"Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" Reviewed

This movie is nothing short of weird, but, that's not a bad thing. "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" was directed by Mel Stuart and stars Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, Peter Ostrum as Charlie Bucket, and Jack Albertson as Grandpa Joe. It was originally released in 1971. The film has had survived the passage of time and is viewed as a success by critics and audiences alike. This is one of those movies that intrigues you and stays in your memory for a long time.

"Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" is based off the works of Roald Dahl in his children's book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". The story is about a poor boy named Charlie Bucket who dreams of finding a golden ticket and visiting Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. After a stroke of luck, he and his Grandpa Joe are invited to visit along with the four other winners and their guardians. They find the factory to be a wonderful and strange place full of mysterious workers, candy trees, and a possible hidden agenda. The story is an intriguing one because of the two main questions that are raised throughout the whole movie. One being “Who is and what is up with Willy Wonka?” and the second one being “Why did Wonka send out the golden tickets?”. These questions are very cleverly answered as the first one unravels slowly and the other has a big reveal at the end. The movie is also entertaining due to the creative environment and characters that continue to entertain the audience. The other children who enter the factory also start to disappear one by one by a string of unfortunate events that reflect on each child’s problem. Even the main protagonist almost gets a fan to the head by his curiosity, luckily, his cleverness gets him out of the situation.

The characters in this story are very obvious but very good children's book characters. There is the main protagonist that is the normal well meaning child that the audience likes because they too were once or are children with dreams, and they want his dreams to come true. There is also Grandpa Joe, who is the older and wiser nice adult that befriends or mentors the child. This is a repeating character type in a lot of Dahl's stories. There are also the four other kids who get to visit the factory who all have there own flaws and poor parents that lead them to learning a lesson by their flaws ending them up in unfortunate predicaments. The kids end up drowning in chocolate, shrinking, turning into blueberries, and being dropped down trash shouts (Ouch). Willy Wonka, on the other hand, is the most interesting, and in my opinion, the best character in the story. He is portrayed perfectly by Gene Wilder with an eccentric, mysterious, strange, kind, and sometimes insane portrayal of Willy Wonka. Wonka has layers and you can tell that behind the strange antics, he has a hidden agenda. There are subtle jokes and lines that can be picked up after later viewings of the film that clue at this.

The themes in this movie involve valuable morals and a strong emphasis on imagination. The story tells you that is you use your imagination, you can think up strange and wonderful things, and with the same childish determination, those visions can be accomplished. It shows you the importance of holding onto your childish side. The story also has elementary school morals sprinkled in for good measure from the audience learning not to go down the same paths as the kids who don't end up in the best condition. It would be the same teaching method if I told a kid to look both ways before crossing the street after a kid got hit by a car and a bunch of orange little people sing about it. That is also a cool thing with the movie: the Oompa Loompas. These guys are fun because they are orange little people with green hair that make chocolate and sing songs. In other words they are utterly awesome. The songs are also memorable and timeless. They are the type of musical numbers that pop in your head at random and mostly inconvenient times.

My final thoughts on the movie is that it is a great kids movie and movie in general. it has whimsical, funny, inspiring, sad , and even scary (who didn't get freaked out when the boat went down that tunnel) times in it. It is a fun film that will always be a classic and will always have a special place in the hearts of the imaginative. No wonder it still does well on television and has inspired other books, an uninspired remake (that we will get to later), and an actual candy company named after it. Roald Dahl's imagination transfers well from page to screen and this classic film shows it.

Reviewed by: Conner Wilson