Timothée Chalamet’s titular Wonka character meets Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp’s versions of the iconic chocolatier in a fun new video. Based on Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Paul King’s prequel film chronicles one of the candy-maker’s earliest adventures before he became the mysterious figure of legend. Critics’ Wonka reviews have been generally positive thus far, with audiences and critics alike mostly agreeing that Chalamet makes for a worthy successor to Wilder and Depp, who played Willy Wonka in 1971 and 2005, respectively.
Now, a video shared by Free Boredom on YouTube imagines all three versions of Willy Wonka having a quirky meeting inside the chocolate factory from Mel Stuart’s 1971 film. Check out the video below:
The differences between the three actors’ takes on the character become especially clear when they’re edited together, with each star capturing different combinations of charming, witty, and weird.
How Timothée Chalamet’s Willy Wonka Compares To Past Versions
With Wonka, audiences now have three very distinct takes on Dahl’s source material and three very distinct interpretations of the character. Chalamet’s chocolatier is, in many ways, more straightforward than either Wilder or Depp’s, and the film hones in on who the figure was before becoming older and perhaps more jaded. Judging from Wonka‘s box office, this approach has been successful.
Wilder’s Willy Wonka perfectly straddles this line between charming and dangerously mysterious, with the character hilariously quite carefree about children almost meeting their doom inside his factory. Plus, there’s also the hallucinogenic boat sequence from the film, which, tonally, could be something out of a horror movie. Depp’s, on the other hand, is more weird than anything else, lacking social skills and coming across as a somewhat quirky genius, which fits within the world of Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
As is hammered home by the emotional and grand Wonka ending, Chalamet’s version of the character is a much more empathetic and human-like figure, which isn’t totally surprising given that he is the focus of the film. When Charlie is instead treated as the protagonist, there’s more freedom to depict Wonka as a mysterious and wacky supporting character. While which of the three versions of Wonka is the best will always be a matter of personal preference, Chalamet has evidently proven himself a worthy star to take up the mantle.
Wonka
Wonka is a prequel film to Roald Dahl’s classic novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and follows the origins of the legendary candy maker. From his first encounter with the Oompa Loompas to founding his deliciously magnificent headquarters, Wonka explores the character in a new light. Timothee Chalamet assumes the role of Willy Wonka himself.
- Release Date
- December 15, 2023
- Director
- Paul King
- Cast
- Sally Hawkins , Olivia Colman , Keegan-Michael Key , Rowan Atkinson , Timothee Chalamet , Jim Carter
- Genres
- Family , Adventure , Comedy
- Writers
- Paul King , Simon Farnaby
- Budget
- $125 million
- Studio(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- prequel(s)
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory , Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
