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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 movie based on the novel by Roald Dahl, the Welsh children's author. It was released on July 15, 2005. The film was directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, and Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket. It was filmed in Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom.

It is the second movie adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the other being the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka.

In its opening weekend, the film received mostly good reviews, and earned $55.4 million at the box office.

Synopsis

Template:Spoilers The plot is a close adaptation of the original book. However, some modern-day tweaks are seen in the film as well. The following is an overview, which excludes some major plot points. The ending is given away below.

Charlie Bucket comes from a poor family, and spends most of his time dreaming about the chocolate that he loves but usually can't afford. Things change when Willy Wonka, head of the very popular Wonka Chocolate empire, announces a contest in which five gold tickets have been hidden in chocolate bars and sent throughout the country. The kids who find the tickets will be taken on a tour of Wonka's chocolate factory and get a special glimpse of the wonders within. Charlie miraculously finds a ticket, along with four other children much naughtier than him. He is the only one of the four children who used honest and fair means to obtain the ticket.

In the tour of the factory each the four "bad" children (not Charlie) is dealt a fate, based on their primary fault. Augustus Gloop, a gluttonous overeater, falls into a lake of chocolate. Violet, who is always chewing gum, chews a defective piece of gum that causes her to turn into a giant blueberry. Spoiled Veruca Salt finds a squirrel she wants in the "Nut Room" (where bad nuts are discarded by squirrels). She tries to steal the squirrel, but is attacked by the squirrels, and thrown down a chute for "rejected nuts". Mike Teevee who is obsessed with TV and video games, is shrunk and inserted into a TV. Each of the "accidents" occurs after a child refuses instructions not to do something. Ultimately, all the children escape the factory, but are left alterted by their experience.

Throughout the movie, Willie Wonka has flashbacks to his childhood. He recalls being denied chocolate by his dentist father, and running away from home to make his fortune as a chocolatier.

In the end, Willie Wonka notices Charlie is the only remaining child, and ultimately reveals his desire to hand over the chocolate factory to him, but says Charlie must abandon his family in order to accept the arrangement. Charlie turns this offer down. Wonka can not understand why a child would wish to be with their family, because of his estrangement with his own father. Ultimately, Charlie helps Wonka reconcile with his father, realize the errors of his ways, and the two work together to make new and better candy for children.

Production

John August wrote the screenplay for the new adaptation, having previously worked with Tim Burton as screenwriter on the 2003 film Big Fish. Reportedly, August had not yet seen the 1971 film when he began the project, and the first question he asked Burton was whether he should watch it before he began writing . Burton replied that he should complete the first draft before viewing the film. This suggests that the 2005 version was not a remake of the 1971 film; it was a fresh (modern-day) adaptation of the book. (Roald Dahl also very much disliked the 1971 film.)

Johnny Depp has collaborated with Tim Burton on several previous occasions. It is said that he convinced Tim Burton to cast Freddie Highmore as Charlie because he had been so impressed with Freddie's performance in Finding Neverland.

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson wanted the part of Willy Wonka, which was given to Depp. Even though Depp is rumored to have used Manson as his inspiration for Wonka is in circulation, Depp has said in interviews that his portrayal of the eccentric factory owner is "part Howard Hughes reclusive, part '70's glamorous rock star". Some film reviews have noted the resemblance of Depp's performance to pop star Michael Jackson or actor Sam Rockwell. Depp denied any resemblance to Jackson and said "Here's the deal: Michael Jackson likes children, Willy Wonka can't stand them. To me, that's a big difference in the whole persona, y'know?"

Criticism

As with the original book, the movie has been criticized for overtones of slavery, colonialism and racism. In the 2005 film, Wonka travels to a distant and exotic land where he rescues the indigenous population from their hard and savage life. The Oompa Loompas in the original version of the novel were portrayed as African pygmies. Responding to criticism, the book was changed, so they had "golden-brown hair" and "rosy-white" skin. In the 1971 film, they are portrayed as orange-skinned, green-haired creatures in overalls. In the 2005 film however, they are portrayed as extremely small brown men from a far away jungle that work in the chocolate factory for cacao beans. They all look exactly alike, as they were played by one actor, using composited visual effects. The Oompa Loompas in all three versions sing and dance for the entertainment of Wonka and his guests. They are also experimented on by Wonka to test his sometimes dangerous candy concoctions.

However, unlike with the original version of the book, no mainstream movie critics or major civil rights organizations have been widely reported as expressing these views about the 2005 film. This type of criticism is mainly confined to some internet blogs and message boards.

Before the 2005 film was released, Gene Wilder opposed the idea of making another version. Wilder has said the remake was "all about money," and that there was no need to remake the 1971 film. Depp has countered that the 2005 film is not a remake of any film, as it is based directly on the book, which it's named after. Depp also responded to Wilder's remark by asking "since when was making a movie ever not about the money?"

