We 
just got back from taking my daughter to CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY…
I much prefer the Gene Wilder version. Does that make me a stodgy old coot?
Update 7-23-05: Screenwriter Paul Dini shares my view. He blogs:
…Wilder’s Wonka seemed like an adult who had never lost a child’s
perspective of adults, and therefore knew how to skillfully parody them
while walking among them. He dressed in the clothes a child might
choose to give himself an air of wealth and worldiness among grown-ups,
and even spoke to them on a semi-intellectual level until it dawned on
the mystified adults that what they heard was an earful of nonsense and
veiled insults. Yet Wilder also made Wonka an obsessive workaholic who
saw human relationships as an impediment to his creative genius. It
wasn’t that Wilder’s Wonka disliked children (though he clearly didn’t
care for the four out of five he invited in) but he had simply created
a world where he had no time to have any kids of his own.
Haven’t seen the new Wonka and probably won’t. Why mess with a classic? Oh, right. Money. But isn’t this another example of Hollywood eating itself? The Wilder version doesn’t seem particularly dated. And why does Depp look so effeminate?
Ah,
Mark Terry
Okay, you crazy old coot–I mean, Lee. Just on seeing the trailer, I had the same thought. Oddly enough, my daughter who grew up watching the Gene Wilder version said the same thing.
I haven’t seen the new one yet, and if I do I’ll wait for the DVD, but I can’t imagine anything better than the original. That movie just had such a perfect little kid’s view of the world.
Are the oompa loompas still orange?
I think I must be the old coot — old enough to have reread the book obsessively long before that first movie came out, so that I never thought much of the Wilder version. It seemed so tame compared to the book (and looks so damn cheap if you see it now).
I really want to see this version, in spite of the fact that I usually don’t like Tim Burton movies. Why? I hated the original. I’m with Bill. The original ruined the book and was creapy in lots of spots. I saw it once and didn’t enjoy it at all. The book had a magical kid’s point of view. The original didn’t.
I’m hoping this one is an improvement. The fact that Tim Burton felt like I did, which is why he remade it, gives me hope. The fact that it’s Tim Burton doesn’t.
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I vote with Gene Wilder.
I saw the Gene Wilder version a couple of times as a kid, and thought it was okay. But based on previews I’ve seen, the remake looks creepy(er?) and demented! And I agree with Mark T. about Depp. (Of course, he generally looks that way in most of his movies…)
It just means you have taste.
Read the book, LOVED it. Watched the 1st movie as a kid, & I’m with Carstairs. (I was actually weirded out by Wilder for a while.) Watched the newest version last night, & I still really love the book.