The 1974 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” scared the bejesus out of me.
I’m not just talking about the psychedelic boat ride — that scared everybody. The whole thing frightened me — the Oompa Loompas, Veruca Salt and Wonka himself.
In Gene Wilder’s 1974 portrayal of Willy Wonka, I saw not a kindly, eccentric candy man, but a tootsie-roll tyrant who ruled over his Candy Reich with an iron fist and wasn’t afraid to shrink, blueberryize or throw in the garbage the only visitors his factory had seen in years.
Thus, it was not with fond memories of the original film that I approached Tim Burton’s new adaptation of Dahl’s book.
I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that Burton’s remake surpasses the original film and will likely exceed many viewers’ expectations. The universe Burton created in “Charlie” is one that operates by many rules of reality but is infused with enough magic to allow an audience to get lost in its strangeness.
At the center of this strange world is Johnny Depp, who turns in a delightfully eccentric performance as Wonka. Much has been made of Depp’s realization of Dahl’s creepy confectioner; many critics have speculated on its basis in real life — the creepiness of Michael Jackson.
Consider this: The man Depp is portraying is one who has spent the last few decades of his life surrounded by nothing but “little people,” runs a psychotropic candy factory and has had no contact with the outside world for years.
One can only imagine the effect this would have on a person’s psyche.
The world Wonka inhabits is one that could drive even the sanest of individuals a little batty. This should come as no surprise as every Tim Burton film, from “Beetle Juice” to “Big Fish,” has wrapped the viewer in a vibrant world that exists somewhere just to the left of reality.
