[Sethomas]

Now, I've heard that both were preceded by a novel and that sounds about right, so I guess that such would be the standard of judgment.

I never sat down and watched the remake in full because it never really seemed like a good idea, but I caught a few minutes when my sister rented it. The part I watched involved a careful and moral explanation of why the titular character was a bad person, followed by him talking to a therapist about his childhood or some shit.

To me, that ruins pretty much everything about the original film. Yes, I know that the original film could not be made because of CULTURAL DIFFERENCES that have arisen in the American Volksgeist since the original was released. Still, it struck me as if Tim Burton was too focused on his "vision" to realize that the whole essence of magic and wonder of the factory depended on the unflappability and infallibility of Gene Wilder's character.

It's the same psychological underpinnings as why even though we're not supposed to LIKE Lucifer, we ascribe all these amazing and quasi-divine (only not fully divine because to say so would be BLASPHEMY) characteristics to him to make the image of evil and hell (as a tangible place) all the more terrifying.

Also, some possibly apocryphal casting notes I found funny:
For the original, Fred Astaire ardently demanded the main role because he thought it was written for him. The casting director loved the idea but told Astaire that he was too old, and soon thereafter the American legend died of a broken heart.
Thus, Gene Wilder was approached because he was thought to be the perfect actor. He wasn't that interested, but agreed to sign on only under the stipulation that he'd be able to exercise his ability to perform a backflip in his opening scene.
With the remake, Wilder was approached to reprise his role and he told them that he was too old. He probably meant that he couldn't do backflips anymore.
So, Marylin Manson was approached because he fit the image better than anyone else. Manson thought it was a fantastic opportunity to corrupt a demographic that was just young enough to have never heard of him, but in the end he turned it down for scheduling issues.
Thus, when Burton fell asleep spooning Johnny Depp he had a nightmare in which the latter was cast in the role. Hearing Burton talk in his sleep and mistaking it for a waking stream-of-consciousness, he accepted the "offer" for the role and Burton didn't know how to politely explain the situation and acquiesced.