Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Okay, so it's time for the first in depth look at one of Tim Burton's films, and I chose to discuss Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because it is my favorite. This re-take on the classic short story written by Roald Dahl was amazing; not only did follow the original story almost word for word, it gave a whole different feel on this classic story compared to the 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I did some reading on several interviews with Burton about this movie, as well as just some normal information reguarding the film and I will explain them here.

When Burton began filming in June of 2004 (through October of 2004) he had an estimated $150,000,000 budget, a great cast and an amazing story to tell. Almost everyone had already seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at least once in their lives, so impressing that audience was a big feat; even I was a little skeptical (but me being a Burton fan, I couldn't wait to see what he would come up with). Based on the films gross, Burton did a great job...even with the low opening weekend of about $57,000,000 the word got out and people liked the newer version of the film. This film had 31 nominations for award and gathered up 9 wins making it a great success in the eyes of most. The best part about this film however was the fact that it stayed so close to the original story. One of the interviews that I read between Tim Burton and IGN's Steve Head talked directly about this:

"Q: Do you think the squirrel sequence might present something a little too dark for kids?

BURTON: No, because I mean, that's the thing. I go back and I look at the book and I look at the original thing and we're probably even lighter in a certain way. When you read it in the book it almost seems more traumatic and horrible, and yet this is a children's classic. I think adults forget sometimes what it's like to be a kid. That's why I like the book and that's why I think it remains a classic. You kind of explore those kind of edgier aspects of childhood.

Q: Did you have any aversion to the idea that this was a remake? But again, what it is for you is a re-envisioning of the source material, not a remake of the 1971 movie.

BURTON: I felt for this book, I didn't feel as daunted by the movie because I didn't have quite the same impact for me as other movies and things. So, the intent for me was to try to, even though we changed things, it was like I said to try to be more true to the spirit of the book."

The interview also talked about how Burton and Depp worked together to make Willy Wonka the weird guy they thought he should be and added the back story to make sense of it all. Burton also discussed the how hard casting children can be, but how he was so happy to get the actors/actresses that he did because they really made the movie what it was. The interview also discusses a little more about Burton's relationship with Danny Elfman and some of the creative aspects reguarding this movie and if you want to read more here's a link to the interview I used for this blog. This is a great movie, with the classic Tim Burton feel, and if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Yes, it's way different from the 1971 version, but Tim decided to be just like the book...dark and a little weird and I really think he did a magnificent job in doing so. Stay tuned for more tid bits of information on a few more of Tim Burton's films and maybe just some random information about the man with the dark vision for movies.