Saturday, November 05, 2005
Doopadee Don't
This afternoon Phil and I saw the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (technically the only CatCF, since the title character in the the Gene Wilder version was Willy Wonka). With the exception of the Oompa-Loompas, the production values in the inventing room (though the scene itself was lacking), and the expanded roles of the other three grandparents, I found very little that was handled better than in the original version.
Substituting Wilder's literary references ("'Round and the world and home again, that's the sailor's way" --Allingham's "Homeward Bound"; "Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker" --Ogden Nash) with hippy cultural references ("groovy"; "keep on truckin'"; "Good morning, starshine/the earth says hello" -- cast album: "Hair") just didn't work for me. And with the exception of Mrs. Bucket's lament, I liked the added songs in the first version (I regularly sing Grampa Joe's "(I've Got a) Golden Ticket" and Wonka's "Pure Imagination," just because). The Willy Wonka Welcome Song was too much like "Welcome to Duloc" in Shrek (though I liked the "relatively new" puppet hospital and burn center on the chocolate factory tour).
I really didn't care for the Willy Wonka backstory. The Hall of Flags was a nice bit, but as a sight gag it didn't fit with the rest of the movie (if the Zucker Brothers had it in a spoof film it would've been a hoot). It's always good to see Christopher Lee, though, and Geoffrey Holder as the narrator was a good choice (though halfway through I wanted to drink something "crisp and clean with no caffeine--ha haha haaah"). Still, changing the ending from Charlie shining "a good deed in a weary world (--Shakespeare)" to reuniting Wonka father and son ... feh.
While I didn't hate everything in the new version, there wasn't enough I liked to cause me to camp outside Wal-Mart to get a copy Tuesday (esp. since we just got a 24-hour store). If you liked the new version better, though, I'm not going to say anything against you. Your opinion may clearly be nonsense, but (in the words of the one, true Wonka) "a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men."
Substituting Wilder's literary references ("'Round and the world and home again, that's the sailor's way" --Allingham's "Homeward Bound"; "Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker" --Ogden Nash) with hippy cultural references ("groovy"; "keep on truckin'"; "Good morning, starshine/the earth says hello" -- cast album: "Hair") just didn't work for me. And with the exception of Mrs. Bucket's lament, I liked the added songs in the first version (I regularly sing Grampa Joe's "(I've Got a) Golden Ticket" and Wonka's "Pure Imagination," just because). The Willy Wonka Welcome Song was too much like "Welcome to Duloc" in Shrek (though I liked the "relatively new" puppet hospital and burn center on the chocolate factory tour).
I really didn't care for the Willy Wonka backstory. The Hall of Flags was a nice bit, but as a sight gag it didn't fit with the rest of the movie (if the Zucker Brothers had it in a spoof film it would've been a hoot). It's always good to see Christopher Lee, though, and Geoffrey Holder as the narrator was a good choice (though halfway through I wanted to drink something "crisp and clean with no caffeine--ha haha haaah"). Still, changing the ending from Charlie shining "a good deed in a weary world (--Shakespeare)" to reuniting Wonka father and son ... feh.
While I didn't hate everything in the new version, there wasn't enough I liked to cause me to camp outside Wal-Mart to get a copy Tuesday (esp. since we just got a 24-hour store). If you liked the new version better, though, I'm not going to say anything against you. Your opinion may clearly be nonsense, but (in the words of the one, true Wonka) "a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men."
Mikesell
