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''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1971 American
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart and starring Gene Wilder as
Willy Wonka Willy Wonka is a fictional character appearing in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' and its 1972 sequel ''Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator''. He is the eccentric founder and proprietor ...
. It is an
adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...
of the 1964 novel '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' by
Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...
. 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 was brought in to do an uncredited rewrite. Against Dahl's wishes, changes were made to the story and other decisions made by the director led Dahl to disown the film. The musical numbers were written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley while Walter Scharf arranged and conducted the orchestral score. The film was released on June 30, 1971 by
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
. With a budget of just $3 million, the film received generally positive reviews and earned $4 million by the end of its original run. 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. The film also introduced the song " The Candy Man", which went on to be recorded by Sammy Davis Jr. and become a popular hit. The film remained in obscurity until the 1980s where it gained a
cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
and became highly popular due to repeated television airings and home video sales. 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".


Plot

Charlie Bucket is a poor
paperboy A paperboy is someoneoften an older child or adolescentwho distributes printed newspapers to homes or offices on a regular route, usually by bicycle or automobile. In Western nations during the heyday of print newspapers during the early 20th ...
who often looks inside a candy shop but cannot afford to buy sweets. Going home one evening, he passes
Willy Wonka Willy Wonka is a fictional character appearing in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' and its 1972 sequel ''Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator''. He is the eccentric founder and proprietor ...
's chocolate factory, where a tinker tells him that nobody ever goes in or comes out. Charlie's bedridden Grandpa Joe reveals that Wonka had locked up the factory because rival confectioners were sending in spies to steal his recipes. Wonka shut down the factory but resumed production three years later. The gates remained locked, and the original workers never returned to their jobs, leaving their replacements a mystery. Wonka announces that he has hidden five Golden Tickets in chocolate Wonka Bars. Finders of the tickets will receive a factory tour and a lifetime supply of chocolate. The first four tickets are found by a gluttonous German boy Augustus Gloop; the spoiled English girl Veruca Salt with a wealthy father; and from the United States, a constantly gum-chewing girl Violet Beauregarde, and the television-obsessed boy Mike Teevee. As each winner is announced on television, a sinister-looking man appears and whispers to them. A news report reveals the fifth ticket was found by a millionaire in Paraguay, causing Charlie to lose hope. The next day, Charlie is on his way home from school when he finds money in a gutter and uses it to buy and eat candy; with the change, he buys a regular Wonka Bar for Grandpa Joe. Walking home, Charlie overhears that the millionaire forged the fifth ticket. Charlie opens his Wonka Bar, discovering the final ticket. Rushing back, he encounters the sinister figure who spoke to the other winners. Introducing himself as Slugworth, one of Wonka's competitors, he offers a reward for a sample of Wonka's latest creation, the
Everlasting Gobstopper The Everlasting Gobstopper is a gobstopper candy from Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''. According to its creator Willy Wonka, it was intended "for children with very little pocket money". It not only chan ...
. Returning home with the Golden Ticket, Charlie chooses Grandpa Joe as his chaperone, who excitedly jumps out of bed for the first time in twenty years. The next day, Wonka greets the ticket winners at the front gates of the factory and leads them inside, where each signs a contract before the tour. The factory includes the Chocolate Room, a whimsical indoor park with a river of chocolate and other sweets. The visitors meet Wonka's workforce, little people known as Oompa-Loompas. During the tour, each child's character flaws have them give in to temptation, resulting in their unusual elimination. Augustus gets sucked up a pipe; Violet bloats into a giant human blueberry; Veruca falls down a garbage chute; and Mike is shrunk to the size of a chocolate bar. The Oompa Loompas sing a song of morality after each disposal. On the tour, Charlie and Joe enter the Fizzy Lifting Drinks room and sample the beverages against Wonka's orders. The drink makes them float up and have a near-fatal encounter with the ceiling exhaust fan, but burping allows them to escape and descend to the ground. At the end of the tour, Wonka assures Charlie and Grandpa Joe that the other children will be fine before he hastily retreats to his office without awarding them the promised lifetime supply of chocolate. When they follow him in to ask about this, Wonka informs them that they had violated the contract when they stole the Fizzy Lifting Drinks, thereby forfeiting their prize. Joe denounces Wonka and suggests to Charlie that he give Slugworth the Everlasting Gobstopper, but Charlie decides to return the candy to Wonka instead. All of a sudden, Wonka joyously declares Charlie the winner, and reveals that Slugworth is actually his employee, Mr. Wilkinson. The offer to buy the Gobstopper was a morality test for the ticket winners, and only Charlie passed. The trio enters the Wonkavator, a multi-directional glass elevator, that flies out of the factory. During their flight, Wonka tells Charlie that he created the contest to find someone worthy enough to inherit his factory, so he will give it to Charlie and his family upon retiring.


