As a child I couldn’t get enough of the old Mel Stuart film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” based on the Roald Dahl book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I always remembered when any kid on the block would discover it playing on, I think either HBO or Showtime, everything had to stop or we would all run to the house showing it and spend the next 100 minutes seduced by this colorful, playful and mesmerizing environment. What kid couldn’t resist? I used to dream of how wonderful it would be to have a room where everything was made of candy. Just imagine, though, the stomach ache when you were done. I recently bought the DVD for my young neice and I think I was more excited to watch it than she was.
Today we will be treated to Tim Burton’s remake of this classic titled, as the Dahl novel, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” With the great Johnny Depp playing the role of Wonka my expectations are high that this film will exceed the excitement offered by Stuart’s version. Perhaps Burton will persue a making the Chocolate Factory sequal Charlie and the Great Glass Elavator into a movie as well.
