Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
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| Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory | |
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| Directed by | Mel Stuart |
| Produced by | David L. Wolper, Stan Margulies |
| Written by | David Seltzer (uncredited) Based on the book by Roald Dahl |
| Starring | Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures (original release); later Warner Bros. |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.9 million |
| IMDb profile | |
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is an influential 1971 motion picture based on the 1964 children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by British author Roald Dahl. It was directed by Mel Stuart and starred Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka and Peter Ostrum as Charlie Bucket.
While the film was not a great commercial success at the time of its release, it has since grown into a major cult classic with both children and adults, something quite similar happened with The Wizard of Oz. Some find the film's dated look and special effects to be unintentionally campy or psychedelic, though Wilder's acting is usually singled out for praise. A second film adaptation of the children's book, titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was released in 2005. It was directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka and Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket.
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[edit] Plot overview
Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) is a poor boy living with his mother and four bedridden grandparents. Charlie is bravely struggling to support his family when he hears that the famous recluse Mr. Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) has placed "Golden Tickets" into five of his Wonka Bars. The finders of these special items will be given a full tour of Wonka's world-renowned candy factory – the inner workings of which are a tightly kept secret – and a lifetime supply of chocolate.
Charlie wants to win more than anyone. He receives one Wonka bar as a birthday present, then later a second bar is bought for him by Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson), both of which turn out to be ticket-less. He is heartbroken when the news soon reports that all five tickets have been found. The next day, as he is walking through town, he finds some money in the gutter. He goes into the local candy shop and buys a bar of Wonka chocolate, which he promptly wolfs down. Just as he is about to leave, he decides to buy another one for his Grandpa Joe.
Once he steps outside, however, he hears that the fifth finder had forged his ticket, and one last opening is still available. Charlie opens the bar of chocolate in his hand, and finds the final ticket. Escaping the mob which immediately surrounds him, Charlie is then stopped by a sinister-looking man claiming to be Arthur Slugworth (Günter Meisner), a rival candy-maker, who offers an enormous sum of money in exchange for a sample of Wonka's latest creation, the Everlasting Gobstopper. Charlie races home with the good news, and his Grandpa Joe rises from his bed to be the adult who accompanies him to the factory.
Upon arrival at the factory the next day, the ticket holders are made to wait until Wonka comes to the gate. Wonka approaches them with his face obscured by the brim of his hat, and he walks with a limp and the help of a cane. As he walks toward the front gate, his cane becomes stuck in the cobblestones, and Wonka finds himself suddenly no longer holding it. He begins to topple forward, apparently unable to maintain his balance. At the last moment, Wonka does a forward somersault and lands on his feet, demonstrating his youthful prowess. (Wilder would later explain that he added this feat himself to ensure that the audience would never completely trust his character in the movie.)
Upon entering the Chocolate Factory, reality is checked at the door, as Wonka's abode is a psychedelic wonderland full of chocolate rivers, giant edible mushrooms, lickable wallpaper and Wonka's workers, the small, orange men known as Oompa Loompas. Each child is eventually given his or her own Everlasting Gobstopper, a candy that can be licked forever without dissolving or losing flavour. As the tour progresses, the four other children reveal themselves to be gluttonous, greedy, spoiled and ill-behaved; traits that backfire, bringing bizarre disasters down upon their heads. One by one, the small tour is reduced in number, until only Charlie Bucket and Grandpa Joe remain.
They mistakenly assume they have won the promised lifetime supply of chocolate, but are told that their own drinking of an off-limits experimental soda has disqualified them, and they are curtly dismissed. Grandpa Joe is incensed, promising to get even with Wonka no matter what it takes and encouraging Charlie to hand over the secrets of the Gobstopper to the rival Slugworth. But Charlie has a heart of gold, and returns the Gobstopper to Wonka despite the money it could mean for him. "So shines a good deed in a weary world", says the candy-man, who then says that Charlie has won the "jackpot," before revealing that the "Mr. Slugworth" whom Charlie encountered earlier was an imposter who actually works for Wonka.
Wonka and his two guests get in the Wonkavator (known as the Great Glass Elevator in Dahl's book) and blast through the roof of the factory. As the Wonkavator floats high over the city, Wonka tells Charlie that he was really looking for a successor, and that the tickets were all part of a test to find a good and worthy child to fill that role. As such, in addition to the chocolate, Charlie and his family will move into the factory, and someday take over its operation. They embrace, and the Wonkavator sails off into the sky.
