No. 48 - Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory  (1971)

It's Scrumdidilyumptious!

Rated: G

Director: Mel Stuart; Screenplay: Roald Dahl; based on the novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Starring: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear, Julie Dawn Cole, Leonard Stone

Movie Introduction: A sweet boy, Charlie, from a poor European family, dreams of finding one of five golden tickets hidden inside Wonka chocolate bars. The winners will be admitted into the eccentric Willy Wonka's magical candy factory. One after another, tickets are found, all with greedy parents pulling various strings to find give their spoiled children an unfair advantage. As he last ticket is found, Charlie's hopes are dashed. But wait, the last ticket was a fraud! With his last dollar, he runs to the local candy story and buy one more bar... Will this be Charlie's lucky day? Of course it is!

Defining Moment: Wonka's first appearance

The movie builds toward one moment, and it is pure cinema magic. Our five children have their golden tickets in hand, and it finally time to meet the mysterious, reclusive Mr. Wonka, the curator of the factory that nobody has ever visited. The door opens and a sour-faced man, clad in a strange purple jacket and top hat, begins to approach the gathered crowd beyond the locked gate. The man appears frail, using a cane to accommodate his noticeable limp. The smile on Charlie’s fades as silence covers the crowd. Slowly he approaches, removing his hat as he stops. Then he falls forward toward the rock walkway… (Watch this great scene on YouTube.)

Something subtle you might have missed:  a dark, scary boat ride

There are elements at play in this film that elevate it above simple children's fare. Honestly, I don't know how this scene made it past the ratings board. I am speaking of the not-so-fun boat ride. It's a part of the film where we start to learn that Willie might be a little insane. Wonka, the children and parents climb aboard a small boat that chugs through the chocolate river, then into a tunnel. Once inside the dank cave, the boat picks up speed, the parents become concerned, and several really disturbing images flash in the darkness: a flying cockroach, a millipede crawling over a human face, an extreme close-up of a human eye, Wonka's rival Slugworth, a lizard eating a bug, a close-up of a scorpion's mouth, and even a chicken being decapitated. Then our mysterious host begins singing a somewhat disturbing song. The actor's reactions were real, as they had no idea Gene Wilder was going to act that way. It's bizarre and unsettling, which is exactly how the weird Wonka desires it.

Memorable Quotes:

"Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple." - Willie Wonka

"How could you do something like this, build up a little boy's hopes and then smash all his dreams to pieces? You're an inhuman monster!" – Grandpa Joe

"So shines a good deed in a weary world." – Willie Wonka

Dad's Review:

It is every kid's wildest dream to visit a chocolate factory. It's probably why I live 40 minutes from Hershey, PA. They have a wonderful ride within their Hershey's Chocolate World building. You board the ride's cars and it loops you through everything chocolate: How is grown, how it's made into cocoa power, how they mix and blend it to create the wonderful candies they produce - all while the wonderful smell of chocolate is pumped into the air to whet your appetite. At the ride's end, you are given a sample of their latest candy and welcomed to their gift shop, bakery and soda fountain. It literally is "The Sweetest Place on Earth."   

You're craving some chocolate right now, aren't ya? It's OK to admit it.

It's with this in mind that I begin my review of one of my all-time favorite films. This wonderful musical presents a ton of colorful, happy imagery for children, yet it is also serves as a cautionary tale. Children who misbehave, and the parents who spoil them, might need to rethink their actions.

This wondrous family classic is broken down into two primary acts: the quest for the golden ticket, and the adventure within the factory.

The film centers on Charlie Bucket, a poor boy living with his mother and several bed-ridden elderly relatives including his grandfather, Grandpa Joe. In their small European town, mystery surrounds the Wonka chocolate factory. It produces delectable sweets of all kinds, however nobody enters or leaves the building.

Then Wonka announces that he has hidden five golden tickets inside Wonka chocolate bars. Finders will receive a tour of the factory and a lifetime supply of chocolate!

After a case of ticket fraud, Charlie dashes to the candy store, with his last dollar, and finds the final ticket! He's in for a memorable journey.

The second half of the film takes place within the factory itself. There the five winners are encounter a miniature world beyond their dreams, a factory where tiny men, called Oompa Loopas, perform all the work to make the wonderful chocolate. The children can eat the flowers and drink from a cocoa river. It's curator is the strange, eccentric Willie Wonka. This was my first exposure to Gene Wilder who was destined to play the title role. 

I must confess that I really enjoy the fates of each of the spoiled, bratty kids. They are soooo annoying. When, one by one, they fall prey to their well-deserved (and non-lethal) outcomes, I inwardly cheer. 

NOTE: Unless you are somehow a glutton for punishment, I recommend skipping the Tim Burton film on the same subject titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), starring Johnny Depp. I am a huge Burton and Depp fan, but this effort just misses the mark.  

Onto No. 49... Ruffians of the West Indies: The Hex of the Inky Globule