Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

Post by **Meg** » September 10th, 2005, 8:53 am

That explains everything!

Post by **ShyViolet** » November 28th, 2005, 1:27 am

I want the DVD. I have the soundtrack and I love it! (Could get a Best Score nom easily)

I still think either "Willy Wonka" or "Mike TV" will get best song!

Post by **ShyViolet** » February 21st, 2006, 1:03 pm

I can't believe NONE of the songs in this film scored a nom.

WHAT IS WITH THAT?????

Post by **Dacey** » February 21st, 2006, 3:04 pm

Because the lyrics were taken from the book. They were not original.

And, besides, none of them were exactly "Oscar Stuff".

Post by **ShyViolet** » August 21st, 2006, 2:16 am

I know this thread is quite old but the film has been on HBO a lot lately (it premiered this month) I'm happy to say that it's still very enjoyable and holds up quite well. It will be a classic, just as Wilder's version is.

Post by **Ben** » August 21st, 2006, 10:07 pm

This has started showing here on Sky Movies too this month. I probably enjoyed it more the second time than when I saw it at the theater.

I just don't like the Father flashbacks though. They don't fit and don't make any sense to later plot points. Also, Wonka in Lumpa Land just looks like Johnny Depp in a safari hat...no Wonka there.

Post by **ShyViolet** » August 22nd, 2006, 12:30 pm

I just don't like the Father flashbacks though

Yeah, there was defintely a distracting clash between the obviously insane and somewhat dysfunctional Wonka of the present and the timid child of the past.

It did feel kinda tacked on (even though it was kinda funny) and too fantastic even for a fantasy--Tim Burton indulging himself like he did in Big Fish.

And I'm positive that the little boy's voice in the flashback was dubbed...he could NOT have spoken very clearly with that thing on his head.

If you look carefully, his mouth barely moves at all.

But I LOVE those Oompa-Loompa songs and the OL's are hilarious all by themselves--every time I see one I want to laugh.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » June 19th, 2009, 9:42 pm

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents Friday 19 June 2009

The original film adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the GOOD adaptation) starring Gene Wilder, is being released October 20th on Blu ray for $34.99. Format is Digibook.

In addition, announcements will be coming soon for the fall releases of Gone with the Wind and North By Northwest on Blu ray as well. North by Northwest will probably be the first major Alfred Hitchcock film to be released on Blu ray.

Post by **Ben** » June 20th, 2009, 6:24 am

Well, there goes my pledge not to keep picking up BDs of DVDs I already have!

All three for me please!

Post by **estefan** » June 20th, 2009, 8:17 am

I have to disagree with it being the GOOD adaptation. As a massive fan of the book, I really dislike the Gene Wilder version. Plus, it hasn't aged well at all.

In regards to Blu-Ray, I haven't gotten the incentive yet to jump on that train yet.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » June 24th, 2009, 12:47 pm

Depends on what you want in a film, Estefan.

Roald Dahl wasn't happy about ANY film adaptation of his work. That's typical of authors who don't like to be edited by other people and can't divorce themselves from their work and see the trees for the forest as it were. The guy was terminally depressed and wouldn't have been happy even if he had lived to see the Burton version!

FYI, Dahl WROTE the screenplay for the 1971 Wonka movie. Most people who have seen both films and AREN'T worshippers of Tim Burton prefer Wilder to Depp. At any rate, Burton has a lousy track record on remakes and those films have not fared as well as their predecessors over time. I sure don't run into people begging to see his versions of Planet of the Apes or Willy Wonka and guess which versions of the films STILL play more often on television?

The problem with the Depp film is that it IS mean-spirited without the clever wordplay and innuendo the previous film had. Both film adaptations take liberties with the story and Burton's film is more a flawed remake of the 1971 film than a faithful adaptation of the Wonka books. If anything, the Depp film had less excuse to do what it did because Burton had the technology to make a film closer to the original stories (which I have a B & N collection of and were exposed to in elementary school). Burton added a lot more nonsense to his film's story that also wasn't in the books, either, while making his Wonka a Michael Jackson-Goth which I don't think was what Dahl intended, either. What was the business with adding in Wonka's daddy when he wasn't even mentioned in Rahl's books? It was just an excuse for Burton to cast one of his childhood idols (Christopher Lee) in a new movie! As much as I like Lee his character really wasn't necessary and dragged out a movie I had problems sitting through as it were with the awful music....

