Willy Wonka Weirded Me Out

Along with indigestion and festive fatigue, no Christmas celebration is complete without one showing of Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. And naturally enough film fans the world over rejoiced to hear that bonkers director Tim Burton would be bringing his own inimitable style to the Roald Dahl tale in a new movie. But it seems that Burton wasn't all that big a fan of the original film. Talking to the Chicago Sun Times, the director pulls no punches when it comes to critiquing the 1971 version. 'Well, I don't want to crush people's childhood dreams, but the original film is sappy,' says Burton. '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.' That said, Burton admits he's been dying to have his way with 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.'