Cast

• Freddie Highmore — Charlie Bucket
• Johnny Depp — Willy Wonka
• Helena Bonham Carter — Mrs. Bucket
• Noah Taylor — Mr. Bucket
• Jordan Fry — Mike Teevee
• AnnaSophia Robb — Violet Beauregarde
• Philip Wiegratz — Augustus Gloop
• Julia Winter — Veruca Salt
• Deep Roy — Oompa Loompas
• David Kelly — Grandpa Joe
• Christopher Lee — Dr. Wilbur Wonka
• Eileen Essel — Grandma Josephine
• Adam Godley — Mr. Teevee
• Missi Pyle — Mrs. Beauregarde
• James Fox — Mr. Salt
• Francesca Fox — Mrs. Angina Salt
• Harry Taylor — Mr. Gloop
• Franziska Troegner — Mrs. Gloop
• Geoffrey Holder — Narrator

Differences from the book

Template:Spoilers As the title suggests, the film is far more loyal to the book than the 1971 musical. However, there are still a few small differences.

• We learn that Grandpa Joe use to work for Willy Wonka, from the days when Wonka had nothing but a small candy shop up until the day that he closed his factory and fired all his workers.
• Some of the children (sans Veruca Salt) wear modern-day outfits.
• Instead of the toothpaste factory for which Mr. Bucket works closing, he loses his job when a cap-screwing machine is installed. Tim Burton probably did this to help modernize the film.
• The effects of the Fizzy Lifting Drinks are described in the book but demonstrated and seen in the 1971 film.
• Unlike the book, the film goes into Willy Wonka's backstory, describing his relationship with his dentist father and the beginnings of his love of candy. The movie also includes a longer ending, in which Willy meets, and is reunited with, his estranged father.
• In the 1973 re-release of the book, the Oompa-Loompas are described with golden-brown hair and rosy-white skin. The Oompa-Loompas here (all played by one actor using the visual effects technique of motion control cameras and compositing software) reflect the original 1964 book’s controversial description of the Oompa-Loompas as primitive pygmies from Africa, although in the film the actor Deep Roy is of Indian ancestry and not African ancestry. Also, instead of being sparsely-clothed, all the Oompa-Loompas wear shiny plastic jumpsuits. In the book, only the Oompa-Loompas in the television room are wearing bright-red space style suits.
• In the book, Veruca Salt wanted to take home an Oompa Loompa and a goose that lays golden chocolate eggs. However in the 2005 film, she wants to take a Squirrel instead. In both she falls down a chute.

Differences from 1971 film

• In this version Mike Teavee is not only addicted to watching television programs but, is also addicted to video games. One of the movie posters for the film shows him holding a Sony DualShock controller.
• Violet Beauregarde originally chewed plain chewing gum in the original 1971 movie, but in this movie, she chews (and blows) bubble gum.
• In 1971, the fate of the four "bad" children is left ambiguous, as they were said, but not shown, to be OK. In 2005, they are seen leaving alive, although still showing visible effects of the factory.
• The 2005 version shows Veruca Salt being thrown down a garbage chute by trained squirrels that could recognize a "bad nut", rather than having her dropped down a garbage chute by an egg-testing machine that could recognize a "bad egg". The book contains the "trained squirrels" version.
• In the 1971 film, the Great Glass "Wonka-vator" is shown at the very end. In this movie (and the book), the Great Glass Elevator is used by Wonka to show Charlie and Mike Teavee more of the factory before bringing them to the Television Room. In the 1971 film, they use a giant rolling device, a car of sorts called the "Wonka-mobile", to get to the Television Room.
• In the 1971 film, Charlie's father has apparently died.
• The other grandparents have more dialogue than the 1971 film.
• In both films, Wonka starts seeming to be very sure of himself, often appearing callous and arrogant, as he teaches the "naughty" children lessons. However, in the ending of 2005 film, the tables are turned, as Wonka is changed by Charlie, who teaches Wonka the value of family.
• In the 1971 film, the worker at Mr. Salt's factory who finds the ticket proudly shows it. In this film, the finder tries to keep it for herself.
• Slugworth is only mentioned this time.

External links

• Official website
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at IMDb
• Countdown to release and related links on the Tim Burton Collective
• Roger Ebert Review

References

• August, John. 'Did I ever watch the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?', johnaugust.com (2004). Retrieved July 19 2005.
• Jury, Louise. 'Wonka unwrapped', Belfast Telegraph (July 13 2005). Retrieved July 19 2005.
• Associated Press, 'An Interview with Johnny Depp' (July 7 2005. Retrieved July 19 2005.

• 2005 films
• Tim Burton films
• Films based on books