If you liked the Gene Wilder version...

Rating: 10/10 (1 January 2007)

...then you probably won't like this version. If you liked the book better than the Gene Wilder version you'll probably like this version. If, like me, your favorite part of the Gen Wilder version was Gene Wilder's insane rant in the tunnel, this is the version for you! THE CHARACTERS; CHARLIE BUCKET In almost all adventure/fantasy stories there's always one character who's job is to meet more interesting characters. this is him.
VERUCA SALT Veruca is a bit younger than she was in the Gene Wilder version, and if anything, more of a bitch. Her demise is closer to the book.
VIOLET BEUREGUARD Violet provided the writer with a problem; most of the children are fairly clichÃ©d, but an obsession with chewing gum doesn't tell you much else about her. Howevere, Violet was also a world record holder, so in this version she's not obsessed with chewing gum, she's obsessed with winning.
MIKE TEAVEA Mike TeaVea is an updated version of the character, but in many ways still true to the book. he's a hacker and obsessed with violent video games. He's totally disinterested in anything outside of electronics, he doesn't even like chocolate, he mainly entered the contest, it seems, just for the challenge of doing so.
AUGUSTUS GLOOP Orgustus is about the same as he always was. In the Gene Wilder version he's wearing leaderhozen (Which has gone out of fashion in Germany for centuries except for ceremonial purposes) In this version he's dressed like Pugsley.
In the story there's allot of little stories, back stories generally. In the Gene Wilder version, Gene just told the stories, and then not all of them. But in this version they actually had flashbacks, and even added afew.
One of the interesting things is that this story is possibly based on the theory that kids turn out the way they do because of parents (Which isn't always true; my brother's a criminal and I'm fine,) but never mind that.
Veruca's father is like a Genie. She has only to inform him that she wants something and he will produce it, and he's raising her to believe that that's how the world works. Her mother appears to be drunk. Augustus's father is a butcher and both his parents are unhealthy. Violet's mother seems to be a single mother but one who clearly is obsessed with competition. (Personally, I like to think that her biological father was a judge of some event at which her mother was cheating). Mike Teavea, not quite the same, but except for the cool entertainment system, everything else in his house seems to be pretty dull INCLUDING his parents.
Even Willy Wonka himself is explained basically as rebellion from his fanatical dentist father.
Grandpa Joe, in the book, was a bed-ridden old guy who's always talking about Willy Wonka, and as soon as he saw the golden ticket he actually lept out of bed and yelled "Yippee!" This version is technically accurate to the book, but I imagined it quicker, like a gunshot, and his voice more like an 1890's prospector. (Still, Grandpa Joe getting out of bed didn't go on nearly as long as it did in the Gene Wilder version.) In the movie his obsession and knowledge of Willy Wonka is explained by the fact that he used to work for him.
There were three rival chocolate makers who sent double-agents to work for Wonka and get the recipes. so wonka had to close down the entire factory. But he then obtained Oompa Loompas. He pays them in cocoa beans, which he works in anyway, so basically they're... not slaves exactly... but Serfs. Definitely Serfs. But every single one is an actor named Deep Roy, who is already a little person but they made him half as tall as he really is, so he comes up to everyone else's knees.