loompas were merely the rosy-cheeked doppelgangers of the Munchkins In Charlie they, or rather he, is the most entertaining of all. Played by Deep Roy and run through the computerized multiplicity machine, the happy slaves sing and dance through a variety of medleys based on the lyrics from the original Dahl text and music by Danny Elfman. They’re all catchy, fun and innocently sinister.
The film is dotted with several small bits of cleverness as well such as a Wonka chocolate bar becoming a replacement for the monolith from Kubrick’s 2001. Even greater detail comes when you look at the Oompa Loompa in the room and notice that his bleached white chair is in the shape of an orb, another nod in Kubrick’s direction.
But the title is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. “Charlie” comes first, yet he is largely a secondary character to the film’s setting. The same goes for the rest of the characters. Even Depp’s Wonka is merely a means to get to the next invention. The result is a film that is big on looks and quite static in story and character. Other than the Oompa Loompa, everyone in the film – even Wonka himself – becomes part of the background to the factory. There were times when I felt as though the film could have passed as a commercial for an elaborate action figure playset.
Still, there’s something to be said for empowering one’s imagination. Although it might not run parallel with storytelling, inspiring the brain’s left side like Burton does here is exciting. It gives him some leeway in my books. Like Burton’s Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is not a remake but rather his take on already existing text. While it would be impossible not to look at it via Willy Wonka, it need not be done. They both now have their place in my memory, neither of which need to be better than the other. Both have their strengths; both have their weaknesses. They’re both what they are and I wouldn’t want it much differently.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Gallery
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Trailer