[edit] Production
The idea for adapting the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory into a film came about when director Mel Stuart's 10-year-old daughter read the book and asked her father to make the movie version. Stuart then showed the book to producer David L. Wolper, who happened to be in the midst of talks with the Quaker Oats Company regarding a vehicle to introduce a new candy bar. Wolper convinced the company, who had no previous experience in the film industry, to buy the rights to the book and finance the film for the purpose of promoting a new Quaker Oats Wonka Bar.
[edit] Writing
It was agreed that the film's format would be a children's musical, and that the book's author, Roald Dahl, would write the screenplay; although Wolper was unimpressed with the first draft by Dahl and brought in screenwriter David Seltzer to streamline the script to his specifications. Subsequently, Dahl was unhappy with the results.
Several changes were made in the story in order to successfully adapt it to the big screen, most notably the addition of musical numbers. The title of the film was changed from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to further promote the chocolate bars being promoted by the film.
The original book character of Willy Wonka did not quote literary sources. The quotes from such works as Arthur O'Shaughnessy's Ode, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, John Keats' poetry, and many more were added by Seltzer for the film.
Many jokes throughout the film were aimed at a higher sense of intelligence, such as when the South American newscaster holds up the photo of the fifth Golden Ticket "winner" (who is a fake) it is a picture of Martin Bormann. The joke was that Bormann was Hitler's right-hand man who, in theory, escaped and wound up in Paraguay. In another rather sophisticated joke, Willy Wonka plays the opening to Mozart's opera Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) on his musical lock. Mike Teavee's mother quips, "Rachmaninoff," exposing her self-satisfied ignorance.
[edit] Casting and setting
Director Mel Stuart and producer David Wolper ignored Dahl's request to cast British comedian Spike Milligan in the lead role of Willy Wonka. The two initially considered Joel Grey, a Broadway singer and dancer, who ultimately was not chosen due to his small physical stature.
Auditions were held for a week in New York City's Plaza Hotel until Hollywood actor Gene Wilder came in and was immediately chosen to play Wonka. Wilder accepted the role of Willy Wonka only on the condition that he could have his way with one key scene, in which Wonka first presents himself to the crowd gathered outside of his factory. He wished to have Wonka walk out as an apparent cripple on a cane, then somersault to full health, in order to keep the audience guessing from the start if he was telling the truth or a lie [citation needed].
The producers worked with casting directors in New York, London, England and Munich, Germany to find actors to play the children and their parents. German-born Michael Bollner (Augustus Gloop) could not speak English during the filming, and had to be coached when saying his lines.
Co-stars Julie Dawn Cole and Denise Nickerson became good friends and both had a crush on Peter Ostrum (they would alternate days over who would spend time with Ostrum) [citation needed].
Sammy Davis Jr. was considered for the role of the candy store owner [citation needed]. He would later make "Candyman" one of his signature songs during his shows.
With the movie primarily filmed in Munich, most of the background characters and extras were cast from the local population. Most of the Oompa-Loompas, however, had to be cast from outside the country because virtually all Germans with dwarfism had been murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust [citation needed]. Diminutive actor Angelo Muscat, most well-known for playing the dwarf butler in the cult '60s TV show The Prisoner, can be spotted as an Oompa Loompa.
Amongst the film's notable minor roles is Tim Brooke-Taylor, who later was a part of The Goodies, as the nervous Computer Operator.
The location chosen to shoot the film was Munich, West Germany, because it was significantly less expensive than Hollywood and the setting was conducive to Wonka's factory. Visual artist Harper Goff was hired as the set designer, centering the factory around the massive Chocolate Room. The two-foot deep chocolate river and waterfall was created by adding buckets of chocolate ice cream mix to 150,000 US gallons (570 m³) of water, which eventually created a sour smell that permeated the entire soundstage.
The excited looks on the faces of the characters as they enter the chocolate room are pretty candid. It was the first time any of the actors had seen the set and they were amazed about what a spectacle the room was [citation needed]. Most of the chocolate room was actually edible. Some of it was not, such as the tea cup Gene Wilder eats at the end of "Pure Imagination." That was actually wax, and Wilder would spit out the pieces at the end of the song when the director yelled "cut."
Filming began on August 31, 1970 and ended on November 19, 1970.
The movie ended with Wonka, Charlie and Grandpa Joe in the glass elevator hovering over the town. It was meant to set up the potential for the movie version of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, but that never happened due to Dahl's refusal to sell the film rights to that book.