Cast

Oompa-Loompas * Rudy Borgstaller *
George Claydon George Claydon (4 September 1933 – 4 October 2001) was a British actor notable for his dwarfism. His television roles included that of Photographer George in The Beatles' ''Magical Mystery Tour'', a television film that initially aired on BB ...
* Malcolm Dixon * Rusty Goffe * Ismed Hassan * Norman McGlen *
Angelo Muscat Angelo Muscat (24 September 1930 – 10 October 1977) was a Maltese-born British character actor. He is primarily recalled for his role as the silent butler in the 1967 television series ''The Prisoner''. Biography Muscat was born on 24 Septe ...
* Pepe Poupee * Marcus Powell * Albert Wilkinson


Production


Development

The idea for adapting the book into a film came about when director Mel Stuart's ten-year-old daughter read the book and asked her father to make a film out of it, with "Uncle Dave" (producer David L. Wolper, who was not related to the Stuarts) producing it. Stuart showed the book to Wolper, who happened to be in the midst of talks with the Quaker Oats Company regarding a vehicle to introduce a new candy bar from its Chicago-based Breaker Confections subsidiary (since renamed the Willy Wonka Candy Company and sold to Nestlé). Wolper persuaded the company, which had no previous experience in the film industry, to buy the rights to the book and finance the picture for the purpose of promoting a new Quaker Oats " Wonka Bar". Wolper and
Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...
agreed that Dahl would also write the screenplay. Though credited for the film, Dahl had not delivered a completed screenplay at the start of production and only gave an outline pointing to sections of the book. Wolper called in David Seltzer for an uncredited rewrite after Dahl left due to creative differences. Wolper promised to produce Seltzer's next film for his lack of a credit as they needed to maintain credibility by keeping Dahl's name attached to the production. Also uncredited were several short humorous scenes by screenwriter
Robert Kaufman Robert Kaufman (March 22, 1931 – November 21, 1991) was an American screenwriter, film producer and television writer known for such films and series as ''Getting Straight'', ''Love at First Bite'', ''She's Out of Control'', ''Divorce Americ ...
about the Golden Ticket hysteria. Changes to the story included Wonka's character given more emphasis over Charlie; Slugworth, originally a minor character who was a Wonka industry rival in the book, was reworked into a spy so that the film could have a villain for intrigue; a belching scene was added with Grandpa and Charlie having "fizzy lifting drinks"; and the ending dialogue. Wolper decided with Stuart that the film would be a musical and approached composers
Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...
and Henry Mancini but both declined. Eventually they secured the songwriting team Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Seltzer created a recurring theme that had Wonka quote from various literary sources, such as Arthur O'Shaughnessy's '' Ode'',
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
's '' The Importance of Being Earnest'', Samuel Taylor Coleridge's '' The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' and William Shakespeare's '' The Merchant of Venice''. There are different interpretations regarding the title change to ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''. In the United States during the 1960s, the term "
Mister Charlie ''Mister Charlie'' is a pejorative expression formerly used within the African-American community to refer to an imperious white man. Occasionally, it refers to a black man who is arrogant and perceived as "acting white". The term is sometimes writ ...
" had been used as a pejorative expression in the African-American community for a "white man in power" (historically plantation slave owners) and press reports claimed the change was due to "pressure from black groups". During the same period, US soldiers in the Vietnam War used the derisive term "Charlie" for the Viet Cong, originating from the acronym VC using the
callsign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
"Victor Charlie". The studio publicity stated that the title "was changed to put emphasis on the eccentric central character of Willy Wonka". However, Wolper said he changed the title to make the
product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...
for the Wonka Bar have a closer association. Stuart confirmed the matter was brought to his attention by some African-American actors and he also claimed to have changed the title saying, "If people say, 'I saw ''Willy Wonka'',' people would know what they were talking about. If they say, 'I saw ''Charlie'',' it doesn’t mean anything". The book was also in the midst of a controversy when the film was announced. Protest groups including the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
had taken issue with the original Oompa-Loompas depicted as African pygmies and compared them to slavery. Stuart addressed the concerns for the film and suggested making them the distinctive green-and-orange characters. Gene Wilder wanted specific changes to Wonka's costume, including what type of trousers the character should wear, "the color and cut" of his jacket and the placement of pockets. Wilder's attention to detail also requested, "The hat is terrific, but making it 2 inches shorter would make it more special".


