Timothée Chalamet’s turn as the iconic chocolate engineer, Willy Wonka, looks like a magic-filled good time if the latest trailer for Wonka is any indication.
Sporting a purple petticoat and top hat, the prequel’s styling of Wonka is clearly taking inspiration from that of the 1971 Gene Wilder-starring Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which we think is probably a good choice over the Johnny Depp-starring 2005 reboot, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which looks absolutely cursed by comparison.
Eschewing with the dark tones of the Tim Burton effort, the new trailer seems to promise that the kind of colorful whimsy and heart that characterized the Mel Stuart-directed original is returning with Wonka, to the point that even Hugh Grant’s Oompa Loompa closely resembles the look of the creatures from the original.
What we are getting with Wonka is something of an origin story, by the looks of it, tracing the chocolate-maker’s rise to become the world’s top candy manufacturer. It looks like there are plenty of fantastical elements, as well, such as Wonka creating sweets that cause people to levitate at one point.
If one scene in which Wonka is daydreaming, only to be told such behavior is illegal is any indication, I suspect the film will also be a bit of a noncomformist’s tale about how having unconventional ideas — in spite of society’s initial resistance to them — is not something to throw away due to peer pressure. In short, I’m expecting a “follow your dreams” message from the movie, which I can totally get behind. Such a theme is rather aligned with the original story of Charlie Bucket’s unlikely award to tour a chocolate factory despite coming from poverty.
Wonka comes to theaters on Dec. 15.