Thirty-four years on and madcap director Burton has attempted to-visualise Dahl’s book. Over the last twenty-odd years, Burton has created a unique body of work, from the surreal hilarious nightmare of ‘Beetlejuice’ in 1988, and the dark psychology of ‘Batman’ a year later, up to 2003’s bighearted ‘Big Fish’. Along the way were screwball gems like ‘Edward Scissorhands’, ‘Ed Wood’ and ‘Mars Attacks!’, all displaying the director’s penchant for David Lynch-style weirdness sugercoated with a layer Disneyesque colour. Over that time too, Burton has built up a successful working relationship with Johnny Depp. Akin to that of Scorcese and de Niro, Burton’s relationship with Depp appears to be founded on a shared understanding of the work. And so, when it came to Burton casting for the Willy Wonka, there could only be one contender.

And so, the movie. For the first twenty minutes of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, I continually found myself unconsciously comparing it with its predecessor. I quickly realised that it is pointless to compare the two as they are very different pieces of work. Mel Stuart’s movie was bright and colourful. Burton’s version is colourful and dark. Sounds superficial, but that tonal difference alters the mood of the entire experience.

Most people know the plot: fabulously mysterious chocolate-maestro Wonka, offers the chance for five children to spend a day in his wonderful factory. The frenzied hunt begins for the five Golden Tickets to be found inside the wrappers of some of his products. There is also a special ‘surprise’ bonus for one of the lucky children.

The spoiled children of wealthy parents are immediately advantaged by the fact that their loving mummies and daddies buy can buy them grotesque amounts of chocolate in the hope of finding one of the Golden Tickets. Not so for poor Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore). Charlie lives with his family – Mum (Helena-Bonham Carter), Dad (Noah Taylor), and all four grandparents – in the most ramshackle of little houses, on the edge of town. The house leans in a variety of directions and the roof is constantly damaged. The four grandparents all share (and seem to spend all their time in) a large bed. Money is scarce for the Buckets but they are certainly wealthy in love. Charlie is wide-eyed little boy whop doesn’t fully grasp the full extent of the family’s situation. His head is filled with dreams of finding an elusive Golden Ticket and getting a peek inside the doors of Wonka’s factory, where his Grandpa Joe (David Kelly) worked years previous, before Wonka sacked everybody and closed the doors to the public. Charlie has precious few opportunities to rip open a Wonka wrapper, but on one such occasion he hits the jackpot. Accompanied by his Grandpa Joe, he joins the other five lucky ticket-holders on a chilly morning as they await the arrival of WW himself. Once inside, the children find themselves is a magical world where almost everything is edible and sweet. Straight away though, the spoiled kids’ obnoxious behaviour does not go down well with Wonka, and… well you know the story.

I remain unsure about Depp’s Wonka. We know that he is an actor of wonderful ability and range. We also know that for his role in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, he took direct inspiration from gnarly, wrinkled Rolling Stone Keith Richards. For Wonka, it appears as though Michael Jackson has provided the template. Wonka’s appearance (the hair, strangely-white face, clothes) and personality (the voice, the constant giggling), are too similar to the Manchild ways of the erstwhile King of Pop to be a coincidence. And Jackson is an obvious source, with his own Neverland and quest for eternal childhood. Nonetheless, Depp’s performance is oddly unnerving. Displaying none of the effervescence of Gene Wilder’s dancing cane-twirling Wonka, Depp’s characterisation is darker, more psychological.

Burton has almost stayed true to the original text of Dahl’s book. He has allowed himself one liberty however. To give some degree of context for Depp’s weirdness, we see Wonka’s own childhood as the lonely son of a dentist, denied sweets of all kinds until he discovers them himself and falls headlong into a love affair which finds him where he is.

Finally, my own personal favourites, the Oompah-Loompahs. If you thought Mel Stuart’s orange-skinned, white-dungareed, wisdom-spouting little workhorses, were great, then wait until you see Burton’s postmodern Oompahs. All played by Deep Roy (with the aid of digital technology), these little guys appear to have a taste for the classic Hollywood Busby Berkeley musicals with their highly synchronised choreography.

There are some wonderful flourishes in this movie. There is also a subtle homage to Stanley Kubrick in the Mike Teavee-gets-shrunk sequence. Whether or not it is based on the possibility that the original film’s sequence had quite a Kubrick-style clinical feel to it, is anybody’s guess.

All in all, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a feast of fun, chocolate and weirdness. Enjoy!