Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Review by Richard Lee

Warner Home Video / 2005 / 115 Minutes / Rated PG
Street Date: November 8, 2005

Specifications:
-DVD-Video
-DVD-9
-Region 1

Aspect Ratio:
-1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen (also available in Full Screen version)

Audio:
-English 5.1 EX
-Francais 5.1 EX (double au Quebec)
-Espanol 5.1 EX

Subtitles:
-English
-Francais
-Espanol
-Off

Main Menu:
-Play
-Scenes
-Features
-Languages

Special Features:
Disc One:
-Start Up: Promotion for movie cd soundtrack and trailer for “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”.
-Theatrical Trailer
-Additional Features Located on Other Disc (covered at end of review)

Taking on his third remake of an iconic cinematic title after “Batman”, if you count Adam West’s “Batman: The Movie” as a first attempt, and the sci-fi classic “Planet of the Apes”, Tim Burton has now brought his vision to Roald Dahl’s timeless children’s story “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. On board for his fifth collaboration with Burton is Johnny Depp who has a go at the eccentric and childish candy-maker, Willy Wonka. Other Burton regulars include Helena Bonham Carter as Charlie’s mother, Deep Roy as the cloned Oompa Loompa, and Danny Elfman as the music composer. For those of you not acquainted with the story, which are probably very young children or persons living under a rock, Charlie Bucket, a very-well cast Freddie Highmore, lives in poverty with his parents and two sets of bed-ridden grandparents in a crooked shack somewhere outside London. Nearby their home stands the chocolate factory of Willy Wonka, whose candied products are loved the world over. After learning that a factory employee was stealing secret recipes for competitors, Wonka decides to shut down operations and goes into seclusion for years. Then, just as abruptly as it had ended, the factory starts making candy again and Wonka chocolates are as popular as ever; but one big mystery hovers above the clandestine operation, no one is seen entering or leaving the factory. Add to that the announcement that only five “golden tickets” are to be distributed among the world’s supply of Wonka Bars bringing with them an invitation to tour the factory and the promise of a huge prize for one of the winners and you have global pandemonium to get a hold of these tickets. Charlie, along with every other child on the planet, dreams of being one of the lucky five and perhaps delivering to his impoverished family some good fortune and plenty of chocolate to boot.

I have to say right now that my opinion of this movie is somewhat biased because I happen to believe that the original 1971 version with Gene Wilder got it right the first time. Would anyone dare remake “Wizard of Oz”, “Gone with the Wind”, or “Casablanca” which were all exercises sheer casting perfection? These are considered the definitive versions of these classics as “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” should also be. When I first saw the teaser trailer for “Charlie”, I cringed at the very thought of it; made all the more off-putting by the irritating high-pitched musical chorus of “willy wonka, willy wonka...”. But some things are just not sacred enough to leave well enough alone; whereas the idea of profiting from a good story, since there is such a shortage of original ideas in Hollywood these days, is too tempting to resist. Apparently, the producers felt “Willy Wonka” could be done better; just get one of today’s hottest actors and a visionary director and you’re set. Would you believe Nicholas Cage was attached at one time to star as Willy Wonka?! Unfortunately, in order to enjoy this version of “Charlie”, you would have to have not seen the Gene Wilder version which is highly regarded as a favorite among my generation and would have been shown to most of our kids by now. True, there are some elements of Burton’s version that remain more faithful to the book (the nut-sorting room, Charlie Bucket having a father), but I found it impossible to not compare each and every scene, each and every line to the original, which I have seen so many times I practically know it by heart. What remains intact is the story’s mean factor toward children; the Slugworth conspiracy is gone. What is also completely lost is the charm of the original helped immeasurably by the infectious score and songs by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse; who could forget the wonderful songs “Candy Man”, “Pure Imagination”, “The Oompa Loompa Song”, among others? What I see with Burton’s version is a movie that is trying way too hard to not be like the original; so much so that it is all the more weaker for it; the anticipation of Charlie finding the golden ticket is all but lost in this version. The fact that only one actor was digitally multiplied to play all the Oompa Loompas like clones from Star Wars must have ticked off the Small Actors Guild no end. And while Danny Elfman’s score for the movie is fine, his songs for the Oompa Loompas had him revisiting his writing style from his Oingo Boingo days; they just didn’t sound right - the first song sounded like the USC marching band playing with Fleetwood Mac on the song “Tusk”.