The Wilder film is also known for its music in addition to Gene Wilder's sensitive performance. There are several scenes in that film that have become iconic musical threads. Sammy Davis, Jr. even adapted "The Candy Man" into his Vegas act and it became one of his signature songs and best-selling/most fondly remembered tracks!

None of the lyrics for the Wilder film were in the books but look at the disaster that happened in the Burton film when Danny Elfman tried to make music out of what was written in Dahl's books. It just didn't work!

Look, film adaptations are what they are. Some stick in our memories better regardless of faithfulness to source material. The Wilder film IS still more popular than the Burton/Depp remake just as the MGM Wizard of Oz trumps all the other Oz films ever made regardless of how wildly it sometimes diverges from its literary roots. There is a quality in the 1939 and 1971 films that is sorely lacking in their predecessors/remake attempts and that's why they've endured.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » June 24th, 2009, 12:50 pm

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents Info added today about the 1971 Willy Wonka BD release. If you have the DVD, no reason to upgrade OR sell the DVD and buy the BD. Extras look to be the same as previous home video releases.

Also, there is advance word on the 2009 Star Trek movie BD as well as peeks at the covers for some nice Moon Landing tie-in videos. This year IS the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the official beginning of space exploration... Too bad it's been stalled since 1972.

Post by **Whippet Angel** » June 24th, 2009, 1:13 pm

The problem with the Depp film is that it IS mean-spirited without the clever wordplay and innuendo the previous film had. Both film adaptations take liberties with the story and Burton's film is more a flawed remake of the 1971 film than a faithful adaptation of the Wonka books.

Totally disagree with you there (and it's not cause I'm a Burton fangirl

). I was introduced to the book when I was in the first grade. I remember being excited when our teacher let us watch the movie in class, because she had just finished reading it aloud to us (I had read it on my own a few times as well).

I remember being just a bit disappointed. I liked the movie, but it was not quite what I imagined it would be. I also didn't understand why it had to be a full on musical. I still feel this way about the film today. Burton's version on the other hand, just had the right "feel" to it.

Post by **estefan** » June 24th, 2009, 7:34 pm

Well, I respectively disagree. I found the acting in the 1971 version to be flat (with the exception of Wilder), the songs (minus "Pure Imagination") to be annoying, the psychedelic nature to be extremely dated, the art direction to be cheap and the story to be poorly adapted. It felt as if Sid & Marty Kroft had tried to adapt Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

In regards to Dahl, he wrote the very first draft of the Willy Wonka script, but it was then massively re-written by a ghost writer. And he did praise the animated film version of the BFG. It's unfortunate that he died before seeing James and the Giant Peach, Matilda and Burton's Charlie.

I found Tim Burton's film to be wonderfully adapted, perfectly capturing the style of the book, the score by Danny Elfman was magical, the visual look to be note-perfect, the acting (especially from Highmore and Depp) to be excellent, etc, etc. But, to each his own, I guess.

I did a whole video criticising the 70s version, so you're free to give it a look:
http://thatfellowinthecoat.com/fellowch ... actory.php

Post by **droosan** » June 24th, 2009, 9:10 pm

As a child in the 1970's, I was at the target age for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (which I'm pretty sure I remember being titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, at the time) .. but, having first read the book, I too was very 'unhappy' with it even then, and I do agree that the film hasn't 'aged' well, besides.

I do prefer Tim Burton's adaptation of the material .. but I don't think Johnny Depp's 'Michael Jackson'-esque portrayal of Willy Wonka was terribly true to the spirit of the sprightly --practically elfin -- figure of which Dahl wrote. The 'dentist father' sideplot was likewise out-of-character, IMO.

So, I don't think either adaptation is 'perfect'. But Burton's 'remake' got much closer to the spirit of the book than the 'original' film, AFAIC.

I've long hoped for a film adaptation of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, myself. Maybe someday ..

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory arrives on BD soon