Netflix recently announced that they'll be adapting work from Roald Dahl into multiple animated streaming series. I figured it was a good time to take stock of the film adaptations of Dahl's books we've had so far. Because of his popularity and very specific style, not many Dahl projects have ever gotten off the ground, but the ones that did have all been very memorable.
I'll be leaving off the made-for-TV movies, so no "Danny, the Champion of the World," or traditionally animated "The BFG."
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) - Gene Wilder's most famous and beloved role is Willy Wonka without question. And he's the anarchic force that elevates one of the most daring children's films ever made. Nobody is safe, everything feels a little dangerous, and you clearly can't trust Wonka or the sinister Oompa Loompas. The satirical elements, the art direction, and the hummable songs offset some of the more humdrum business in the opening acts. Once the factory tour begins, however, it's unapologetically weird and wonderful.
James & the Giant Peach (1996) - This is a very faithful adaptation of a very short and simple book, done in stop-motion animation by Henry Selick and much of the team from "The Nightmare Before Christmas." The visual inventiveness on display here is on par with anything else that Selick has ever done, bringing to life a bevy of wonderfully nightmarish creatures who inhabit a world of wonders. I especially love the pessimistic earthworm and the femme fatale spider. My only complaint is Randy Newman's music - I'm just not much f a fan.
The Witches (1990) - Now here's an adaptation that embraced being dark and scary, though the ending was famously changed to Dahl's extreme displeasure. The witches in this movie are nasty creatures, lead by Angelica Houston playing a deliciously evil Grand High Witch. They do some deeply upsetting things to children, and the terrible revenge visited upon them is satisfying stuff. Like "Willy Wonka," "The Witches" existed in a truly dangerous universe, one where that more challenging ending would have been perfectly appropriate.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - This is definitely more of a Wes Anderson film than a Roald Dahl film, though that's not a bad thing in the slightest. Dahl's work is all here, just with some added character dynamics and couched in themes of Mr. Fox's self-doubt and continuing maturation. The unorthodox animation has grown on me over time, and I love some of the little touches like the song lyrics being taken directly from the book. Anderson's super-meticulous style and nostalgic aesthetics mesh with Dahl's boisterous characters surprisingly well.
Matilda (1996) - I struggled with this one, since it's a childhood favorite, but I have to dock it a lot of points for failing to capitalize on the material in the book. Nearly everything with Matilda's terrible parents, her love of books, and Miss Honey's house is missing. Instead, this version of "Matilda" is really a story about an exceptional girl matching wits with a monster principal. And it's a perfectly fine, if unusually gross kids' movie. However, it's not very good as a Dahl adaptation, never really reaching the ridiculous heights that it could have.
The BFG (2016) - I wonder if I was too old for this film when I first saw it. I love the book and this is a very faithful and well mounted adaptation, but I came away totally unimpressed. The content feels very sanitized, with little of the dark edge that I always appreciated about Dahl's work. Mark Rylance is as good a Big Friendly Giant as you could ever hope for, and the CGI is pretty good, but only a few sequences really stood out. I wouldn't be surprised if it found a more receptive audience later, though, the way most of these films have.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) - Looking back, this movie isn't as bad as I remember it being. The kids are great, Danny Elfman's music is fun, and I enjoy some of the additions to the story. The elements that I really have trouble with, however, are big ones: Johnny Depp's performance and the ghastly amount of dodgy CGI. Depp's Wonka with all the weird mannerisms was off-putting from the start, but over time the effect has actually gotten worse now that everything about one of its biggest influences - Michael Jackson - has come out.
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