Casting

Before Wilder was officially cast as Willy Wonka, producers considered Fred Astaire,
Joel Grey Joel Grey (born Joel David Katz; April 11, 1932) is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical ''Cabaret'' on Broadway as well as in the 1972 fil ...
, Ron Moody, and
Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland "Jon" Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996) was an English actor, comedian, entertainer, cabaret performer and TV presenter. Born into a theatrical family, he served in the Royal Navy and the Naval Intelligence Division during ...
.
Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
was Roald Dahl's original choice. Peter Sellers reportedly begged Dahl for the role. All six members of
Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
( Graham Chapman,
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
,
Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadwa ...
, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) expressed interest in playing Wonka, but at the time they were deemed not big enough names for an international audience. Joel Grey was the front runner for the part but director Mel Stuart decided he wasn’t physically imposing enough as the actor's height was five-foot-five. The producers learned that Fred Astaire wanted the part, but the 72-year-old may have considered himself too old. Actors were auditioned for the role of Willy Wonka in a suite at the
Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, a ...
in New York and by the end of the week Wilder had walked in. It was then Stuart and producer David L. Wolper realised that they could stop looking. Wolper remarked, "The role fit him tighter than one of Jacques Cousteau’s wetsuits." Stuart was captivated by Wilder's "humor in his eyes" and said, "His inflection was perfect. He had the sardonic, demonic edge that we were looking for." Wolper tried to suppress Stuart's eagerness for the actor as he wanted to negotiate the salary. Regardless, the director ran out into the hall as Wilder was leaving and offered him the part of Wonka. When Wilder was cast as Wonka, he accepted the role on one condition: Stuart responded, "What do you want to do that for?" Wilder answered, "From that time on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth." Wilder was adamant that he would decline the role otherwise. Jean Stapleton turned down the role of Mrs. Teevee. Jim Backus was considered for the role of Sam Beauregarde. Sammy Davis Jr. wanted to play Bill, the candy store owner, but Stuart did not like the idea because he felt that the presence of a big star in the candy store scene would break the reality; though Davis would make Bill's signature song, " The Candy Man", into a big hit. Anthony Newley also wanted to play Bill, but Stuart also dissuaded him for the same reason. Ten actors of short stature were the Oompa Loompas, including one woman and nine men, and were cast internationally from France, Germany, Malta, Persia (now Iran), Turkey and the UK. The child actors who were auditioned from hundreds,
Julie Dawn Cole Julie Dawn Cole (born 26 October 1957) is an English actress. She began her career as a child performer in the 1971 film ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'', playing Veruca Salt. Career ''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'' Raised in ...
,
Denise Nickerson Denise Marie Nickerson (April 1, 1957 – July 10, 2019) was an American child actress. She is best known for her role as Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 film ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''. She later played Allison on ''The Electric Co ...
, Peter Ostrum and
Paris Themmen Paris Themmen (born June 25, 1959) is an American former actor who started his career as a child actor. He is best known for his role as Mike Teavee in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''. After leaving acting, he worked in business as a real ...
all had acting experience from stage school, theatre, television or commercials. Michael Böllner had the primary attribute of being rotund and was discovered in Germany when Stuart was location scouting. Stuart asked him to imagine being stuck in a tube and then "squeezed him like a roll of putty".


