In his new autobiography, Gene Wilder recounts what would have been a deal-breaker when he was asked to play Willy Wonka in the 1971 film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory."

Warner Bros. Pictures Johnny Depp gives an odd twist to Willy Wonka in Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Click photo for larger image. Related article Time to crank out comparisons of book and film versions "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" Rating: PG for quirky situations, action and mild language. Starring: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore. Director: Tim Burton. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" Web site Family Film Guide review of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" A Post-Gazette review from a family perspective: Rated: PG. Suitable for: School-age children and up. What you should know: Tim Burton puts his stamp on the Roald Dahl story about a poor boy who wins a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Johnny Depp is a weird Wonka. Language: Nothing memorable. Sexual situations/nudity: None. Violence/scary situations: No real violence but scary moments or images. Among them: A flashback to a young Willy, whose dental braces look like an instrument of torture (there's even a knob on the back). Dolls catch on fire, and children touring Wonka's factory have various mishaps. A boy tumbles into a chocolate river, a girl balloons into a blueberry, another is dragged across the floor by squirrels, and a boy is miniaturized and stretched after a TV experiment goes awry. A boat and glass elevator also make for scary rides. Drug and alcohol use: None.

In his first scene, Wilder wanted to walk with a limp, get his cane stuck in the cobblestones outside the factory, fall forward, do a somersault and then bounce back up. When director Mel Stuart asked why, the actor said, "Because from that time on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth."

Forty-four minutes into the movie, this is how Wilder made his gutsy, grand entrance.

What, then, to make of Johnny Depp's turn as chocolatier Willy Wonka? In Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," he plays Wonka with outdated bob and bangs, white and smooth-cheeked face, demented glint, oddly perfect teeth and the childlike habit of saying things like " 'kay?" instead of "OK."

As Wonka says of an invention's aftereffects, "It's just weird."

In fact, Depp's take is so weird that it's nearly a fatal distraction in Burton's version of the Roald Dahl book. It's almost as if Depp is in one movie and the rest of the cast in another. Bridging the two worlds are the singing, dancing, delightful Oompa-Loompas.

Burton can't help dabbling in darkness -- childhood dental braces look like a Victorian torture device -- but he proves his heart is as soft and gooey as a chocolate-covered cherry. He reminds us that family is far sweeter than any chocolate confection or mound of money ever could be.

As in the book, young Charlie (Freddie Highmore) lives with his parents (Helena Bonham Carter and Noah Taylor) and four ancient grandparents in a ramshackle house not far from the world's largest chocolate factory. The grandparents share a single bed and the family dines on watery cabbage soup, but it's a household warmed by love, if not heat.

Through serendipity or fate, the kind-hearted Charlie finds one of five golden tickets hidden inside Wonka candy bars. They will allow the lucky holders the chance to tour the mysterious factory and perhaps win an unspecified special prize.

Charlie invites Grandpa Joe (David Kelly) along, and they're joined by the other winners: the gluttonous Augustus Gloop, spoiled Veruca Salt, gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde and surly, TV-addicted Mike Teavee.

The eccentric Wonka takes them on a tour that reveals such wonders as a chocolate waterfall, edible grass, spun-sugar boat, mountains of fudge, candy cane trees and a workforce of diminutive Oompa-Loompas. But the tour group shrinks with each stop, as the children succumb to their worst instincts.

Director Burton and screenwriter John August provide Willy Wonka with a backstory that explains the origins of his chocolate fixation, his difficulty uttering the word "parent" and other eccentricities.

In the movie's press notes, Felicity Dahl, widow of author Roald Dahl, acknowledges "all books have to be changed a bit in making a film. The important thing is that the alterations enhance the story rather than detract from it, and I believe that's what Tim has done here."

Anyone who's read the novel or seen the 1971 film may be taken aback by the additions. In the Wilder version, Wonka was just strange. Worked for me.

"Charlie," however, is a triumph of production design, kicky musical numbers (with actor Deep Roy playing every Oompa, individually filmed and expertly combined), and special effects that make it appear as if a girl is ballooning into a blueberry and squirrels are perched on tiny blue stools in a factory, efficiently shelling nuts.

Instead of serving the story, these elements almost become the story, with the golden ticket winners -- and the audience -- witnessing the marvels and misfortunes in the factory. They threaten to overshadow everything else, including the stars.

That's too bad since "Charlie" boasts wonderful actors at each end of the age spectrum in Highmore and Kelly, with smaller roles filled by notables such as Carter, Taylor, James Fox, Christopher Lee and a fine group of young actors. And "Charlie" even has faint echoes of other Burton movies, from "Edward Scissorhands" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" to "Big Fish."

Depp, one of my favorite actors, goes too far afield here. He's like the chocolate that you bet has a caramel or fudge center and you bite into it and discover ... jelly. Eeew, as they say in the movie.

If "Charlie" works, it's in spite of his Peter Pan portrayal, not because of it.