Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

So I'm getting back into Doctor Who these days. You may think that that's really unrelated but let's be honest, Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka is definitely a Time Lord. Think about it, he's going off finding the Oompa Loompas in a land called LoompaLand, clearly a place not on Earth but definitely a place he's been. He's incredibly clever, many of his inventions bend space and time. And doesn't Gene Wilder just have that Time Lord look about him in this film?

But I also have wanted to revisit this movie because I haven't watched it in quite a long time. I'm not usually the kind of person who will go out of my way to watch movies of stars who passed away but I am a little bit bummed that I didn't go and watch this when the late Gene Wilder passed away. I thought the time to revisit this was well overdue and let's be honest, it was actually quite a random choice.

While the movie is called Willy Wonka, the movie mainly centers around a young boy by the name of Charlie (played by Peter Ostrum). He's a young boy who grows up in a poor family where his mother and him are taking care of his two sets of grandparents.

I have to give this movie the credit it deserves because it really does set up Charlie as a great, likable hero. Due to his circumstances, Charlie needs to work and help support his family while the rest of the children in his class go out to the candy store. As much as Charlie wants to go out and join them, and it's obvious he does, he's got a great work ethic and he's trying to help provide for his family. But he's still a kid. He has his moments of weakness and sometimes he can be greedy but you still rooted for him, Peter Ostrum was just a great child to play the main role.

Well Charlie lives in a town with a huge chocolate factory said to be owned by the mysterious Willy Wonka. One day there's an announcement that there are 5 Golden Tickets sent out across the world, hidden in one of Wonka's chocolate bars. Whoever finds the Golden Ticket gets a tour of the factory and a life time supply of chocolate.

To Charlie, to win is the dream but it's a long shot.

The first half of the movie is developing Charlie as a character and showing the reaction the rest of the world has towards this global hunt for the golden tickets and I don't think I ever really understood how funny the first half of this movie is.

Of course you have the children that get the Golden Ticket and we will get into them, but then you have the public reaction and when I was a kid, I don't think I ever understood what exactly was going on and I certainly didn't understand how funny those scenes are.

There's the scene where the guy is having dreams about finding the tickets or the guy who creates the computer to try and find the tickets and the computer doesn't tell him. The other thing I never picked up on is that a woman has to think about giving up a box of Wonka bars in return for her kidnapped husband. I was laughing harder at this movie than I have in a long time and I guess I never really understood those jokes until I got older. When I was kid, the story of Charlie and his adventures in the chocolate factory but there are a lot of jokes that only adults will catch onto and it makes the movie so much better.

So sorry if I spoiled it, but Charlie finds a ticket and he and his Grandpa Joe (played by Jack Albertson) join the 5 other children and their guardians they take with into the chocolate factory and meet the cryptic Willy Wonka (played by Gene Wilder).

I really shouldn't have to talk about how great of a performance this is because this is one of Wilder's most iconic roles. I would guess that most people who have seen the movie, when ask who they think of when asked to think of Willy Wonka, they probably think of Gene Wilder.

But like the first half of this movie, there's a side of this movie I don't think I noticed as a kid. There's little side jokes and dialogue that I don't think I understood as a kid and now as I'm older, I was laughing out loud and pretty much all of them come from Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka

Wilder plays this role so dry and unpredictable that it's really unique and special. You can tell that at all times he's in control and watching this play out exactly the way he wants it to. But at the same time he's enjoying every minute of it and he has this child like sense of wonder when it comes to his chocolate factory.

Now this movie came out in the 70s so it makes sense that the movie is pretty psychedelic. If you've watched the movie before, you know which scenes in particular I'm talking about... like the boat scene.

And that's another fun thing about this movie. There are a lot of moments that kind of make you wonder what the hell is going on. Whether its the boat scene, the creepy tinker in front of Wonka's factory, or just some other weirder moments in the movie, this family friendly adventure has a couple of twists and turns I don't think anybody really expects and even watching it again years later, I don't think I totally expected it watching it again.

When the group is in the Chocolate Factory, this is when the adventure truly begins and all the while you've got Gene Wilder leading us along with a mischevious grin and a look as if one of these kids will eventually step on a mouse trap or start an elaborate trap he set up. There's a great video that claims that Willy Wonka could have been a great Bond villain and I totally agree with that, especially in the times that this movie was made.

Each child is supposed to have their own flaws and their own representations the sort of Seven Deadly Sins idea. Augustus Gloop is obviously gluttony, Veruca Salt is Greed, Violet Beuregarde is Pride and Mike TeeVee is sloth. And I have to say these kids are just well done. The movie goes a little bit overboard and only shows the flaws these kids have while Charlie, our hero who is worthy, gets a lot more time to still be a flawed kid but definitely has the better heart. All the other kids are pretty animated but it works really well for the film as they're all just puppets in Wonka's fun house. The parents are just as bad at times cause they enable these kids to be absolute shits.

But of course it's Wonka who ties it all together and gives off this whimsical environment that really makes the movie great.

Of course you've got the Oompa Loompas who add onto the eccentricity of Wonka's factory.

And the music!

Holy crap this might be one of the best movie musicals out there and I think it's one people really forget. Maybe they don't have the most state of the art choreography when it comes to the dances and movements, but the music is catchy and incredibly well done.

I haven't talked about the Tim Burton version of this film at all but the music is probably one of the best things that sets this movie apart... except for... well...

That...

But the original just has all these phenomenal tunes and they're not show-boaty or anything totally extraordinary but they're just done well. I don't claim to be any kind of musical expert but I know what it feel like to have music fit in perfectly and this movie does that. The music doesn't have to be boisterous or anything epic, it's just people singing about what's going on and it's done really, really well in this film.

Other than that there's not a whole lot more I can say about this film. The Tim Burton one is on Netflix and I'm thinking about watching that and doing a review for that that would include a comparison of the two... but let's be honest the original is one hundred percent better.

The movie is just made up of a great cast that seemed to be having a lot of fun with what they are doing. On top of that, the humor in this movie is surprisingly great and quite charming at the same time. The director always seems to know what he's doing and everything is put into place like a puzzle coming together. I don't think I ever really noticed how well done of a movie this is and there's a reason it's a classic.

The fun part about this film is what you read about it and the production stories behind it. The Wikipedia page is a lot of fun, especially the fact that all the members of the cast of the Monty Python troupe wanted to be Willy Wonka. I found this article talking about some of the fun facts and that's what I love about certain movies. Part of why movies can become classics is the stories from behind the scenes and this list gives you a couple of fun facts about the making of this film which makes it even more fun.

If you haven't seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, do yourself a favor and go check this movie out. You'll be glad you did!

But those are my thoughts on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. What do you think? Is there anybody out there that likes the Tim Burton film better? I'd like to hear why? Does anybody want me to do that review? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. I remember seeing this interview a while back and it really is a fun interview with the late Gene Wilder. He will be incredibly missed. Enjoy!