The characterization is every bit as cheap. Mr. Magorium, who is 243 years old (so are his jokes), is a cross between Willy Wonka and Geppetto, but Hoffman plays him with little more than a goofy dumb lisp, achieved by tucking his lower lip under his upper teeth, so that he looks just as rabbity-stoopid as he sounds.

I have to believe that Hoffman took this role chiefly for the sake of his young children to enjoy watching him on screen.