Burton, Depp & Wilder: There Is Room For All Three In The Tale Of Willie Wonka

After the debacle that was 2001’s Planet of the Apes, director Tim Burton’s notorious “re-imagining” (not a remake, mind you!) of the Charlton Heston classic and arguably the idiosyncratic director’s worst film, I wasn’t exactly jumping out of my seat to see his take on yet another beloved classic.

This time he has tackled tackling Roald Dahl’s acclaimed children’s novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a book that had already been adapted into a much-adored family film starring Gene Wilder. Although I’d never seen that gem (shudder, shudder), I decided to see Burton’s take first, much to the chagrin of my friends, who had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that I, “the movie maven,” had never seen the 1971 musical.

Well, first things first: Burton avoids the missteps he took with Planet of the Apes and keeps Charlie and the Chocolate Factory locked into the whimsical (yet slightly sinister), fantasy realm in which he is so comfortable. He also sticks with the basics of Dahl’s story and tells the tale of honest and sincere Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore), whose loving, yet poor family barely gets by on their meager means.

They live in the same town as the reclusive candy maker, Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp), who has not been seen for years, but has suddenly announced a contest in which five gold tickets have been hidden in chocolate bars and sent across the globe. The kids who find the tickets will get a chance to meet the candy man and be taken on a tour of his immense chocolate factory.

From the complex opening title sequence (similar to the 1971 film, the movie opens with a sinfully sweet, and appetite inducing, scene of chocolate confections making their way through the Wonka factory) to the introduction of Charlie’s ramshackle home (which itself is an architectural wonder of odd angles and gravity-defying structural design), Burton lets his imagination go wild and thus the visual delights of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are many. But, seeing as how this film is coming from the man behind Beetle Juice, Edward Scissorhands, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Batman and many more visually stunning films, that’s not especially surprising. What is a treat is to see that Burton’s storytelling sense, which is often sorely lacking in his films, is on par with his acumen for eye-popping designs.

Though this film marks the fourth teaming of Burton with actor Depp (and the two seem to share an affinity for making the bizarre not just palatable, but embraceable), I think perhaps the most important re-teaming in this film is Burton with screenwriter John August, who wrote the script for Burton’s last film, Big Fish, which was perhaps the director’s first film to not only tell a coherent story from beginning to end, but make a true, emotional connection with its audience. Here, August comes through for Burton again and the two return to one of the themes from Big Fish: the emotional connection (or divide) between fathers and sons. One of the few add-ins in the film that is not in Dahl’s book is a back-story for Wonka involving his stern father (Christopher Lee), and the contrast of Charlie Bucket’s family life with that of the eccentric Wonka only helps to illuminate this recently recurring theme in Burton’s work.

Lastly, how does Depp’s interpretation compare with Wilder’s beloved take on the fanciful candy maker? Well, there’s a creepiness in Depp’s Wonka that is only fleetingly seen in Wilder’s portrayal, and while there appears to be method behind Wilder’s Wonka madness (he comes off as the knowing, albeit odd, teacher imparting a lesson to his students), Depp’s Wonka is more a naïve recluse who is a victim of his circumstances rather than a controller of them. I’m sure there are many viewers who grew up on Wilder’s portrayal who’ll have a hard time with Depp’s peculiar version, but as one who came to the party late and only recently saw the 1971 version, I think there’s definitely room for both.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is rated PG for quirky situations, action and mild language.