Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Review

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory


Release Date: 9th December 1971 - Australia


Production Companies
Wolper Pictures Ltd.

The Quaker Oats Company


Genre: Family/Musical/

Fantasy

Rating: G

Runtime: 100 minutes


Budget: $3,000,000

Box Office Gross: $4,620,469 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary

After years of being a recluse in his factory, Willy Wonka astounds the world by announcing that he hid five golden tickets in his chocolate bars. Five lucky people will get a tour of the factory, learn all the secrets of his delicious sweets and win a lifetime supply of Wonka chocolate. Nobody deserves the prize more than Charlie Bucket, whose family is so poor that they can only buy one chocolate bar as a treat, and it is unlikely that they will buy enough bars to find one of the five golden tickets. The magic happens when Charlie finally finds the last golden ticket, and he, along with four other but somewhat odious children, gets the chance of a lifetime to explore his factory.

However, mild disasters

befall each of the children,

and Charlie must overcome

the odds and get the brass

ring.

Cast
Gene Wilder - Willy Wonka
Peter Ostrum - Charlie Bucket
Jack Albertson - Grandpa Joe
Julie Dawn Cole - Veruca Salt
Denise Nickerson - Violet
Beauregarde
Paris Themmen - Mike Teevee
Michael Böllner - Augustus Gloop
Roy Kinnear - Mr. Salt
Leonard Stone - Mr. Beauregarde
Nora Denney - Mrs. Teevee
Ursula Reit - Mrs. Gloop

Diana Sowle - Mrs. Bucket

Aubrey Woods - Bill

David Battley - Mr. Turkentine
Günter Meisner - Mr. Slugworth

Peter Capell - The Tinker

Werner Heyking - Mr. Jopeck

Peter Stuart - Winkelmann

Dora Altmann - Grandma Georgina (Uncredited)

Victor Beaumont - Doctor (Uncredited)

Pat Coombs - Henrietta Salt (Uncredited)
Tim Brooke-Taylor - Computer Operator

(Uncredited)

Frank Delfino - Auctioneer (Uncredited)

Stephen Dunne - Stanley Kael - Second

Newscaster (Uncredited)

Walker Edmiston - Mr. Slugworth (Voice)

(Uncredited)

Michael Gahr - Reporter in Germany

(Uncredited)

Michael Goodliffe - Mr. Teavee (Uncredited)

Kurt Grobkurth - Mr. Gloop (Uncredited)

Shin Hamano - Japanese Candy Store Owner

(Uncredited)

Jack Latham - First Newscaster (Uncredited)

Franziska Liebing - Grandma Josephine

(Uncredited)

Gloria Manon - Mrs. Curtis (Uncredited)

Ed Peck - FBI Agent (Uncredited)

Bob Roe - Peter Goff (Uncredited)

Madeline Stuart - Madeline Durkin

(Uncredited)

Ernst Ziegler - Grandpa George (Uncredited)

Rudy Borgstaller - Oompa Loompa

(Uncredited)

Malcolm Dixon - Oompa Loompa

(Uncredited)

Rusty Goffe - Oompa Loompa (Uncredited)

Ismed Hassan - Oompa Loompa (Uncredited)

Norman McGlen - Oompa Loompa

(Uncredited)

Angelo Muscat - Oompa Loompa

(Uncredited)

Pepi Poupee - Oompa Loompa (Uncredited)

Marcus Powell - Oompa Loompa

(Uncredited)

Albert Wilkinson - Oompa Loompa

(Uncredited)

Crew
Director - Mel Stuart
Based on the Book "Charlie and the

Chocolate Factory/Screenplay - Roald Dahl

Screenplay - David Seltzer (Uncredited)
Producers - Stan Margulies and
David L. Wolper

Casting Director - Marion Dougherty

(Uncredited)
Art Director - Harper Goff
Costume Designer - Helen Colvig
Director of Photography - Arthur Ibbetson

Camera Operator - Paul Wilson

Production Manager - Pia Arnold

Assistant Directors - Wolfgang Glattes

and Jack Roe
Musical Numbers Staging - Howard Jeffrey

Special Effects - Logan Frazee
Film Editor - David Saxon

Associate Editor - Melvin Shapiro

Sound - Karsten Ullrich

Sound Editors - Charles L. Campbell

and Roger Sword (Uncredited)

Re-Recording - Richard Portman
Music Conductor and Arranger -

Walter Scharf
Music and Lyrics - Anthony Newley
and Leslie Bricusse


Awards

1972 Academy Awards
Best Music, Scoring Adaptation and Original

Song Score - Anthony Newley, Leslie Bricusse

and Walter Scharf (Nominated)


Review
This classic is not dull-witted but simplistic yet satisfying, aimed at children with a sweet tooth, both for their brains and tummies. That's what WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is renowned as being. It is a family musical that has every flavour. I grew up with this 1971 version, first watching it on DVD at ten. It left me with nightmares about what happens when someone does something naughty and disobeys the rules like those four nasty kids. I won't tell you what those kids have done as I don't want to give a spoiler alert. Over the years, I understood that this film intends to show young audiences that bad choices have consequences, as Roald Dahl did in the original book.

WILLY WONKA is not only proud and sweet because of its highlighted songs. It's known for its good nature and well-written story. It could have been called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, just like the original novel, because it places Charlie in the spotlight as the lead hero rather than the title character, played by Gene Wilder.

The famous actor Gene Wilder easily fulfils the role of Wonka, complete with crazy colourful attire suitable to his chocolate factory world. Wilder performs his Wonka with flair and a nice blend of mania and control. I don't care what some people think of the character as a grim psychopath. He's supposed to be eccentric or sarcastic. It is this witty aspect of Wonka's character that Wilder portrays. It's a pity none of the child actors got into film careers after WONKA. For example, the actor who played Charlie instead became a veterinarian. Some other child stars switched from cinema to TV to avoid typecasting. I bet you didn't know that Tim Brooke Taylor of The Goodies had a minor role in WILLY WONKA.

When you compare this version to the recent adaptation created by Tim Burton, Mel Stuart got it right. I feel lucky that I picked the better film adaptation of WILLY WONKA.

Don't worry if you have seen the Burton version and considered it an average movie. The 1971 classic is undeniably worth seeing because it's a sweet sensation with "pure imagination".

Star rating: (9/10) Excellent Movie

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