�Willie Wonka� has been parodied by adult cartoons like �The Simpsons� and �Family Guy.� Oompah-Loompahs are seen on cigarette breaks or being kept in cages away from their union representatives. The best parody is probably on �Futurama,� in which, upon seeing the Oompah-Loompahs at work, the disgusted Professor Farnsworth cries out:
�What are those awful creatures?!�
�Those are the Urkah-Lurkahs.�
�Tell them I hate them!�
This might well be the finest exchange of dialogue I have ever heard on television. A remake, helmed by madman Tim Burton and starring a dragged-out Johnny Depp, looks like it might squarely look the satire in the eye. The preview suggests that it will be a giddily disturbing parody of children�s movies, akin to �Night of the Hunter,� in which all the language of �family� films is used to create a distinctly non-family result. To quote my wife, �I hope the new version has different songs, because the ones in the old version are pretty fucking lame.�
Finished February 3rd, 2005
Copyright � 2005 Friday & Saturday Night
Page one of "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." Back to home.