After years of neglecting this blog and letting it sink into obscurity, a most sudden and magical even forces it to rise up from the grave.
There had been talks of a "Wonka" prequel for a very long time - so long I thought the project was dead, to be honest. But no, it apparently does come out (unlike the Netflix CatCF cartoon which apparently will never see the light of the day).
I am already amazed that this actually comes out - but I am even MORE amazed at the fact that this looks good. This looks whimsical, and fun, and it has a sense of self-awareness much needed, and it doesn't seem to latch too much onto the actual movies we have, letting room for a truly new story to breathe in.
There was a script for a Wonka prequel that went around the Internet, and that I read, and it was AWFUL. It was a badly written edgy prequel that basically was trying to make Burton's Sweeney Todd the backstory of Willy Wonka. I am so glad that this movie looks the exact opposite.
I think what I like the most with this one is how they actually embrace the weird style and absurd humor of Dahl's original writing. You have these very serious policemen delivering very seriously lines such as "Nothing to see here, just people defying the law of gravity", and other little things like that, truly staying true to the British children work/British humor roots of it all.
All of that to say, this is a very pleasant surprise, and I will be waiting to see more!
Unwrapping the Wonka Bar Vol. 1 - Where is Charlie’s Town Located? Part 2
If you haven’t read the previous post, click here for Part 1 to make sure you are caught up to speed. If you’re already read the previous post, then welcome back and let’s get back to the show!
Exhibit #1: Tim Burton Didn’t Understand Roald Dahl’s True Work and Vision
Before we start, I need to make it clear that I am not here to trash Tim Burton or his vision, without him we would not even have a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to love and break down. Yet, with that said, it also needs to be said that Burton failed to comprehend the original source material, but I am also here to say that that is not entirely his fault. In the behind-the-scenes material mentioned previously, Burton mentions that he reread the original book by Roald Dahl to better understand the story of the film he was working on, which is something that should be commended. However, something that needs to be stated is that both Tim Burton and screenwriter John August, who it makes sense also read the Dahl book before writing the script, are Americans, which means that there is a good chance they read a copy of the book sold in the United States. It makes sense that one day they each would have sent one of their assistants down to Barnes and Nobles to pick of a copy of Roald Dahl’s most famous work so that they could begin reading it and thus could be best prepared to work on this new film adaptation. But that scenario also implies a certain reality, that Burton and August read American-published versions of the book, meaning that the filmmakers did not truly understand what Roald Dahl’s vision was.