sepia
12-09-2004, 11:42 AM
Source: Chicago Sun Times
December 3, 2003
BY CINDY PEARLMAN
The Oompa Loompas are coming out of retirement.
Tim Burton is preparing his new version of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." But fans of the classic might be surprised at why he wants to dip back into "Chocolate." The reason isn't so sweet.
"Well, I don't want to crush people's childhood dreams, but the original film is sappy," Burton says. "It's sappy when it shouldn't be sappy and it's weird. Let's just say it's not one of my personal favorites. I'd rate 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' much higher."
Burton says he's wanted to do Willy Wonka for years. "I responded to the children's book [Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory] because it respected that children can be adults, and I think adults forget that. There can be darkness and sort of foreboding. Very sinister things are very much a part of childhood. I like that sort of humor and emotion put together."
Burton has cast his pal Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, the role Gene Wilder filled in the original film. "I just like working with him. He's always surprising and fun," says the director of "Edward Scissorhands," "Ed Wood" and "Sleepy Hollow."
So what does Burton -- whose other whimsical film, "Big Fish," opens Dec. 25 -- think of Depp recently being dubbed "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine?
Read More of the Review (http://www.suntimes.com/output/movies/cst-ftr-wonka03.html)
The Tim Burton Collective (http://www.timburtoncollective.com/charlie.html)
December 3, 2003
BY CINDY PEARLMAN
The Oompa Loompas are coming out of retirement.
Tim Burton is preparing his new version of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." But fans of the classic might be surprised at why he wants to dip back into "Chocolate." The reason isn't so sweet.
"Well, I don't want to crush people's childhood dreams, but the original film is sappy," Burton says. "It's sappy when it shouldn't be sappy and it's weird. Let's just say it's not one of my personal favorites. I'd rate 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' much higher."
Burton says he's wanted to do Willy Wonka for years. "I responded to the children's book [Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory] because it respected that children can be adults, and I think adults forget that. There can be darkness and sort of foreboding. Very sinister things are very much a part of childhood. I like that sort of humor and emotion put together."
Burton has cast his pal Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, the role Gene Wilder filled in the original film. "I just like working with him. He's always surprising and fun," says the director of "Edward Scissorhands," "Ed Wood" and "Sleepy Hollow."
So what does Burton -- whose other whimsical film, "Big Fish," opens Dec. 25 -- think of Depp recently being dubbed "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine?
Read More of the Review (http://www.suntimes.com/output/movies/cst-ftr-wonka03.html)
The Tim Burton Collective (http://www.timburtoncollective.com/charlie.html)