Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

 

Genre: Musical/ Fantasy 

Time: 1h 38mins

Director: Mel Stuart

Quick Summary: A poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.

What this film does so well and has done for many years is being able to capture childlike wonder in such a fun and colourful way. But also it does something that I didn't realise it did until I rewatched this in my adult years it teaches kids some pretty morals, even if they were scarred into us with a few terrifying ways that may or may not be child murder. Each child is down as being rotten to the core, like absolutely horrible spoilt brats then dealt with harshly and dismissively by Wonka. Seeing these awful brats get their shit served right back at them was honestly so funny, and pretty imaginative at times. 

Even if this isn't my favourite version of the story, Gene Wilder is my favourite version of Wonka.  He is born to play him, every eccentric phrase, every amused expression, and every mischievous glance is perfectly unhinged. Honestly, the guy is nuts, and I love it. You genuinely feel like you're on tour in the home of a wacko. The stuff he says too is so strange and hardly ever makes sense but they're wonderfully weird and keep the whole experience fun.  

Going on the set pieces of this, it is so imaginative. To me, they don't look appetising, but I can imagine back then it looks so delightful. Incredibly colourful and full of bizarre gizmos, creations, sweets, and all sorts. We go from candy paradises, dark swirling chocolate rivers (I would actually bathe in that), to sleek modern-looking technology. 

I think everyone is a good actor in this, it's just not everyone was given good enough lines. Like Mike, I actually forgot he was part of the film until it was his turn to be booted. He was just there and didn't say much. Same as Violet, she had a bit more than Mike admittedly, but she was also pretty forgettable. Peter Ostrum was pretty adorable as a kid, he was filled to the brim with innocence and sweetness, he made the perfect Charlie in my opinion. You urge for him to go through all the way through pure hope, as we get to see his life before. Though he is content with it, he and his family are extremely poor and struggle through life, all cramped together in one room. He gets mocked at school for being able to only afford 2 bars of chocolate when his family save for a year to buy it for him. Honestly it's so sweet because this little guy would do anything for his family, he always put them first not matter the situation, even if it was just sharing his birthday chocolate bar.

Okay, so I did like most of the songs in this, but I think the ones before we got to Wonka were honestly pretty boring and too slow. Once we get past these though they're so much fun! As well they're so iconic to this film, and even to this day, they are referenced throughout pop culture. Visually they're a treat too with words coming across the screen during some of the Oopma-Loompa songs, and the song on the boat throwing in some rather disturbing imagery for a kid's film.

I will admit too, I find the first part of the film a struggle to get through, as it's really boring compared to the bizarre stuff that comes later. Everything looks really dull and grey. So keep that I'm mind.

Overall, this is a fun film that I won't ever get tired of. It has its duller moments, but it is certainly a classic full of very important moral lessons like showing just how greedy and selfish people can be.

8/10

"Willy Wonka: The suspense is terrible... I hope it'll last."

"Mrs. Gloop: [Augustus is now sucked into the suction pipe which takes him to the vertical pipe] He can't swim.

Willy Wonka: There's no better time to learn."

"[Mr. Wonka puts a pair of football cleats into a vat]

Mr. Salt: What's that for?

Willy Wonka: Gives it a little kick."