[edit] Reception
During Willy Wonka's production, Quaker Oats made several failed attempts at a satisfactory chocolate bar, ultimately deciding to abandon their plans to release a Wonka Bar. The film was released on June 30, 1971, but, without a marketing scheme, the box office figures were less than desirable. It ended the year as the #53 film and grossed approximately $4 million. Even with less than average sales, critics such as Roger Ebert [1] and moviegoers reacted positively to the film. Dahl ended up disliking the film adaptation of his novel and became disillusioned with the film industry, refusing to sell the rights to the book's sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. It was not until 1989, a year before his death, that he agreed to another film adaptation of one of his stories, the animated The BFG.
Seeing no significant financial advantage, Paramount Pictures decided against renewing its distribution deal for the film when it expired seven years later. Quaker Oats sold the rights to Warner Bros. in 1977. In 1988, Nestlé bought The Willy Wonka Candy Company name that was created for the release of the film, and launched their new successful line of candies featuring a cartoon likeness of Willy Wonka (including Bottle Caps, Wonka Donutz, Fun Dip, Gobstoppers, Laffy Taffy, Nerds, Oompas, Pixy Stix, Runts, Shock Tarts, Tart 'n' Tinys, and Wonka Bars).
Following the picture, Peter Ostrum refused a ten-picture movie offer with Warner Brothers and did not do any more acting after this film [citation needed]. Today (2006) he is a practicing veterinarian in upstate New York, and makes occasional appearances at local grade schools, discussing his post-Wonka life and career.
The film steadily grew in major popularity beginning in the mid-1970s, thanks in large part to repeated television airings and VHS sales. It was released on DVD in 1997, allowing it to reach an even larger audience, and on DVD and VHS again in 2001, in a '21 Anniversary Special Edition'. The original cast members reunited to film documentary footage for the 2001 special edition DVD and VHS release. In 2005 a second film adaptation of the children's book, titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was released. The new film inevitably brought about comparisons to the 1971 film, but director Burton states that it is not a remake of the first movie, but rather a new adaptation of the book. Today, while attracting a strong worldwide audience, and being hailed as a chidren's classic, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is considered to be more of a cult classic.
[edit] Differences between the novel and the (first) film
- In the book, both of Charlie's parents are alive. In the film, only his mother is.
- Slugworth (Wilkinson) does not appear as a character in the book, though he is referred to in Grandpa Joe's story of how Wonka's factory faced ruin.
- In the film, the children are allowed to take one family member with them into the factory. In the book, the children may bring both parents.
- The "vermicious knids" referred to in passing in the film are not mentioned in the first book, though they are prominently featured in the second book, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.
- The squirrels of the book are replaced with giant geese in the film.
- The "Fizzy Lifter" scene does not appear in the book, thus there is no scene in which Willy Wonka scolds Charlie, and thus there is no reason for Grandpa Joe to scold Willy Wonka.
- In the book, we see Augustus, Violet, Veruca, and Mike leaving the factory from high above in the Great Glass Elevator. We also see the trucks containing the chocolate for the children parked outside the factory. In the film, we do not see these things.
- In the book, Charlie finds a dollar. In the film, Charlie finds a quarter.
[edit] DVD Release
A special edition DVD was released in 2001, celebrating the film's 30th Anniversary. It was also released on VHS, with only one of the special features (a making of feature). The two editions featured restored sound, and better picture quility. The DVD consisted of the following features:
- Trailer
- Pure Imagination (documentary, also featured on the VHS)
- Commentary with Original Cast
- Photo Gallery
- Sing-Along Wonka Songs (3 plus 1 jump-to-scenes)
- Cast & Crew
[edit] Controversy over the full screen DVD
An example of the devotion towards Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is the controversy over the special edition DVD. When first released in 2001, it was presented in full screen. The reason for this is that it was shot in matted widescreen, which is when a film is shot in aspect ratio of 1.37:1, but has the top and bottom masked to form a widescreen image when shown in the cinema. Warner Home Video felt that it would be reasonable to present the film in its unmatted form. However, most viewers were unaware of its format, and thought that part of the image was missing. They were, in fact, getting more image than was originally seen.
Due to many complaints, Warner released a widescreen version of the film. This widescreen edition preserves the picture in the way it was originally exhibited and the way the director and cinematographer intended it to be seen, even though it contains less image than the full screen version.
