Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Directed by	Mel Stuart
Written by	Roald Dahl, based on his book David Seltzer (uncredited)
Produced by	David L. Wolper, Stan Margulies
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

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is an Academy Award-nominated 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. The film centers Charlie Bucket, a poor boy, who becomes one of the five winners to tour a the chocolate factory of one of the world's greatest chocolate makers, Willy Wonka and the adventures that take place there.

The film opened to generally well received reviews from critics upon its opening in 1971, but failed to be a great commercial success, however over the years the film has developed into one of the most beloved, well known family films ever made — and despite its age, and original creative intent as a musical cinematic fable for children — it has also since grown into a major cult classic with both children and adults.

In 2005 another film adaptation of the novel was released, titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka and Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket.

Plot overview

Template:Spoiler Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) is a poor boy living with his mother and four bedridden grandparents. Charlie is bravely struggling to support his family (including delivering newspapers after school) 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), neither of which turns out to contain a ticket. 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.

File:WonkaOnSteps.jpg

The famous "Pure Imagination" scene: The first glimpse into the Chocolate Room: Left to right: Mr. Salt, Veruca Salt, Mrs. Gloop, Violet Beauregarde, Sam Beauregarde, Willy Wonka, Augustus Gloop {Background},Mike Teavee {foreground}, Mrs. Teavee, Charlie Bucket, 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 naturally 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, as the crowd gasps. At the last moment, Wonka does a forward somersault and lands on his feet, doffing his hat in a whimsical demonstration of showmanship and agility.

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 flavor. 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.

During a tour of the factory, the first four ticket-winning children are one by one tempted by something relating to their personality flaw, causing a strange accident that eliminates the child and their worried accompanying parent from the tour. In every case, Mr. Wonka seems indifferent, and it is implied that he planned for the 'accidents' to occur. Each accident is followed by a song of morality led by the Oompa-Loompas.

The accidents with the tourists, in order of occurrence:

• Augustus Gloop drinks from the chocolate river in the Chocolate Room against Mr. Wonka's warnings, falls in, and is sucked away by a pipe that leads to the Fudge Room.
• Competitive gum chewer Violet Beauregarde chews an experimental piece of Three-Course Dinner Chewing Gum, but the defects of the blueberry pie within it turn her into a giant blueberry; she has to be taken to the Juicing Room to squeeze the juice out of her to avoid fatal bursting.
• Spoiled Veruca Salt demands a giant goose that lays giant chocolate eggs with golden shells in the Egg Room, but Wonka is told she cannot have one; after going ballistic in the room, she stands on the "eggdicator" which judges the quality of the eggs. She is deemed a "bad egg" by the machine and discarded down the garbage chute. At the close of the Oompa-Loompas' song about her, her father jumps down the chute in a vain attempt to save her.
• Mike Teavee, who is obsessed with violent television, teleports himself over Mr. Wonka's TV waves, shrinking him down to miniature size, and is taken to the Taffy Pulling Room to be stretched back to normal.

After these four are eliminated, Charlie and Grandpa Joe 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. However, 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 embraces Charlie and tells him that he's won "the jackpot." He introduces Charlie and Grandpa Joe to "Mr. Slugworth," who's actually Mr. Wilkinson, an employee of Wonka's, and begs Charlie's forgiveness for the charade.

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Charlie, Willy Wonka and Grandpa Joe in The Great Glass Elevator

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 to run his factory, 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. Wonka warns Charlie of "the man who got everything he ever wished for … he lived happily ever after," and hugs the boy as the Wonkavator sails off into the sky.

Cast

Actor	Role
Gene Wilder	Willy Wonka
Jack Albertson	Grandpa Joe
Peter Ostrum	Charlie Bucket
Roy Kinnear	Mr. Salt
Julie Dawn Cole	Veruca Salt
Leonard Stone	Mr. Beauregarde
Denise Nickerson	Violet Beauregarde
Dodo Denney	Mrs. Teevee
Paris Themmen	Mike Teavee
Ursula Reit	Mrs. Gloop
Michael Bollner	Augustus Gloop
Diana Sowle	Mrs. Bucket
Aubrey Woods	Bill
David Battley	Mr. Turkentine
Gunter Meisner	Mr. Slugworth
Peter Cappell	Tinker
Werner Heyking	Mr. Jopeck
Peter Stuart	Winkelmann

Production

File:Willywonka.jpg

Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka.

History

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, and get "Uncle Dave" (producer David L. Wolper) to produce it. Stuart showed the book to 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.

