In the books, from what *I* recall, Wonka was this little old gnome who had a very tricksterish flair and was more than a little dangerous--the sort of being that only a little boy could really love (think the Psammead in Five Children and It--hmmm, I'm sure Dahl was an E Nesbit fan...).
From the stills I have seen, the remake appears to be more an embroidery upon the Seventies film, rather than a revisiting of the Dahl texts. I've asked repeatedly whether the songs are included in the new flick, but nobody seems to know. It will really be a crashing bore without the songs... I agree with whoever said the Seventies oompa-loompas looked like Gerard Stiles...
btw, did anybody out there ever read those Joan Aiken books about Dido Twite and her friends and foes--Wolves of Willoughby Chase; Nightbirds in Nantucket; Black Hearts in Battersea, etc.? Apparently the final book in the series is being published posthumously (Dame Joan went to her reward, aged 80-something, last year, it seems), and it sounds juicy. The word Witch is in the title--always a good sign.
Steve