[edit] Cast
| Role | Actor |
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| Willy Wonka | Gene Wilder |
| Grandpa Joe | Jack Albertson |
| Charlie Bucket | Peter Ostrum |
| Mr. Salt | Roy Kinnear |
| Mrs. Salt | Pat Coombs |
| Veruca Salt | Julie Dawn Cole |
| Mr. Sam Beauregarde | Leonard Stone |
| Violet Beauregarde | Denise Nickerson |
| Mrs. Scarlett Beauregarde | unknown |
| Mrs. Teavee | Nora Denney |
| Mike Teavee | Paris Themmen |
| Mr. Teavee | unknown |
| Augustus Gloop | Michael Bollner |
| Mrs. Gloop | Ursula Reit |
| Mr. Gloop | Kurt Großkurth |
| Mrs. Bucket | Diana Sowle |
| Bill, candy store owner | Aubrey Woods |
| Mr. Slugworth/Mr. Wilkinson | Günter Meisner |
| Computer Operator | Tim Brooke-Taylor (uncredited) |
| News Reporter Stanley Kael | Steve Dunne (uncredited) |
[edit] Music
The original musical score and songs were composed by famed British songwriters Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Musical direction was by Walter Scharf. The original motion picture soundtrack was released on Paramount Records in 1971.
The music and songs in the order that they appear in the film are:
- "Main Title" A medley of "(I've Got A) Golden Ticket" and "Pure Imagination"
- "The Candy Man" Performed by Aubrey Woods (A pop version by Sammy Davis, Jr. reached #1 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972)
- "Cheer Up, Charlie" Performed by Diana Sowle (Director Mel Stuart regrets the inclusion of this slow song in the film, having arranged for it to be cut from several television airings)[citation needed]
- "(I've Got a) Golden Ticket" Performed by Jack Albertson and Peter Ostrum
- "Pure Imagination" Performed by Gene Wilder (Covered by several artists, most recently by bands Smoking Popes and Maroon 5. The song is heavily sampled in Mariah Carey's "I Still Believe" Pure Imagination Remix.) sample
- "Oompa Loompa Doompa-De-Do" Performed by the Oompa Loompas (Sampled by Da Back Wudz in the song "I Don't Like the Look of It," and by Get Rich Clique in "Do the Bunny Hop.")
- "The Wondrous Boat Ride" Performed by Gene Wilder
- "I Want It Now!" Performed by Julie Dawn Cole
- "The Rowing Song" Performed by Gene Wilder
- "Ach, so fromm" (alternately entitled "M'appari") from the opera Martha by Friedrich von Flotow, performed by Gene Wilder on the Wonkamobile
[edit] Awards
- Nominated: Academy Award for Best Original Score—Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley
- Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy—Gene Wilder
[edit] Trivia
- Julie Dawn Cole was told as Veruca to act as bad as she could be by the producers and director for her role.
- The film has been popular for inflation fetishism and the blueberry inflation scene involving Violet Beauregarde inflating and turning into a blueberry and being rolled around by Oompa Loompas is arguably the scene that began the whole inflation movement.
- Ostrum turned 14 during the filming of the movie and his voice changed. It's noticeable in some scenes of the movie (particularly the fizzy-lifting drinks scene) where his voice is much deeper than other scenes.
- The squirrels in the book were replaced with geese instead because of the difficulty the crew might have with using squirrels.
- The surrealistic boat ride sequence is deleted when the film plays on the ABC Family network, as well as the scene in which a scientist invents a machine to tell him the location of a Golden Ticket.
- A continuity error is seen when Verucca Salt opens the candy pumpkin and her hand is covered in chocolate sauce; a few seconds later there is no chocolate sauce on her hand.
[edit] Parodies and references
- Popular Pop/Rock band Maroon 5 recorded an updated version of "Pure Imagination" for an album entitled, "Mary Had a Little Amp".
- Kate Winslet in episode 3 of Extras says: "I'd love it if you stuck your Willy Wonka between my Oompa Loompas."
- In a 2001 episode of Saturday Night Live, the 30th Anniversary DVD is parodied with new comments and bonus features. They include: The Oompa Loompa song being turned into a music video featuring Nelly Furtado; "never-before seen" screen tests with Telly Savalas and Sidney Poitier; child actor Peter Ostrum as having had a homosexual relationship with the actor who portrayed Augustus Gloop (Michael Bollner); child actress Julie Dawn Cole as having moved back to London, trying to start her own band named "Veruca Salt", and becoming a prostitute who for £75 would say sexually-suggestive phrases from the movie, and outtakes with Gene Wilder questioning whether the movie was directed towards children during the riverboat scene.
