Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

[bedlamsbard]

Because I am apparently on that kind of kick, I watched the 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night, and after the initial shock of, wait, this came out in 2005? I thought it came out last year, I have a few thoughts.

I liked the 1979 version much more than this version, for a couple of reasons. I much preferred Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka to Johnny Depp's -- Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka was much more lovable and believably quirky, while Johnny Depp's just came out sort of disturbing. We talked about this in my fairy tales class a couple weeks ago, and came to the general conclusion that the 2005 version is in many ways much closer to Roald Dahl's text, but that the 1979 version is much closer to the feel of the book.

I liked the Oompa-Loompas in the 1979 version much more than the 2005 version -- the 2005 version was a little unpleasantly racist that, although it goes with the book (the first edition of the novel has the Oompa-Loompas described as looking like chocolate men; when called on it, Roald Dahl changed it), left me feeling a little cold and a lot uncomfortable. And while their musical numbers were much more dramatic and used the lyrics from the book, well -- *shrugs* Again, left rather cold.

One thing that I really, really liked from the 2005 version was Charlie's parents, who I don't think are ever named aside from being Mr. Bucket and Mrs. Bucket. They were adorable, and I officially do not care about Willy Wonka and his daddy issues, I adore Mr. and Mrs. Bucket. (Played by Helena Bonham Carter and Noah Taylor.)

I kind of despised Willy Wonka's daddy issues, although the reunion was sweet.

The 1979 version had a much more international feel that the 2005 film reached for but didn't quite get. Also, it's interesting that they kept the nationalities of all the children from the 1979 film, none of which are in the books. Augustus Gloop is German, Veruca Salt is British, Mike Teevee and Violet Beauregarde are both American -- they did change the states for those two, but the nationalities are the same. Which says something interesting about stereotypes, I suppose.

I did like the pink sheep that Willy Wonka doesn't want to talk about. And Violet and Veruca deciding they're going to be friends, although that certainly didn't last.

I really wish they'd used the poached egg line from the book, because I love it so.

Comments

[aella_irene]

My mother's cousin designed the set, and we got a tour.

[bedlamsbard]

Oooh, that's awesome.

[aella_irene]

Alex McDowell, in case you're looking. I will admit to only noticing how utterly amazing the set was.

[darklyndsea]

I haven't watched it yet, because to be honest, the trailers terrified me. It makes no logical sense- I'm an adult! I shouldn't be terrified of a children's movie I haven't even seen! But there you have it.

[bedlamsbard]

I don't actually feel like it was that creepy, just really quirky and a little morally dodgy at time. Like the book. *shrugs*

[darklyndsea]

I kind of get the feeling that if I actually forced myself to watch it, it wouldn't be as bad as it looks in the trailers. So I'll probably force myself to one of these days. I just have to conquer my fear first.

[bedlamsbard]

My opinion? The trailers make it look worse than it actually is. Personally, I would watch it just for Mr. and Mrs. Bucket, but I think I'm in a minority opinion here... (They are so adorable I may explode.)

[gisho]

Huh. I actually felt the 2005 film was closer to the mood of the book; the 1979 version felt too sugar-coated. (Perhaps that's an innapropriate metaphor when discussing a movie about a chocolate factory, but.) Roald Dahl's books often have a dark undercurrent; they're very much like fairy tales in that way. The 1979 film felt like the cleaned-up modern version of a fairytale, with a morality lesson tacked on, while the 2005 film seemed more willing to enjoy its teeth.

[bedlamsbard]

I believe that would be why we did the book and the movie in my fairy tales class. *grins* (Now, if only we had had the time in the class to actually discuss it; one of my major downfallings with that class was that we had too much material and not enough time to discuss it. *sighs*)

I don't know -- neither of them was really all that close to the book and the message I think Dahl wanted to get across; the 2005 came close, but I really, really hated the way they tacked on Willy Wonka's daddy issues, and Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka skeeved me out in a way that Gene Wilder's didn't. *shrugs* But, you know, YMMV.

[gisho]

I didn't like the daddy issues, but at least they were funny.

Are any adaptaions of Dahl's work faithful to the spirit of the books, that you're aware of? The only other one I've seen was the 1990 film of Witches, and while it seemed skillfully done most of the way, I hated the way they dealt with the ending. I'm sort of afraid to watch 'Matilda'.

[bedlamsbard]

Hmm -- I've neither seen nor read Witches, and the only time I've ever seen Matilda it was, uh, actually in French. Also I was nine. I heard the Fantastic Mr. Fox was good?

[snacky]

Oh, when the 2005 movie came out I remember having fights about it with my bookstore coworkers, because while I did think, overall, it was more faithful to the book, I hated the Willy Wonka and the ridiculous side backstory about his daddy the dentist.

I was actually shocked at how close it mapped to the text! But since it was a Tim Burton/Johnny Depp film, it had to up the creepy factor somehow, and that was the portrayal of Wonka as weirdo with daddy issues. I feel like Gene Wilder gave a much better performance of Wonka - one that was much more faithful to the spirit of the character, despite the fact that the 1971 movie wasn't very close to the book.

And yes, 100% agree on the Buckets! I loved the entire family.

[bedlamsbard]

The Buckets are adorable.

How I hated the daddy issues, let me count the ways. *scowls*

[snacky]

I actually hated the daddy issues so much, I left the theater ranting. "THIS IS NOT WILLY WONKA!"