Filming

Principal photography commenced on August 31, 1970, and ended on November 19, 1970. After location scouting in Europe, including the Guinness brewery in Ireland and a real-life chocolate factory in Spain, production designer
Harper Goff Harper Goff (March 16, 1911 – March 3, 1993), born Ralph Harper Goff, was an American artist, musician, and actor. For many years, he was associated with The Walt Disney Company, in the process of which he contributed to various major film ...
decided to house the factory sets and the massive Chocolate Room at
Bavaria Studios Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film. History The studios were constructed in the suburb of Geiselgasteig in 1919 shortly after the Firs ...
. It was also significantly cheaper than filming in the United States and the primary shooting locations in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany, made the setting conducive to Wonka's factory. Stuart also liked the ambiguity and unfamiliarity of the location.


Locations

External shots of the factory were filmed at the gasworks of
Stadtwerke München Stadtwerke München GmbH (Munich City Utilities) or SWM is a German communal company, owned by the city of Munich, which offers public services for the city and the region of Munich. The company supplies electricity for more than 95% of Munich's 7 ...
(Emmy-Noether-Straße 10); the entrance and side buildings still exist. The exterior of Charlie Bucket's house, a set constructed solely for the film, was filmed at Quellenstraße in Munich. Charlie's school was filmed at Katholisches Pfarramt St. Sylvester, Biedersteiner Straße 1 in Munich. Bill's Candy Shop was filmed at Lilienstraße, Munich. The closing sequence, in which the Wonkavator is flying above the factory, is footage of Nördlingen, Bavaria, and the elevator rising shot showing that it shoots out of the factory was from Bößeneckerstraße 4, 86720 Nördlingen, Germany, now the location of a CAP-Märkte. File:Wonka Factory2.JPG, Munich Gasworks as it appeared in 2011 (building on the left) File:Wonka Factory.JPG, Munich Gasworks as it appeared in 2011 (building on the right) File:Noerdlingen town hall from Daniel.jpg, Nördlingen, the town seen from above at the end of the film


Production design

The construction of the original Inventing Room was meant to be an industrial room with steel tubes. Stuart envisioned it differently as a wacky inventor's laboratory, with
Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), known best as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadge ...
type mechanisms and unusual contraptions, and wanted it redesigned to be like Wonka's personality. Goff sent his construction crew into Munich searching junkyards, bakeries, and car dealers for discarded machinery, tin funnels, and any other raw materials. This included building Wonka's three-course gum machine, which was originally a solid state device, but Stuart requested an appliance where the operations had a visual experience for the audience. Stuart also instructed Goff to have all the props, furniture and fittings, excluding the light bulbs, in Wonka's original office to be cut in half, to reflect the character's eccentricity. Stuart stated, "I couldn't face the thought of ending the journey through this fabulous factory in an ordinary-looking office." About a third of the props in the Chocolate Room set were edible. Veruca Salt had a chocolate watermelon; Mike Teevee had gum balls from a tree; Violet Beauregarde's "three-course gum" was actually a toffee-based candy, and marzipan was freely available on set; also there were giant mushrooms filled with whipped cream; and the trees had edible leaves. The inedible items included giant gummy bears that were plastic (the ears were edible, however); the flavoured wallpaper was just wallpaper; and Wonka's flower cup was made of wax which Gene Wilder would chew on camera and spit out after each take. In the scene where thousands of Wonka bars were being unwrapped to find a Golden Ticket at Mr. Salt's peanut factory, the bars were actually made of wood. It was considered a cheaper solution than rewrapping thousands of bars of real chocolate.


