UK Charlie teaser now up

Warner Bros. UK has a new teaser trailer up for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s almost exactly the same as the US version, with the addition of some burning puppets about two-thirds of the way through, right after the lyric, “A magician and a chocolate wiz.”

“What’s the deal with those flaming puppets?” you may well ask.

Well, they were always supposed to be there. In the movie, these puppets sing the catchy-yet-annoying “Willy Wonka” song, and well, things go awry. Apparently, the US version of the teaser trailer was supposed to be identical to the UK version, but when the MPAA reviewed the trailer, they wouldn’t approve the puppets being on fire. (For whatever reason. I don’t know the details, and it’s only frustrating to speculate.)

The good news is that thanks to the web, you can see the teaser as it was meant to be. See it here.