by Rebecca Bauer

Created on: June 04, 2008

Am I allowed to type "Gene Wilder" two hundred times so that the minimum word requirement is met? If not, then I guess I must explain myself. It has been over twenty years since I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or actually since it was read to me by my second grade teacher over several weeks. I remember her name was Mrs. Jackson, but story time must have made me drowsy because I can't recall enough details to debate anyone on the topic of "book vs. film" (although we all know that the book always trumps the film about 99% of the time). So due to the inadequacies of my memory, I shall take as truth when you fans out there tell me that Johnny Depp's Wonka was closer to the book.

With that said, not every great book character is meant to be on the big screen. I'm assuming that the movie execs knew this and opted for a more light-hearted version of the main character for their film. After all, happy stories sell tickets for children (and the parents who must escort them). Tim Burton's well-lined coffers beg otherwise, but in my opinion his audience has always leaned more towards teenagers (often of the pot-smoking variety) rather than little kids. Was it Walt Disney who once said that Mickey sells and macabre smells? Wait, maybe it was Mae West...

The original film's big wigs earned their money at the box office by going with an eccentric-but-lovable maestro instead of an emotionally-traumatized, Katie Holmes-haircut-wearing, tooth-obsessed basket case. Its strange to me, as well, that "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" showed much more of Willy Wonka's back story than "Willy Wonka" and said factory. Wilder's Wonka was the headliner, but he gave us exactly what we needed to see. I personally did not care for all the childhood details in the recent film, which were only there to justify his creepiness. Really, who doesn't have problems with Count Dooku, I mean, daddy issues?

Gene Wilder gave a superb performance, with haunting looks like his crazy eyes during the psychedelic boat scene. You wouldn't have been surprised to see him chopping everyone up into little grizzly pieces! And then he sings a charming song and eats a buttercup. Depp's Wonka came across as wooden and less dynamic, although that is not his fault since that was the way Burton's version was meant to come off. Many of the differences I cite are really due in large part to the writing. Whenever I mess up a phrase, I like to say "strike that, reverse it." But I also like Depp's witty lines to the tech-savvy kid about how he should stop mumbling when he really just didn't want to listen to what he said.

I think both are fine actors, but overall I think Gene Wilder's performance was more memorable. Its like the first Star Wars trilogy compared to the last one-something was missing.

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