Casting was largely one of the better virtues of this film. Johnny Depp continues to prove that he is one of the most versatile actors working today; but his take on Willy Wonka, though Depp has repeatedly denied this, had me thinking Michael Jackson all the way. Depps former castmate, Freddie Highmore, from the oscar-nominated “Finding Neverland” hits the right notes as Charlie Bucket. Less successful in the pivotal role of Grandpa Joe is Irish actor Dave Kelly (Waking Ned Devine), who like Depp, had big shoes to fill (Jack Albertson from the original). And while this version’s Augustus Gloop and Mike Teevee (who is now a video game junkie/kid genius) are fine, Veruca Salt just doesn’t have the nasty bite of the original and Violet Beauregarde as a martial arts, over-achiever is a curious change that will take some getting used to. Christopher Lee, who by now has starred in more movies than any other actor, plays Willy’s father in a subplot newly introduced by Burton in an attempt to explain Willy’s quirky personality and his love of chocolate; this was not in the original movie or the book. This is, without a doubt, a more than capable cast; too bad they are wasted in this inferior remake. Same can be said for Burton’s “Planet of the Apes”; you just don’t mess with perfection. He lucked out with “Batman”; one can only improve upon the cheesy Adam West version. This is not to say I don’t like Tim Burton; I love his work - as long as he sticks with original material. Tim...don’t let the paycheck determine your next project.

Picture Quality:

Since this version of Dahl’s story has all the benefits of modern cinematic technology, the technical aspects are naturally far superior to the original; but special effects alone do not a good movie make. Apart from that, the visuals of this movie are, to put it simply, stunning. We start off with plenty of CG chocolate being processed in the factory which then segues to the whites and blacks of Charlie’s snow-covered world. The interior shots of the Buckets’ slanty shack are equally drab with grays and browns. Colors liven up when we start to meet the golden ticket winners but once we enter Willy’s world, there is lots and lots of, pardon the term, “eye candy”. The full spectrum of colors are utilized to great effect here; greens, reds, purples, etc, with no bleeding. Detail is razor sharp except during close-ups of certain people’s faces; those being Willy and the children who all appear to have a waxy sheen giving them cherubic and zitless complexions; even Augustus after all his chocolate consumption. 

Audio Quality:

The 5.1 track is mostly evident during scenes that highlight Danny Elfman’s score and the Oompa Loompa songs; other than that, not much comes from the rears or the LFE channel. My thinking is since this movie is generally regarded as a children’s film, not much extra effort was put into the surround channels during the authoring process. We get ambience during the windy snow scenes and nice surround effects during the boat and glass elevator rides but that’s about it. It does the job but nothing to shout about.

Scenes for Demonstration Purposes:

1. (9:00) - Chocolate Taj Mahal. 2. (40:40) - Candyland. 3. (59:00) - Boat Ride. 4. (79:44) - Glass Elevator. 5. (93:30) - The Up and Out Button. 

Special Features:

Only for those who purchased the 2-disc version, most of the special features are located on disc two. On start up, we get the option to select either “Features” or “Activities”. For “Features”, we start with “Attack of the Squirrels”, a 10 minute featurette dealing with the sequence of The Nut Sorting Room. We learn, among other things, that several real squirrels were trained for key parts of the scene as well as the CG elements involved.

“Fantastic Mr. Dahl” is an 18 minute featurette that covers the author’s life and contains anecdotes related by his wife and granddaughter, Sophie Dahl.

“Becoming Oompa Loompa is an 8 minute featurette that focuses on Deep Roy and the tasks he endured to become all of the diminutive helpers and the dance routines he had to learn.

“Making the Mix” is a 42 minute documentary split into five sections that pretty much covers the making of the movie; from casting, costuming, set design, visual effects, etc. The sub-sections are titled: “Chocolate Dreams”, “Different Faces, Different Flavours”, “Sweet Sounds”, “Designer Chocolate”, and “Under the Wrapper”.

For “Activities”, we get several interactive games aimed directly at the kiddies. They are “Oompa Loompa Dance”, “The Bad Nut”, “The Inventing Machine”, and finally “Search for the Golden Ticket”.