by Jen M. Hernandez

Created on: June 08, 2009

To be honest, I appreciate Johnny Depp's work as much as the next guy, but Charlie and the Chocolate Factory paled in comparison to the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Wilder's version of Willy Wonka was completely brilliant. His sharp tongue and ill desire to have his secrets revealed were enough to understand his seemingly solitary, though successful, lifestyle. As a child, I never really caught on to Wonka's rude remarks, but was entranced by the accomplishment of such a mysterious and magical wonderland. As I grew, I forgave Wonka for his quick-wit because it was entertaining and I appreciated the aspiration to protect one's greatest achievement. It was obvious the factory couldn't go to anyone but Charlie Bucket. Thus his remarks were excused. Welcome, in fact.

One of my absolute favorite films as a child, I was horrified when I learned that the film would be remade. Still, when I learned Johnny Depp would play Wonka, I couldn't help but feel simultaneously intrigued. I never saw the film in the theater, though. I was so hesitant. Years later, however, I finally settled on watching the movie. From start to finish, I was appalled. Firstly, Depp was absolutely frightening in the part. Furthermore the entire film was seemingly perverse. How could children possibly enjoy this? There was far too much psychology behind Wonka's personal struggles, and that is simply not why the film has enveloped so many youths in previous generations. Besides, this film was entitled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Thus, if it were to dwell in any characters history or psychology, it should have focused on Charlie.

I suppose what I appreciated so much about Wilder's Wonka is that, in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, it seemed that though Wonka was somehow above the majority of people at his gate. That is why he lived separately (more isolated) from the general public. But Depp's version of the character seems to have been such a psychological misfit; he may have very well been ostracized from the general public.

There's something endearing about a man who seeks out an heir to his successful corporation. On the other hand, there's something so entirely perverse about a relatively young Wonka seeking some company in his lonely factory.

The two characters appeal to completely dissimilar emotions. I tried to keep an open mind, but my devotion remains to the Wonka of old. No one can ever replicate the magic that Wilder sparked on the set of the original, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

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