Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Rating: 5/5

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is famously bizarre, but thanks to Gene Wilder, will forever be remembered as a classic.

Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) and his family all live in extreme poverty, but they never let it get them down. The only thing that has begun to make Charlie feel bad about his family's financial circumstances is when he he, and the rest of the world, hears of a contest being held by the mysterious and elusive Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder). Wonka has hidden five golden tickets in his chocolate bars, and the lucky people who find them will be given a tour of his factory, which has been closed to the public for years.

Charlie wants more than anything to be able to go to the factory, but as the golden tickets begin to be discovered, his hopes start to dwindle. Unlike the countless other people searching for the golden tickets, Charlie doesn't have the money to keep purchasing candy bars, and he truly feels he doesn't have a chance. However, fate is on his side when he discovers some money in a storm drain and he's able to buy himself a chocolate bar.

If you were to take the different elements of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory such as the Oompa Loompas, the psychedelic river cruise, and a man in a purple suit that makes children disappear, you'd think you'd have the makings of a very strange horror movie, but oddly enough, it all works as a children's film. Anyone who has read or seen anything that was inspired by the mind of Roald Dahl knows that his stories always toy with very peculiar themes, but that's just part of the magic. His plots are right out of a child's most vivid imagination, and that's why they have captivated readers and film audiences for so many years.

The character of Willy Wonka was really a precarious one, because it would have been so easy to go too far with it. There are many ways that this character could have been overdone. For example, Wonka could have rejoiced in the children's misfortune too much, but Wilder made the character so matter of fact about it, that the "mishaps" at the factory seem completely normal; like everyone should expect that all know-it-all kids will one day turn into blueberries. The fellow members of the factory tour are mortified by the events, but Willy Wonka doesn't bat an eye. Wonka is obviously supposed to be highly eccentric and hard to relate to, but Gene Wilder makes that possible, unlike Johnny Depp's take on the character. Wilder possessed the gift to not only make Willy Wonka seem like a real person, but also turn him into someone with an unexpected amount of heart as well as a beloved icon.

Any movie that involves food, must have the quality to make you crave whatever it is they are portraying on the screen, and if the film doesn't do that, then they've failed. Willy Wonka however is one that most certainly succeeds. Even though ninety-nine percent of the chocolate and candy they show in the movie doesn't actually exist, you can't help but have your sweet tooth kicked into overdrive, and find yourself reaching for whatever sugary indulgence you may have at arm's length. Part of this has to do with the magical essence that is brought out by Willy Wonka. I remember as kid watching this movie, so desperately wanting to be able to travel to Wonka's Chocolate Factory, but I knew that the closest I could come to was eating a plain old Hershey bar and hoping it could somehow match the decadence of the candy on the screen.

There are many people who do not enjoy Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and I would guess that they are people who are too out of touch with their inner child and sense of whimsy. Yes, Willy Wonka is very offbeat, but that's what makes it great. Aside from Tim Burton's more disturbing remake, there's really nothing like the original Willy Wonka, and I doubt there ever will be.