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. However, Wolper was unimpressed with the first draft by Dahl and brought in screenwriter David Seltzer to streamline the script to his specifications, though he asserts that the script is mostly Dahl's. 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. Seltzer also introduced the sinister Slugworth character to the story, whispering in the ear of each child that found a golden ticket.

Casting

Roahld Dahl, author of the novel, who had rights to the film production, originally wanted Spike Milligan to play Willy Wonka, however he was later turned down. After this, Ron Moody was requested to play Wonka, Moody eventually turned the role down. Another two initially considered Joel Grey, a then well-known Broadway singer and dancer, who ultimately wasn't 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. The producers worked with casting directors in New York, London, England and Munich, Germany to find actors to play the children and their parents. Midgets and dwarves from around the world were cast to play the Oompa Loompas.

Filming

The location chosen to shoot the film was Munich, Germany, because it was significantly less expensive than various Los Angeles locations 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. Filming began on August 31, 1970 and ended on November 19, 1970.

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 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).

The film heavily grew in popularity beginning in the mid-1970s, thanks in large part to repeated television airings and VHS sales. It was first released on DVD in 1997, allowing it to reach an even larger audience of a different generation, and on DVD and VHS again in 2001, in a Special Edition - celebrating the films 30th anniversary.

Differences between the novel and the film

See article Differences between book and film versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

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). Several original cast members reunited to film documentary footage for this special edition DVD release. The two editions featured restored sound, and better picture quality. 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

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 open matte, which is when a film is shot in aspect ratio of 1.37:1, but has the top and bottom masked in the cinema to form a widescreen image. Warner Home Video felt that it would be reasonable to present the film in its unmatted form. However, most viewers were unaware of this format, and thought that the video was released in pan and scan. They were, in fact, getting more image than was originally seen in theaters.

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. Because the frame is "enhanced for widescreen televisions" (i.e. anamorphic), the resolution is slightly higher than the full screen DVD.

Music and soundtrack

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, and again on CD.

The music and songs in the order that they appear in the film are:

1. "Main Title" An instrumental medley of "(I've Got A) Golden Ticket" and "Pure Imagination"
2. "The Candy Man" Performed by Aubrey Woods (A pop version by Sammy Davis, Jr. reached #1 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972)
3. "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)
4. "(I've Got a) Golden Ticket" Performed by Jack Albertson and Peter Ostrum
5. "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.)
6. "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.")
7. "The Wondrous Boat Ride" Performed by Gene Wilder
8. "I Want It Now!" Performed by Julie Dawn Cole
9. "The Rowing Song" Performed by Gene Wilder
10. "Ach, so fromm" (alternately entitled "M'appari") from the opera Martha by Friedrich von Flotow, performed by Gene Wilder on the Wonkamobile

Awards

1972

• 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

Trivia

• Filming began on August 31, 1970 and ended on November 19, 1970.
• Ostrum turned 14 during the filming of the movie and his voice changed. It is 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.
• According to Wolper, a flaw in the formula resulted in the Quaker Oats Wonka bars melting by the time they reached store shelves, and they had to be recalled. The candy bars that the film had been produced to promote were not available during the film's release.
• This film was ranked #74 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
• The final Oompalompa song took over five takes.
• The combination to the first door in the chocolate factory entered by Willy Wonka is 99-44/100% pure, which was an ad slogan for Ivory Soap.
• Among Wonka's lines are the following quotations: "Is it my soul that calls me by my name?" from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; "All I ask is a tall ship and a star to sail her by" from the John Masefield poem "Sea Fever"; "A thing of beauty is a joy forever" from John Keats's "Endymion: A Poetic Romance" and "Round the world and home again, that's the sailor's way!" from
• After the company finished filming in Munich, Germany, the studio and locations were then taken over by the Cabaret (1972) people. On the DVD alt-track, one of the kids remarks, "We moved out and Liza (Liza Minelli' ) moved in".
• The opening credits sequence was filmed at a real chocolate factory in Switzerland.
• After reading the script, Gene Wilder said he would make the film under one condition: that he would be allowed to do a somersault in the scene when he first meets the children. When asked why, Gene Wilder replied that having Willy Wonka start out limping and end up somersaulting would set the tone for that character. He wanted to portray him as someone whose actions were completely unpredictable. His request to do the somersault was granted.

Cultural references and parodies

See Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in popular culture.

See also

• Differences between book and film versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Notes and 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)

External links

• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory at IMDb
• 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