It’s the
Easter season again, and traditionally around this time of year I review
something with a religious backdrop. This year however, I wanted to do
something different … and ... there just happens to
be a little movie from 1971 that I find myself re-watching around this time of
year … the family musical classic “Willy
Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”. While the film obviously has no direct tie-in
with the holiday, there’s still something magical about it that puts me in an Easter mood. The look of it, and
the feel of it that just fits right along with all the decorations, colors and
treats found in the Easter baskets of the season. Initially when I was a kid, I
had heard of “Willy Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory”, but didn’t have any initial interest in watching it, as
a film revolving around a boy visiting a candy factory just sounded boring to
me. Much to my good fortune, I saw the movie for the first time during a third-grade
class, and I distinctly remember saying to myself when it was done … “that’s a
film I’ll be keeping with me for life”. There’s really no point it building up
the film anymore, as it’s often cited as a motion picture classic. Nevertheless, I’m in the mood to talk about one of my childhood favorites, and
hopefully in the process I'll remind modern viewers why it’s deserving of its
favored title. Also, in this review, I’ll be comparing some things with the
original book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", written by Roald Dahl, as the popularity of the film dose frequently
overshadow an otherwise great children’s book.
Charlie Bucket is a small
boy who comes from a poor family, and despite his living conditions, he tries
his best to be optimistic, and loving. Yet deep down, he wants something
special to wish for, and dream of.
One thing that lingers on his mind is the mysterious
Wonka chocolate factory, which is in full production, producing sweets for
kids, but it remains locked, with no-one ever going in or out. What secrets lie
within, what delicious treasure could be discovered, and just who’s operating
the factory when no-one is ever seen entering the building. One day, it’s
announced that five golden tickets have been hidden within select chocolate
bars, and the lucky winners get a special tour of the factory, and one child
will be given the greatest surprise gift of all. The first half of the movie
focuses on the Wonka contest, as we meet our five principal children who find
the tickets, four of which are spoiled, self-centered brats. Most importantly
we spend time with Charlie in his everyday life as the competition unfolds
around him.
The second half is the tour of the factory, and the point where the
movie begins its new life as a journey through a child’s fantasy land. While
the place seems like a normal factory on the outside … inside is a world of
pure imagination. In essence, it’s less about story, and more about an
experience into a fantastical setting. It’s all about watching these everyday
people go from one colorful, imaginative location in the factory to another,
and no two rooms are the same. Some are very whimsical, some provide a lot of
goofy comedy, some are technical marvels, some of it can be a little spooky,
and some rooms are just quirky oddities. Funny enough, the film also follows
the outline of a “SAW” movie, in
which each room tests one of the kids, and each child in turn gets removed from
the film due to their failures. Wonka through it all even acts like a puppet
master who knows in his mind exactly how everything is going to unfold. The
thread that gives the experience substance is Charlie himself, who likewise is put
to the test on what the virtues are for being a good kid, and not greedy like
the others.
Roald Dahl, the author of the original book always viewed Charlie as the principal character, hence why his name was in the title of the book. Needless to say, he wasn’t a fan of how Wonka seemed to steal the spotlight in the movie. Truthfully, while Wonka is certainly a scene steal-er, I think he missed how well realized Charlie's character was, that he was the one with a character arc, and that he’s absolutely the center piece of the story. While Charlie is certainly a good kid, he’s
not without fault. Sometimes he can be a little selfish, and other times he
lets his curiosity get the best of him. Thus, in the end it’s all the more
rewarding to see how far he’s matured, and how he proves to be selfless when
faced with an opportunity to make money. Peter Ostrum played Charlie Bucket,
and it turned out to be both his very first and last acting role. While Peter
has expressed nothing but love for his experience on the film, he also never
aspired a career in acting, and decided to follow his own dreams. I
congratulate him for his choice, but I also want to compliment him for his
performance in this role.
All the remaining kid actors brought
their respected roles to life with distinct quirks, but the one other child
star who really stands out is Julie Dawn Cole as Veruca Salt, who’s easily the
most spoiled and bad-tempered child of them all. This has to be one of my
personal favorite child performances, as she is fiercely committed to the part,
and is bursting with fiery energy in every scene. While I’ve seen okay bratty kid
performances, Veruca is just this insane tornado of relentless built-up
emotion. On a side note, as far as child singing is concerned, she’s perfectly
passable, and her song “I want it now” makes for a great villain song
in its own right. Also, I can’t forget about the late Jack Albertson and his
infectiously lovable performance as Charlies Grandpa Joe. While he could have
easily been written off as just the wise and friendly grandfather, he’s also a
bit stubborn, a pinch reckless, and it gives him more of a realized character
to portray. In general, I love seeing old men that still retain the beating heart
of a child, and Grandpa Jo is just brimming with a young spirit despite his
age.
