Willy Wonky (1971) or Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (2005)

This should've been a poll.

The original, minus the horrible songs.

Willy Wonka, of course. The Johnny Depp version was a hot mess.

Wonky, OP?

Is that the Andy Cohen version?

R4 that's Walleyed Wanker and His chocolate factory

1971

R2 The original had at least one great song -- Pure Imagination

Veruca's song was pretty great, too. You TWERP!

1971 by far. I WILL say, that the boat ride in the remake really gave viewers an idea of just how vast and cavernous the factory is. And the Augustus Gloop scenario was absolutely disgusting, and right on track with the book. It was excellent.

But beyond that...the remake is garbage.

Which one generated more income for Roald?

The original is fun and Gene Wilder is wonderful. The remake is a piece of shit, as remakes tend to be. A Michael Jackson-like Willie Wonka? Oh my God.

You would have to strap me to a chair to watch the Johnny Depp one.

The1971 was pure joy for young kids with imagination. Loved it. Didn't bother with the remake.

Just saw a clip. Johnny Depp is awful. The Charlie kids was a better actor.

Gene Wilder was perfection by comparison.

Hated both, but loved the book.

Perhaps trying to shore up his reputation (Roald Dahl was an anti-semite and an all-around prick) Roald Dahl's worshipful wife Felicity Crosland came out with the revelation that Charlie was supposed to be a BLACK child, but Dahl's publishers were against the idea. I think that is just utter horseshit. I don't think Roald Dahl even knew people of color existed, much less have one as the central character in one of his books. But illustrations of the Oompa Loompas in the first editions of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" DID depict them as looking like African American pygmies. As one critic stated "Despite what Felicity Dahl implied, Roald Dahl never considered any black roles for his famous story that were not right out of the Sambo tradition, British imperialism, or slavery."

Willy Wonka, by far

What was the point of the remake?? It sucked

1971 version.

Don't forget the Christian Borle Broadway version.

Has anyone actually watched the animated version with Tom and Jerry.

?

1971, of course - despite my mom having thrown a full-out bitch fit uproar with me during the middle of the film, and dragging me out of the theater; one of those 'you're not appreciative enough of all that I do for you' fits which she occasionally indulged in the years leading up to her main psychotic break into schizophrenia (1976). In 1971 when Wonka was released to the theaters, I was just shy of seven years old. I didn't see the second half of that film until sometime later in the 70s, when it aired on television.

R5 that ride through the fudge tunnel was terrifying.

I miss the days when kids' movies looked like gay acid trips created by middle-aged Jewish men.

R23 That sucks. I can relate as my mom was nuts, too. Hope your life is better now.

QUE ?

1971. The remake is an abomination. Ugly, joyless and Johnny Depp just playing another variation on his "I'm-so-eccentric-with-an-accent" performance. The actor, though, who played the Oompa Loompas was the only fun part of the film.

The original hands down. The re-make is crap. Tum Burton lost his mojo in the 21st century - has been hack.

1971. The Burton version had some good things, but Johnny Depp's performance killed it.

According to Johnny Depp he channelled Michael Jackson for this role. Another reason to despise the Burton version.

Had he channeled Reggie Jackson he might have improved it. Depp sucked.

I actually like Depp's performance. There are all sorts of sly bits that I think are marvelous. I also like that the songs use the actual words from the book.

What I hate about the second version is the stupid added backstory with Wonka's father.

[quote] that ride through the fudge tunnel was terrifying.

Been there.

[quote]The original hands down. The re-make is crap. Tum Burton lost his mojo in the 21st century - has been hack.

Burton's early films still hold up. [italic]Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice[/italic], and [italic]Ed Wood[/italic] are his best films.

Burton's earlier films are certainly fare superior. Never got PeeWee but I love Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands & Ed Wood. What a comedown Burton has had.

I liked the blonde boy of Charlie then the dirty blonde one, but he turn out cute when he gotten older. Freddie Highmore.

Book #1

Gene Wilder as Wonka #2

Johnny Depp as Wonka #3

Op must be joking. The Gene Wilder one, no question! For whatever reason, Burtons' films went from quirky and charmingly strange to just plain repulsive in recent years. The Alice in wonderland movie is another execrable example.

Has anyone else read the sequel that Dahl wrote? It picks up the story right from where the first book ends. I thought it was awful.

To be fair R16, I know I read that little titbit about how Charlie was meant to be a black child originally (and he was told to change it) back in the late 90s. The story changed a lot from how it was first envisaged to the final draft. There were many more children (ten?) in the original story, and I don't think Charlie was meant to stand out particularly in the first draft as being any better than the others. The Oompa-loompas were originally African pygmies too.

There were apparently at least six children in the story until very late (the girl who was removed last was a teacher's pet who was - it seems - crushed into powder when she tried to destroy the machine that made a certain sweet that gave children fake symptoms of illness so that they could get out of school).

Re: which movie is better, without a doubt the 70s one. On rewatching it recently as an adult now, I appreciated a lot of the adult humour that makes it a much better all round family movie. I did like that the remake included the squirrel scene, but other than that it was pretty awful.

^Sorry, R16, you did mention the original Oompa-loompas, and I still for some reason got on a roll and repeated what you said. Apologies.

The Oompa-loompas in the 1971 film still give me the creeps. And only more so when one if their own was elected President.