Hm. I dunno.
The original is great.
Maybe you should watch that first, just because.
But the new one is not a remake of the old one. It's a movie from the book. So, I dunno if it really matters.
i haven't seen the original since i was a kid. it might be one of those things where it seemed great then, but is stupid now. i do love gene wilder though
no, the movie is a classic. i think it holds up very well, and yeah, gene wilder is the man