I heard a review of the new Willy Wonka film on the way in this morning that wasn’t spectacular. But it was
intriguing. I know I’ll see this film, but I will do so with reservations because Tim Burton has disappointed me more
than once in the past. Remaking Willy Wonka is like remaking a very
special part of your childhood, and for many of us who feel that way, the notion is that we have entrusted Burton with
a part of ourselves. He has been given the power to take this sweet, wonderful thing, and to refashion it for the
times. Whether he does so with sensitivity to all this is up to him. I guess we’ll see.
And so all this is a lead into a trip for Willy Wonka fans everywhere. Most people know that Roald Dahl was the
mastermind behind Wonka. But I’ll bet few know that there is actually a Roald
Dahl Museum and Story Center 20 miles northwest of London in Great Missenden. The museum celebrates Dahl’s
impressive (and often quite odd) body of work, including personal papers and his supposedly incredible “Ideas Book.”
Now, only a die hard Willy Wonka/Dahl fan would make such a trip, but my guess is that there are a lot of us out
there.