I haven't seen this yet and I'm probably not going to bust a gut to see it as I'm not keen on that style of animation & I never was much of a Roald Dahl fan.
What I wanted to pick up on from your review is the use of the word "cuss," which over here has annoyed people. The characters swear a lot for a children's film, from what I'm told. That they use the word, "cuss" instead of an actual swear word is no excuse. A hat by any other name is still a hat.
I'd also be interested to hear who you think the target audience of this film is.
Transcending the Arse of Reason in time for last orders

I hate the word "Cuss" it sounds WAY too southern, "cussin" I perfer "Curse, or Swear"

Yeah, its probably not a kid's movie and I might have felt differently about the "cuss" business if I had, say, taken my 8 year old nephew.  But since I went with a large group of adults on a Friday night where the theater was full of other adults, it seemed appropriate.  I still imagine a lot of the "cuss" would go over their heads though.  Until he said, I think it was, "son of a cuss" I actually didn't get that the word was supposed to be replacing all inappropriate words.  And to Bliss...I actually think curse or swear would be too obvious.  Cuss seemed more appropriate to me hear, and maybe that's precisely because I never ever use that word, so it just seemed quirky and bizarre. 

I like Wes Anderson's films and I like the book but what he did with the film in comparison to the book is pretty rubbish. Don't get me wrong it was an Ok film but as a fan of the book it totally contradicted the storyline. I'd also guess the target audience would be like Igor, people who like Nightmare before Christmas type except more adult humor than horror.

I loved the movie. The animation was cool, but what I really loved was the characters. However, it didn't have the emotional connection for me that the rest of the Wes Anderson movies have. Maybe it's because it's (only loosely, apparently) based on a book instead of Wes's own thoughts. I often have to watch and rewatch his movies to really absorb all of the characters, so there's a chance that I'll get more out of it when I own it on DVD. 

It has to take a certain thick skinned-ness to adapt a book to cinema. If you make changes for the cinema audience/film medium the fans lambast you for changing their beloved. If you don't make the changes, you get blamed for the adaption not working on film, rather than the author.
Transcending the Arse of Reason in time for last orders

I thought it was fantastically fantastic.  I really did like the movie, probably because I never read the book.  I loved the way they constantly substituted the word "cuss".  I thought it was very creative, and beautifully done.  The end.

*whistle and clicks*

As far as the citics go, this film is pretty different from other animated films. I am always up for change, and since I haven't seen the movie yet, how was it different, Tina?

finally saw this on dvd last night...  pretty cussin' good