# does anyone actually like the tim burton charlie and the chocolate factory? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845 "2010-05-18T00:37:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/1 "2010-05-18T00:37:13Z")
it is just awful and not worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as the original ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/2 "2010-05-18T00:41:23Z")
I hate it. I’m not a huge fan of the original, either, but it’s better. One of the most pointless remakes ever, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/3 "2010-05-18T00:41:52Z")
My kids enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/4 "2010-05-18T00:53:00Z")
kids are dumb ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/5 "2010-05-18T01:00:45Z")
I liked it well enough. I’ve never seen the original, though. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/6 "2010-05-18T01:03:51Z")
It shouldn’t be judged against the earlier version. It’s not a remake; it’s just based on the same book. Dahl hated the earlier version, from what I hear. Who knows how he’d’ve felt about the more recent one. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/7 "2010-05-18T01:11:33Z")
I liked it! ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/8 "2010-05-18T01:14:48Z")
Both versions are very disrespectful to the book, so I imagine Dahl would despise the new one. The book is not cold, joyless, and creepy as fuck. Not sure why Burton thought the movie should be. Or where the dentist stuff came from. It is unfortunate, because the material really should have been right up Burton’s alley. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/9 "2010-05-18T01:16:57Z")
I thought it was a very good imagining of the same material. I think people hate it because it’s not sweet or “charming” like the Gene Wilder version. This is missing the point. It’s not supposed to be sweet or charming, and that’s why nit’s a success. Willy Wonka is a sort of modern-day freak, a Michael Jackson with a less sexual child abuse record. He’s insane, creepy, torments all the kids and downright _hilarious_ while doing it. Yet he’s also sympathetic all the while. And that’s the point. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/10 "2010-05-18T01:22:59Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > The book is not cold, joyless, and creepy as fuck. Not sure why Burton thought the movie should be. Have you _seen_ Burton’s movies? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/11 "2010-05-18T01:23:53Z")
Mr. S and I both liked it (and we bought the DVD). Just a different interpretation, that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/12 "2010-05-18T01:26:10Z")
I love it. I love both of them, and I loved the book when I was a kid. These three things occupy separate spaces in my mind though, as though they were three different stories about a similar subject (which I guess they almost are). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/13 "2010-05-18T01:26:44Z")
The “dentist stuff” was one of my favorite bits from the film (and I’m aware that it was not from the book). Just the whole sequence of young Wonka saying that he’s running away to see the world, followed by the flag montage that’s interrupted by the security guard telling him that the Flags of the World exhibit is closing, all capped off by him returning home to find his entire house just _gone_ absolutely killed me. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/14 "2010-05-18T01:28:38Z")
I liked it, and **Smiling bandit** articulated why. I also happen to enjoy the Burton aesthetic and like nearly all of his movies. I think you either like/love it or hate it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/15 "2010-05-18T01:30:29Z")
Roald Dahl wasn’t creepy? Right. :rolleyes: The man was a master of dark, and it shows throughout **Charlie and the Chocolate Factory**. Reading the book carefully, you can only come to the conclusion that Dahl hated children. Not that this is a bad thing. But Dahl’s success as a children’s author is precisely because he deals with dark and creepy subjects. Burton was actually a pretty good choice do the movie. And while I wouldn’t call it a great film, I think he did a creditable job. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/16 "2010-05-18T01:43:34Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Roald Dahl wasn’t creepy? I didn’t quite say that. I said the book wasn’t “creepy as fuck.” Admittedly, not very clear, but in my mind there are different kinds of creepy. Roald Dahl creepy. Edward Gorey creepy. And Johnny Depp standing out like an intruder on the set doing a Michael Jackson impersonation in the middle of filming creepy. Maybe it just comes down to whether you bought Depp’s performance. I couldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/17 "2010-05-18T01:43:43Z")
I guess I’m in the minority then, because I love this movie beyond all reason. I own it on DVD and it’s one of those movies that, if I happen across it on TV, I’ll stop and watch it from whatever point. I think Johnny Depp made a perfect Wonka. MUMBLER!! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/18 "2010-05-18T01:53:14Z")
> [@Jadis](#): > > I guess I’m in the minority then, because I love this movie beyond all reason. I own it on DVD and it’s one of those movies that, if I happen across it on TV, I’ll stop and watch it from whatever point. I think Johnny Depp made a perfect Wonka. MUMBLER!! I agree. I think it is Tim Burton’s best movie and I love it way more than the 1970 movie, which I loved as well. I think it is brilliant, funny, has great songs, and is a wonderful film. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/19 "2010-05-18T02:17:01Z")
I like Burton and Depp, and given that, I thought it maybe wasn’t as good as I could have hoped for. But it was pretty good. The _differences_ from the book and the previous film are what give it value; a slavish remake is useless. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845/20 "2010-05-18T02:17:14Z")
I don’t care for the 70s version, the only good part of it was Gene Wilder’s performance. Everything else about it sucked. The Tim Burton movie is pretty awesome. Freddie Highmore was perfect. I wouldn’t have gone with Depp, but he mananged to pull it off. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-like-the-tim-burton-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/539845.md?page=2)