At last, let's talk about the main man
himself, the late great Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. Strait to the point … this
is one of my absolute favorite character performances in all of cinema. Obviously, his purple suit and funny hat are iconic, but it was Gene Wilder himself in the role who made the character come to life.
What makes his performance work is the duality on display, as he captures the relentless warmth of a friendly figure, but also the quirkiness of a mad doctor who may or may not be trustworthy. It’s a very animated performance to say the least, but it’s also
restrained in just the right ways, and that’s where Gene shines. He knew
exactly how to keep enough personality tucked inside, while also being very
looney with the delivery. There’s one too many memorable quirks and funny lines
to recap, but a personal favorite of mine is when he drops a pair of shoes in a
boiling pot of food and says … “that will give it a little more kick”. I should note that
Roald Dahl was once again not of fan of Gene Wilder in the role, as he really
wanted to see his character played by the great Spike Milligan. While I’m sure
he could have done something credible in the role, I just couldn’t picture anyone
else but Gene Wilder in the part.
The factory itself functions as a
character, and it’s likewise what helps keep the film so engaging to watch. The
first half of the movie actually does a good job holding the viewers interest,
but then in the second half we finally enter this amazing, wondrous setting, and the entertainment value is bumped up to eleven. Even
though most of the look and aesthetics on display are very 1970’s, there’s still
something to admire about all the practical effects, crazy sets, and designs of
each room. I especially love that each location in the factory has its own
distinct feel and personality. My favorite elements of the factory are actually
all the little details spread throughout, like the lick-able wall paper, the
coat hangers that actually crab the coats, and the randomly placed sign listing
off various creams leading up to ... “Hair Cream”. My favorite scene of all, which
wasn’t even in the original book, was the Wonka-mobile … a giant car that can’t
drive 12 feet without spitting-up tons of soap on its passengers. I always
looked at this as the most “fun” moment of the film, as it doesn’t involve
spoiled children in danger, and it establishes a subtle contrast between the
passengers. Charlie and his grandpa are loving it and having fun, while the
others can’t stand getting soap on them.
Now let’s talk about one of the film’s most
famous moments … the tunnel scene. This is the textbook definition of a scary
scene existing in a family film just for the sake of a random spooky scene, and
in my opinion … it’s all the better for it. For me, classic family films are
all the more special when there’s that one random scene that sticks with us for
being completely out of left field, and out of context with the rest of the
movie. During the tour of Wonda’s factory, the guests take a seemingly peaceful
ride on a ferry that’s calmly sailing a chocolate river.
Then it literally
takes a dark turn down a mysterious tunnel, full of neon lights, warped visuals
(obvious 70’s anesthetic's), and all kinds of random nightmare imagery that’s
terrifying the passengers. We get images of a Snake slithering over someone’s
face, tense eyeball closeups, creepy crawly critters, dark suited men, and a
chicken getting its head cut off. It’s absolutely bonkers, has nothing to do
with the story, makes no sense in the context of the film, and yet, somehow the
experience just feels more complete with a randomly placed creepy scene. In
general, I love family films that convey a variety of emotions in one package.
This movie has its whimsical moments, sad moments, funny moments, exciting
moments, and a little bit of fear just completes the package. While this scene
definitely took me by surprise as a kid, I really don’t remember it scaring me
that much. If anything, I remember I was actually disappointed that there
wasn’t more creepy imagery on display then what we got. It should come as no surprise
that, while there was a ferry ride in the book, it was heavily altered for the
film ... you can probably imagine how author Roald Dahl felt about that.
On that note, Roald Dahl has publicly disowned
the film, and was furious with the final result. Originally, he wrote the screen
play for the movie, but it was heavily altered by screen writer David Seltzer,
who’s largely responsible for all the memorable scenes from the film that were
absent from the book. Speaking personally, I’m of the opinion that a movie
adaption should be faithful to the source material, but it should also create
its own unique moments, and tweak the story just enough so that it’s familiar,
but with its own unique identity. I already mentioned the added scene with
Wonka’s bubbly car, but there’s a lot more that I’d like to compare to the book.
The Oompa Loompas in the book resembled normal people, just very small, but I’ve
always preferred the movies re-design with the orange faces and green hair, as
it just made them stand out as unique creatures. The shady Slugworth character,
who was a very minor part in the book was also given a larger role in the movie.
This annoyed Roald Dahl to no end as he felt the film was trying to shoe horn in a
pointless villain. I find that ironic as Roald Dahl created the Child Catcher for
the movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”,
and he was a villain that wasn’t even featured in the original source material.
Furthermore, while Slugworth had a traditional shadowy presence, he certainly
wasn’t a villain, was even revealed to be working for Wonka the whole time, and
ended up playing an important role in Charlies character arc.
