Issues that Matter: Intersemiotic Transfer of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Abstract

Film adaptations are challenging and tricky for filmmakers in many ways. Good films based on famous and popular literary works provide the filmmakers with much fame and profit whereas a poor adaptation can result in loss in both monetary form and fame. Despite knowing this, filmmakers continue to produce films based on literary pieces, and with the passage of time and with advancement in technologies, film adaptations have improved to a great extent. British novelist Roald Dahl’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has two film adaptations which are Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) directed by Mel Stuart and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) directed by Tim Burton. These two films are adapted in two different ways incorporating sociopolitical, psychological and, to some extent, technological issues. The paper investigates these issues that have been given new meaning departing from the textual dimension of the novel using the semiotics of film.