Starring: Johnny Depp, Freddy Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Missi Pyle, James Fox
Release Date: July 15, 2005
Running Time: 115 min
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Commentary Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a film adaptation of the classic 1964 Roald Dahl novel of the same title. This film is a more accurate adaptation than Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), but not quite as good in my opinion. Johnny Depp doesn't deliver as great a performance as Gene Wilder and there is less music in this version. Nevertheless, the special effects, which are mainly computerized, are far superior in this film, and the movie is still quite entertaining.
Plot Summary The plot is basically the same as that of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory(see #21). However, there are some key differences, including the following:
As in the novel, Charlie's father is alive and works at a toothpase factory.
Grandpa Joe tells Charlie two stories not told in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, including the story of the Indian prince for whom Willy Wonka built a chocolate palace and how Joe worked at the factory and was later laid off, along with all the other workers.
Before Willy Wonka greets the lucky golden ticket winners, he treats them to a bizarre mechanical doll show.
The Oompa Loompas are much smaller than in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and otherwise look more like ordinary people (without orange skin and green hair).
Willy Wonka experiences several painful childhood memories of his father's stinginess to him.
As in the novel, Veruca ends up in a room with squirrels shelling walnuts instead of large geese laying golden eggs.
Mike and Charlie are both taken aboard the Great Glass Elevator instead of just Charlie, and they're given a tour of much of the factory leading to the Television Chocolate Room.
The children are shown leaving the factory, each having been altered in a strange way.
Willy Wonka does not allow Charlie's family to live in the factory with him until Charlie convinces him that he should.
Special Effects As I mentioned, the special effects are enhanced by the use of computer graphics. Here are some examples:
Only one Oompa Loompa, Deep Roy, is used in the movie, but dozens of copies of him are shown at once.
Violet is transformed into a much larger blueberry than in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. When she leaves the factory, she can bend very easily, but she's still purple.
Computerized images of squirrels and walnuts are used in the nut room.
The Great Glass Elevator is shown moving sideways through the factory very fast. The occupants are treated to a big fireworks show inside the factory.
The Television Chocolate Room has a 3D TV image of the scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey in which the apes are visited by the Monolith. A Wonka bar which can be removed by hand is substituted for the Monolith.
Movie Clips
Here's the original trailer.
Here's the scene in which Violet turns into a giant blueberry.
Home
Title: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 
