Aaron Tracy

When Tim Burton made his version of Wonka in 2005, he went back to the source material and gave his film the same title as Dahl's book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

But I'm not sure Dahl would have liked it any better.

Johnny Depp also gives a bananas performance as Wonka, basing it on the hosts of children's shows from his youth.

Chewing gum is really gross.

Chewing gum I hate the most.

See?

Exactly the same.

Depp's performance is a big swing, but it isn't nearly as interesting or alive or compelling as Gene Wilder's take.

Dahl's other issue with the 1971 version is the big compromise that had to be made due to its really strange production story.

It's actually pretty nuts.

Apparently, it all began when the director Mel Stewart's daughter ordered her father to make a movie out of this book that she loved so much.

So, Stewart took Dahl's novel to his friend David Wolper.

Wolper was a prolific producer with the rare ability to think and work outside the box.

As an example, he was having conversations with the Quaker Oats Company, trying to convince them to make a movie that would introduce a new candy bar they were working on.

Somehow, Wolper persuaded the food company, which of course had zero previous experience in the film industry, that Dahl's book was a once-in-a-generation opportunity for them.

Amazingly, he got Quaker Oats to buy the rights to Dahl's book and to fund the entire budget of the movie.

Go back and re-watch the opening credits of the 1971 film.

You'll be surprised when you notice for the first time that in small type, it clearly states the movie's copyright is held by Wolper Pictures Ltd.

and the Quaker Oats Company.

Bizarre.