Who doesn’t know “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory?” Based on the Roald Dahl Book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” this 1971 classic film has inspired many people since its release. It continues to be loved by multiple generations of children for its creativity and memorable characters. Although Roald Dahl left the movie production over creative differences, the movie was nevertheless a success. However, even though this movie is a primarily timeless classic, I can’t deny that the film does carry a few problems. Still, the good stuff about this film is quite outstanding for the 70s, and it keeps this classic relevant even as decades pass.
Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) closed its gates years ago to keep his competition from stealing his ideas. One day, he decides to open his factory to up to five people who find a golden ticket inside a Willy Wonka chocolate bar. Five kids: a poor boy named Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), A greedy food, loving Augustus Gloop (Micheal Bollner), Gum chewer extraordinaire Violet Beauregarde (Denise Nickerson), Spoiled rich girl Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole), and Television obsessed Mike Teevee (Paris Themmen) have all received a golden ticket and have a once and a lifetime opportunity to tour Willy Wonka’s factory with many surprises and unexpected turns around every corner.
The Story went through many different rewrites, and Roald Dahl’s original screenplay was sadly tampered with by other writers. However, the end result is still a very charming and likable journey of a tour of a chocolate factory with many creative set pieces and iconic dialogue, especially when it comes time to enter Willy Wonka’s factory. Beforehand, the film starts off in the town Charlie lives in, as well as several small side stories about people wanting to find the golden ticket by any crazy means necessary. When I was younger, I found this part rather dull as I wanted to get to the good stuff that happens in The Chocolate Factory. As an adult, I see the stuff before the factory quite funny and even slightly nuanced. Something about the whole world going crazy to get a Wonka bar with a golden ticket is amusing. It also can make room for some humor I didn’t even know was there from before. There is also some great character development for Charlie as he goes through multiple emotions, hoping he can be lucky enough to win a golden ticket. Of course, when it becomes time to enter the Chocolate factory, this movie's creativity shines through. There, some of the most iconic dialogue is spoken (Mainly by Willy Wonka himself), and many creative set pieces are introduced in the film. While the first half of the story is more enjoyable for adults and older kids, there is no doubt that the second half makes everything absolutely worth it.
The Characters are iconic, and each has a great, well-defined personality that is hard not to enjoy, whether good or naughty. The main star, Charlie Bucket, played by Peter Ostrum, is a very well-defined kid. He is a very nice person but also tends to be a little greedy and curious to a fault, making him more dynamic than just being innocent all the time. Grandpa Joe, played by Jack Albertson, also tends to get into trouble sometimes but always means well as he finds himself in an unfamiliar factory that brings out his curiosity. The other kids, such as the greedy and overweight Augustus Gloop, played by Micheal Bollner, the ill-mannered gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde, played by Denise Nickerson, the spoiled and needy Veruca Salt, played by Julie Dawn Cole, and the Television Mike Teevee played by Paris Themmen all are very naughty and sometimes awful, but in a way that utterly enjoyable. It's just fun to hate their characters, and their ways of getting in a pickle at the factory are always satisfying as they finally get their competence for being as selfish as they are. The second main star, Willy Wonka, played by Gene Wilder, is by far the film's best character. He is very childlike but also very unpredictably demented. Sometimes, it's hard to tell if you want to follow in his creative footsteps or fear his crazy shenanigans. Wilder is still a delight, and the rest of the main characters deserve credit for being as iconic and lovable as they are.
The Cinematography still holds up surprisingly, and even the dated elements still provide unique visuals that are hard not to be impressed by. Most of the locations of the town the film starts out in have a timeless look, almost like it could take place anywhere. According to sources, those locations were filmed in Nördlingen, Bavaria, Germany. The way the buildings look, with their red roofs and white housing units, add much flair to the film even before we enter the factory. The small candy shop also has a lot of character to it with its brown interior and exterior and eye-catching candy displays. The Bucket’s household also has its unique look as it reflects the poor, broke state that the family seems to be living in. Once we enter the factory, the movie shows the iconic set designs that have since become synonymous with the Wonka name. Almost every room in the factory has a wacky and out-there creative idea that fits in snuggly with Wonka’s Character, The Chocolate Room, despite having most of the candy look like plastic and rubber, as well as the Chocolate River, being nothing but brown-colored water is nevertheless still a world of pure imagination as its colorful and mesmerizing. The fizzy lifting drinks room is filled with bubbles, the golden goose room has some impressive animatronic effects, and the iconic tunnel to the Inventing room is insane but almost enticing. The clothing and makeup effects on characters are iconic, from Wonka’s brown top hat and purple coat to the orange-skinned and green-haired oompa loompas. Since this movie is also a musical, the staging of the actions for the songs is mostly very well handled, even if sometimes, during one of the oompa loompa songs, they use a visual element that is almost dated in one way or another. These visuals mostly hold up, and while certain aspects of the visual style may seem dated in some areas, there is no denying that, just like everything else in this movie, they are indeed iconic.
The Music and Songs are unforgettable; even those who have never seen this movie could remember these songs just by hearing them once. The compositional score is by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. While the audio makes the film sound like it came from the 70’s, the music is calming and sometimes a little wacky when needed. The songs, on the other hand, were written by Walter Scharf. The only song he didn’t write was “The Candy Man.” that song was a featured song that was initially sung by Sammy Davis Jr. Every song from “Pure Imagination” to “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket” and any of the “Oompa Loompa Songs” are instantly recognizable and each has good lyrics matched by the performances of the characters singing the tunes. I can add nothing more than what almost everyone else has said already; the music and songs are just so good, even if they sound a little muddled due to the limitations of the audio in the 70s, but that is not much of a complaint.
It’s incredible to think that a movie made in the 70s would be just as loved and cherished now as it was when it was first released. That is a sign that this movie is more than just nostalgia clouding people’s minds; “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” proves that outstanding creativity and timeless storytelling can live on through multiple generations of moviegoing audiences regardless of when the movie was first released. While it’s far from perfect, the things this movie got right, such as the memorable visuals and well-defined characters people can love or love to hate, are outstandingly done not just by 70’s standards but by modern filmmaking standards of today. The filmmakers have undoubtedly created a world of pure imagination that will live on in children and adults everywhere. It well deserves its reputation and holds up just as much now as it did back then.
(Final Grade: B+)