The majority of the consequences of the
naughty kids, like the boy stuck in the pip, the girl transforming into a
blueberry and the TV obsessed kid shrinking in Wonka’s machine were all carried
over faithfully from the book … but Veruca Salt getting dumped down with the
garbage was very different.
In the book, it’s a room full of squirrels making
Chocolate Nuts, then when Veruca gets out of hand, and is dropped down the
trash shoot, Wonka responds with … “She was a bad nut”. The movie changed this
scene to giant geese laying Golden Chocolate Eggs for Easter, and this time
when Veruca drops, Wonka responds with ... “She was a bad Egg”. Again, speaking
personally, I’ll always prefer the giant geese as they tie-in with my love for
watching this movie around Easter time. The scene with the “fizzy lifting
drinks” was another completely original sequence for the movie. Aside from
being a very fun scene with our two principle characters flying around, I also
felt this served as an important part in Charlies arc. This was the incident
that showed how Charlie was capable of making mistakes, by letting his curiosity
get the better of him, and it made the resolution at the end all the more
effective when we see how much he’d learned from then. The scene in Wonka’s
office was also created for the movie, and in my opinion, the story was all the
stronger for it. This was the emotional highlight, as we saw Charlie pass one
final test from Wonka. On a side note, I’ve always loved the design of Wonka’s office,
as all his furniture was split in half, and served as a metaphor of the characters
split duality. Wonka’s glass elevator was also featured more prominently in the
book, but I thought saving it for the climax of the movie worked fine.
So, is there anything added in the movie
that I didn’t care for … um, there certainly is in the first half. Most
obviously, I never understood why this movie focused on so many adults that were
obsessing over Wonka’s Golden tickets, especially when the tickets were clearly
meant for children only. What’s worse, there are some ponderous detours with pointless
characters going to absurd lengths to get their hands on these darn things. It
gets so stupid that there’s actually a moment when a random woman’s husband gets
abducted, and his life will be terminated if she doesn’t surrender her collection
of Wonka bars.
The scene is bad enough, but it’s made even worse when the wife
is hesitant to give up her stupid candy bars over her husband’s life. These moronic
scenes with the adults should have been completely removed, as they did nothing
but pad the movie out. Also, while I’ve always loved the songs for their
memorable lyrics, I’m not the biggest fan of the musical numbers as their presented.
The staging is kind of generic, the singing doesn’t always sound that great,
and some of them like “Cheer Up Charlie” and “The Candy Man” song are just
kind of boring to watch. The musical number “I’ve got a Golden Ticket” is a song
that I absolutely adore in-of-itself, but as a scene in the film, it’s almost
relentlessly corny to watch. The “Oompa Loompa” songs are perfect all around,
and a rare case in which the music is actually lifted right from the original book.
Wonka’s “Pure
Imagination” song is another great one that I love all around, and even
though Gene Wilder doesn’t exactly have a great singing voice, there’s still something
about the passion and commitment he puts into the song that makes it work. Also,
the instrumental score on its own is outstanding, and even earned an Oscar nomination
for best original music score. As soon as the movie begins with that memorable
opening credit sequence in the chocolate factory, and that music chimes in … I’m
instantly in a good mood.
In general, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” is right on par with the
likes of “The Wizard of Oz” as one
of the great family movie classics. Despite being an obvious product of the
70’s, it’s still remained timeless, and I’d hate for any childhood to be
without it. It’s a film that conveys thoughtful messages to kids, but also gives
them a great variety of fun and wonderment. I think most people who have
grown-up with a passion for films might just have had been inspired by “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”,
and maybe without realizing it.
Without a doubt, it’s one of those special
movies that broadens the imagination in young viewers, and possibly even older viewers.
For me, I’ve always looked back on this film as an example of what movies
should do best, which is transport the audience from the familiar, have them
enter a world of creativity, experience a variety of emotional highlights along
the way, return back to the real world feeling refreshed, and possibly even
learned something meaningful along the way. If you’d prefer an adaption that’s
closer to Roald Dahl’s original book, you can watch Tim Burton’s 2004 remake “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” starring
Johnny Depp. That version was almost a perfect recreation of the book with
minimal alterations, but personally, I never felt that it captured the same
warmth or charming appeal of the original film. That’s not to say it was a
terrible remake, just … not my bar of chocolate. It goes without saying that I
still love the movie “Willy Wonka and
the Chocolate Factory”, just as much as I did as a kid, and with modern day
entertainment getting less enchanting, and more commercial, it’s something that
I’ve pushed for younger viewers to discover or in the cases of some parents …
re-discover. If you’re someone who regrettably missed this film at any point in
your life, do yourself a favor this Easter and treat both yourself and possibly
the whole family to one of the most delicious films ever made.
Thanks for reading my review of the 1971 Family Movie classic “Willy
Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” ... and continue to enjoy the movies you Love.
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