Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a 1971 American musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. It is an adaptation of the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. The film tells the story of a poor child named Charlie Bucket who, after finding a Golden Ticket in a chocolate bar, visits Willy Wonka's chocolate factory along with four other children from around the world.
Filming took place in Munich from August to November 1970. Dahl was credited with writing the film's screenplay; however, David Seltzer, who went uncredited in the film, was brought in to re-work the screenplay against Dahl's wishes, making major changes to the ending and adding musical numbers. These changes and other decisions made by the director led Dahl to disown the film.[4][5] The musical numbers were written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley while Walter Scharf arranged and conducted the orchestral score.
The film was released by Paramount Pictures on June 30, 1971. With a budget of just $3 million, the film received generally positive reviews and earned $4 million by the end of its original run. The film gained a cult following and became highly popular in part through repeated television airings and home entertainment sales.[6] In 1972, the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score, and Wilder was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, but both nominations lost to Fiddler on the Roof. The film also introduced the song "The Candy Man", which went on to become a popular hit when recorded by Sammy Davis Jr. and has since been covered by numerous artists.
In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[7][8]
Plot[]
In a small town, Charlie Bucket, a poor paperboy, watches kids visit a candy shop. Walking home, he passes Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. A mysterious tinker recites the first lines of William Allingham's poem "The Fairies", and tells Charlie that "nobody ever goes in, and nobody ever comes out". Charlie rushes home to his widowed mother and bedridden grandparents. That night, Charlie tells his Grandpa Joe what the tinker said and Joe reveals that Wonka locked the factory because other candy makers, including his rival Arthur Slugworth, sent in spies to steal his recipes. Wonka shut down the factory, but after three years resumed selling candy; the origin of Wonka's labor force is unknown.
Cast[]
- Gene Wilder (Willy Wonka)
- Jack Albertson (Grandpa Joe)
- Peter Ostrum (Charlie)
- Roy Kinnear (Mr. Salt)
- Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt)
- Leonard Stone (Mr. Beauregarde)
- Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregarde)
- Dodo Denney (Mrs. Teevee)
- Paris Themmen (Mike Teevee)
- Ursula Reit (Mrs. Gloop)
- Michael Bollner (Augustus Gloop)
- Diana Sowle (Mrs. Bucket)
- Aubrey Woods (Bill)
- David Battley (Mr. Turkentine)
- Gunter Meisner (Mr. Slugworth)
- Peter Capnell (The Tinker)
- Werner Heyking (Mr. Jopeck)
- Peter Stuart (Winkelmann)
Trivia[]
- The film is an adaptation of the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by the creator of Sony's Matilda and Disney's James and the Giant Peach Roald Dahl
- The chocolate river was made of water, chocolate and cream, (and some food colouring,) After filming the movie, the chocolate river quickly turned rancid and created a disgusting odor that permeated the sound stage and left a terrible smell.
- Here is a goof where Charlie and Grandpa Joe drink the fizzy lifting drink and are floating in to the air, you can see a hook that is connected to the wire that Charlie is being held up by.
References[]
- ↑ "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". British Board of Film Classification (August 20, 1971).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) – Financial Information". The-numbers.com.
- ↑ "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory". Box Office Mojo.
- ↑ Falky, Ben (September 12, 2016). "Why Roald Dahl Hated The Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Film". Yahoo! Movies.
- ↑ "Willy Wonka's Everlasting Film Plot", BBC News, July 11, 2005. “"He thought it placed too much emphasis on Willy Wonka and not enough on Charlie," said Liz Attenborough, trustee of the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Buckinghamshire.”
- ↑ "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". AFI Catalog of Feature Films.
- ↑ "Complete National Film Registry Listing | Film Registry | National Film Preservation Board | Programs at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
- ↑ "Cinematic Treasures Named to National Film Registry". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.