| Children's Musical | MPAA:G |
Now that I'm a daddy, I find that my movie choices are changing a bit, as well as when I watch certain movies. I mean, I still watch R rated movies, but tend to wait until my daughter is taking a nap (at this point she doesn't talk much, but I'd rather her not learn Fu.., Sh.., and Go....... until she gets a little older) ed. note, now -- 2 years later -- she talks non-stop, but doesn't use any of the forementioned words.. In fact 3 out of the 4 movies I bought one week were Kiddie flicks; Snow White, The Lion King (although I may have to distract Laura when the lion sex scene comes on), and this film, Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory.
This film is based on the Raold Dahl story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I can think of at least two reasons for the name change, one being a big marketing ploy by the Willy Wonka candy company, the other (and more likely) reason, Gene Wilder was (and still is) a far bigger star than Peter Ostrum, and since Wilder was playing Wonka instead of Charlie... you get the picture. The story line? Charlie is dirt poor. Poorer than dirt poor. Can't even afford dirt, they have to borrow other people's dirt. His dad's dead (in the book his dad was merely a poor out of work toothpaste tube filler) and his four grandparents are bedridden (all in one bed I might add). His mom takes in washing, and Charlie delivers papers just to make ends get close. Willy Wonka is a reclusive candy man (remember the song?) who decides to break his silence and devises a contest. He makes 5 golden tickets, and hides them in 5 candy bars. Whoever finds a ticket gets a tour of the factory, and a life time supply of candy. This announcement drives the world nuts. Everyone tries to find a ticket (this is one case where the movie did a better job showing the frenzy than the original story did), including poor little Charlie, who after several tries finally does find one .. after miraculously finding a dollar to buy a candy bar. The other winners? Augustus Gloop, a kiddie glutton, Veruca Salt, a spoiled little rich brat (and also an up and coming alternative rock band), Violet Beauregard, a compulsive (and repulsive) gum chewer, and Mike Teevee, the original couch potato (potatoe? whichever). After a strange journey just to get into the factory, they finally arrive and meet the plant employees, the Oompa Loompas. These strange little creatures (imported from Oompa Loompa land) have a strange habit of breaking out in song, especially when one of the kids gets themselves into trouble, which Augustus does right away. Seems the little glutton can't get enough of the river of chocolate that Wonka has in his factory, and falls in. August.. the fat little Gloop kid .. can't swim and gets sucked into a pipe and sent to the fudge room. Exit kid one. The next stop is the inventing room, where each kid is given one of Wonka's best inventions ever, the Everlasting Gobstopper .. lasts all day and never gets smaller, the flavor never fades away. Of course, each kid has been offered a large pile of money for one of these goodies by Wonka's biggest rival, so they're all anxious to have one. Then, Violet (the gum chewer) tries out another new invention, meal gum, an entire dinner in a piece of gum. She starts chewing: first soup, then steak and potatoes, and finally blueberry pie. Unfortunately, there is a problem with the pie part, seems it turns the chewer into a big blueberry, something Wonka didn't get a chance to warn her about. So.. off goes Violet to be juiced back to normal. Exit kid two. Then, in a section not even hinted to in the book, Charlie and his Grandpa Joe secretly try a fizzy lifting drink, which causes them to float dangerously close to the exhaust fan, but, after a series of belches (which of course expels the fizzy lifting gas) they sink back to the floor, where they rejoin the group. Next, we loose Veruca Salt (the spoiled rotten brat) when she decides she wants one of Wonka's Golden Geese, and ends up getting dumped down the garbage shoot with the other bad eggs. Exit kid three. We finally loose Mike Teevee, when he decides to be part of the big Wonkavision experiment. You see, Wonka has found a way to send chocolate bars over a TV set. But of course, since things on TV are smaller, he has to use a very large candy bar. When Mike decides he wants to be on TV he gets shrunk to 1/10th normal size. Exit kid four, off to the taffy pulling room to be stretched back to normal size. And finally exit Charlie, who has violated the contract by sampling the Fizzy lifting drink without permission. But, when Charlie gives back the Gobstopper, Wonka reveals the true purpose of the contest. Seems he's getting old, and he's looking for someone to take over the factory, a child who he can train in the art of candy making, and who will take care of his Oompa Loompas after he's gone. So Charlie lives happily ever after, with his family, in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
This is a wonderful movie for little kids (and parents as well). In fact, in comparison to the book, it fares quite well. The only thing missing from the movie, was seeing the other kids leaving the factory (with their candy - in the book there wasn't a contract, and Wonka kept his word). I don't remember for sure what Gloop came out like, I think he came out thin (after being squeezed through the pipes), Violet came out ok, except for being permanently blue, Veruca and her father came out coated with smelly garbage, so thick they couldn't get it off, and Mike Teevee came out really tall and rope thin (picture what happens to taffy when you stretch it). They also made a minor change in Veruca's scene - in the book, there are trained squirrels testing nuts, and throwing away the bad ones, which is what they do to Veruca (something that would have been a little tough to film back then). For a guy who writes such creepy stories for adults, Dahl has created some wonderful children's stories. In fact, The Witches (with Angelica Houston) is also based on a Dahl story, as well as James and the Giant Peach, and Mathilda. All this from the guy who wrote You Only Live Twice -- wow.