The elusive magic of a dark mind

August 11, 2005
Made for the cinema ... Johnny Depp.

Made for the cinema ... Johnny Depp.

No movie has captured the complexities of Roald Dahl's books, but that hasn't stopped directors from trying, writes S.F. Said.


The latest is Tim Burton's phantasmagorical adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which is sure to be this season's must-see family film. It stars Johnny Depp as the eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka, who gives five children a dream ticket to visit his wonderful factory. Freddie Highmore (last seen in Finding Neverland) plays Charlie Bucket, a boy whose unassuming goodness wins him the ultimate prize over greedy Augustus Gloop, spoiled Veruca Salt, gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde and television addict Mike Teavee.

Burton is a longstanding fan of Dahl. He has spoken about his admiration for the writer and his books, and believes it is Dahl's understanding of childhood that accounts for his success.



Perhaps more important than any aspect of his writing, Dahl offers a marketing department's dream: a ready-made brand, with millions of fans across many generations and a truly global reach. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory alone has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide, and even in the age of J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson, Dahl still wins polls of children's favourite authors.

So a film adaptation of his work is virtually marketed before it has begun. Almost half a century's worth of classroom word-of-mouth ensures that his name is as powerful a magnet as any movie star's.


Beyond this, however, there are certainly qualities in Dahl's work that lend themselves to cinema. His books contain gripping narratives that fizz with larger-than-life action, vividly imagined worlds and highly memorable characters. His plots often pit small, weak children against nefarious, bigger people - and reward them with satisfying triumphs against the odds.


"Dahl was a very shrewd cookie," says Hunt. "He was an expedient writer who would use anything to make an impact in a book. He saw what worked; his books are full of effects and good scenes. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory there are really fantastic scenes of demolishing this person, getting rid of that person - all very high-powered stuff." Who could forget Augustus Gloop's near-death experience in a river of chocolate, or Violet Beauregarde's transformation into a giant blueberry?

What's more, Dahl was a writer steeped in cinema. He worked with Walt Disney in the 1940s on an eventually unrealised project called The Gremlins, based on his experiences in the RAF. Later, in the 1960s, he developed a script with Robert Altman and another for his wife, the Hollywood star Patricia Neal. He wrote the screenplays for the James Bond vehicle You Only Live Twice, and for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. All this experience must have had an impact on his fiction writing, which is very easy to visualise.








Burton's version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a vast improvement on Stewart's. With a $198 million budget, it's one of the most visually extravagant children's films ever made, sparkling with head-spinning invention. Right from the opening credits, there's a sense of menace and edge here - as you'd hope from the man behind such gothic delights as Edward Scissorhands, Batman and The Nightmare Before Christmas.


It's hard to imagine a contemporary family film getting away with that. So instead, Wonka is given a detailed back-story, explaining how he became the way he is. He's played by Johnny Depp as a brilliant, damaged child who has never quite grown up, traumatised by his dysfunctional family. The story ultimately becomes one of reconciliation between parents and children, an affirmation of family values and love.

What would Dahl make of this?


Telegraph, London

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opens on September 1.
