Wonka vs Wonka!
Almost every time I turn on the TV these days “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” is on. Once I caught the remake, but four out of five times it’s the original.
Not that I am complaining, I’ve probably watched it a hundred times and I never tire of it, but the more I see it, the more I realise how much better it is than the remake.
Johnny Depp total missed the point when he took the role of Willy Wonka, and I know that Roald Dahl wasn’t happy with the original and the that the remake is closer to the book, but it’s just not good. Thinking about it I’m not sure if I’m that into Tim Burton’s stuff, he always uses Carter and Depp and Elfman always does the music. I know that I really didn’t care for his version of “Sweeney Todd”, Alan Rickman, must have really needed the work! Burton seems to live in a strange world that is as scary as his hair, all of his movies have a bizarre magic to them, which is appealing at first, but after a few viewings it doesn’t age well. 
Getting back to Willy Wonka, the original is by far the best and Gene Wilder is magical, his eyes, his hair. If anything Wilder was born to play that part, and don’t get me started on his purple velvet jacket – I want one! The original has more humour, and at some point every character sings a song, but not in the remake. In the remake the songs are only sung by the Oompa Loompas, I like the new Oompa Loompas, and their songs aren’t as creepy, but whenever someone has orange skin and green hair – it’s an Oompa Loompa. The new guys just aren’t creepy enough, however Depp is just too creepy, why he decided to model himself on Michael Jackson, is beyond me.
I think Deep Roy, the little guy who played all the Oompa Loompas (yes, all of them), in the new one, did a good job and the Oompa Loompa songs were kind of catchy and cute. But even so, I can´t think of Willy Wonka and not think of Wilder singing “Pure Imagination”.
You can tell how good a movie is by the amount of spoofs of it, for example, “Family Guy” made a whole episode based on the original Wonka movie. Peter finds a golden ticket and get to visit the Pawtucket Brewery, where Pawtucket Pat (dressed like Wilder) sings his own version of “Pure Imagination” called “Pure Inebriation”. Shortly after Peter and Brian are quickly kicked out after breaking the rules.
Burton´s remake is too sinister and too long, and although it may be closer to the book, it´s not really child friendly. However, I don´t think Dahl was very child friendly. The original is the best and always will be, it’s cute, funny and quirky. Burton seem to try and squeeze too much in, and the flashbacks that Depp has really annoy me, plus the flashback of how he met the Oompa Loompas was totally unnecessary
I suppose what I am getting at is, you can´t beat the originals!
By Amy Thomas
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