- In another SNL sketch featuring former Vice-President Al Gore, an "additional" scene is shown where Charlie and Willy Wonka go to the office of Willy's brother, Glenn, who handles the finances for the company. Upon hearing that Willy has given the factory to a twelve-year-old boy, Glenn proceeds to berate Willy viciously for his terrible business practices. Willy justitifes himself with a typical bit of poetry, which Charlie disagrees with. Charlie and Glenn then begin implementing more cost-effective solutions such as cheap chocolate from Mexico.
- In the Futurama episode Fry and the Slurm Factory, Fry and company win a trip to the Slurm Factory. The episode mainly parodies the "Pure Imagination" scenes, and the Oompa Loompas (as the Grunka Lunkas).
- Family Guy also parodies Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, when Peter Griffin wins a silver scroll to the fictional Pawtucket Patriot beer factory. The Oompa Loompas are also parodied as the Chumba Wumba's they sing a parodied tune called "Chumba Wumba", after Joe is asked to leave because there was no wheelchair entrance) and the "Pure Imagination" song is parodied as "Pure Inebriation". Charlie and Grandpa Joe also make a brief cameo at the beginning of the tour.
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is one of several films parodied in the music video for the Alien Ant Farm song "Movies".
- The Simpsons episode Sweets and Sour Marge includes a scene where a lethargic Oompa Loompa can been seen smoking a cigarette.
- On an Arthur episode, Buster tries to learn to read. One books he tries to read was Sam and the Sandwich Factory. Oompa Loompa-like elfs made a brief appearance singing, and the nameless sandwich maker talks about how Sam was lucky to come by winning a golden sandwich (Golden Ticket).
- Willie Wonka's curt dismissal of Grandpa Joe before Charlie returns the Gobstopper ("So you get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir! I SAID GOOD DAY!") is an oft-repeated catch-phrase used in The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. It was also frequently employed by the character FEZ in That 70s Show.
- In the 2001 Broken Lizard film Super Troopers, the stoner's line "The snozberries taste like snozberries!" is a reference to the flavored wall paper in Willy Wonka's factory.
- The boat ride sequence is heavily imitated and somewhat parodied in Marilyn Manson's video for the song Dope Hat, which features Manson dressed as Wonka, Oompa Loompas and also Manson licking a wall covered with pornographic images, while the words 'The boys taste like boys' appears on the screen.
- The 2005 short film Citizen Candy Man: A Chocumentary is a satirical look at the children from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory as they might appear 30 years later.
- The video for Craig David's hit "What's Your Flava?" is a parody of the movie; in the video four contestants who found the "Golden CD" are given a tour of David's home, and as in the movie three of the four contestants misbehave and disappear from the tour.
- A sample of dialogue from the film was used by well-known electronic music artist Aphex Twin on the song "We Are The Music Makers", from his 1993 release Selected Ambient Works 85-92
- 1990s alternative rock band Veruca Salt named themselves after the film's character who refused to accept "no" for an answer.
- In 1999, in the same spirit that discovered The Dark Side of Oz (playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon while watching The Wizard of Oz), a similar strain of serendipity uncovered Willy Wonka's 2112—playing the Rush album 2112 beginning at a point near the entrance into the factory. Specific instructions and instances of synchronicity can be found online.
- Is the favorite film of goth rocker Marilyn Manson, who often makes references to it in his songs and music videos.
- The 2002 documenatry about the rock band Wilco, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, features "Pure Imagination" in the closing.
- Australian drum & bass group Pendulum sampled dialogue from the boat ride sequence on their 2005 album Hold Your Colour.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Stuart, Mel, with Josh Young, Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, St. Martin's Press (2002) ISBN 0-312-28777-1, ISBN 0-312-35240-9
- Golden Tickets to Hell : Willy Wonka – Tour Guide of the Abyss. Lou Anders. 2005. (plot summary taken from article with author's permission)
[edit] External links
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory at the Internet Movie Database
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory at Rotten Tomatoes
- "Wonka Vision" — Failure Magazine's article about director Mel Stuart's book, with many interesting details
- Complete listing of all literary quotes spoken by Wonka, with sources.
- The complete movie transcript
- Golden Tickets to Hell - Willy Wonka Tour
- The Wonka kids 7 years ago
- Citizen Candy Man: A Chocumentary
- Where Are They Now: Charlie from the film "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"
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