Performances

For the performances, Stuart used a recurring " method" tactic in a few scenes. When Wonka makes his entrance at the factory gates, nobody was aware of Wilder's approach as he limped then somersaulted; the reaction was of real surprise. The director gave explicit instructions not to allow the child actors to see the Chocolate Room set until the day of the shoot as he wanted their reactions to be genuine. The exception was
Julie Dawn Cole Julie Dawn Cole (born 26 October 1957) is an English actress. She began her career as a child performer in the 1971 film ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'', playing Veruca Salt. Career ''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'' Raised in ...
, as Goff gave her a sneak preview. Also the actors were not warned about the tunnel boat ride scene. Similarly, when Wilder rehearsed the Wonka office scene, with Peter Ostrum as Charlie and Jack Albertson as Grandpa Joe, it was in a much calmer tone. When filming started and he increasingly became angry eventually shouting, "So you get nothing!", it was so that the reactions would be authentic.


Other issues

According to
Paris Themmen Paris Themmen (born June 25, 1959) is an American former actor who started his career as a child actor. He is best known for his role as Mike Teavee in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''. After leaving acting, he worked in business as a real ...
, who played Mike Teevee, "The river was made of water with food coloring. At one point, they poured some cocoa powder into it to try to thicken it but it didn't really work. When asked hat the river was made of Michael Böllner, who played Augustus Gloop, answers, 'It vas dirty, stinking vater. A combination of salt conditioner and some chemicals eventually removed the stink problem but it remained cold, dirty water. Stuart had issues with the large size of the Chocolate Room set with difficulties lighting the background. Julie Dawn Cole's performance of "I Want It Now" as Veruca Salt required 36 takes and was filmed on her thirteenth birthday. Director Bob Fosse came in every afternoon to complain because the filming was overrunning towards the end and stopping him from shooting '' Cabaret'' on the same stage.


Retrospective

In addition to the main scenes set in town and at the factory, several comic interludes were also shot. Stuart lamented in his book ''Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'', that his favorite scene was cut due to poor test screenings. In the scene, which took a lot of preparation and money to film, an English explorer climbs a holy mountain to ask a guru the meaning of life. The guru requests a Wonka Bar. Finding no golden ticket, he says, "Life is a disappointment." Stuart loved the scene, but few laughed. He invited a psychologist friend to a preview, where again, the audience reaction was muted. The psychologist told him, "You don't understand, Mel. For a great many people, life ''is'' a disappointment." When interviewed for the 30th anniversary special edition in 2001, Wilder stated that he enjoyed working with most of the child actors, but said that he and the film crew had some problems with Paris Themmen recalling, "Oh, he was a little brat!" He then addressed Themmen directly, "Now if you're watching this, you know that I love you now, but you were a troublemaker then." An example of Themmen's misbehaviour was releasing bees from a beehive on Wonka's three-course gum machine. "As life mirrored one of the morals of the movie," Stuart remembers, "one of the bees stung him."


Release


Theatrical

''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' was released by
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
on June 30, 1971. The film was not a big success, eventually earning $4 million worldwide on a budget of $3 million, and was the 24th highest-grossing film of the year in North America. For the promotion before its release, the film received advance publicity through TV commercials offering a "Willy Wonka candy factory kit" for sending $1.00 and two seals from boxes of Quaker cereals such as
King Vitaman King Vitaman was an American brand of breakfast cereal produced by Quaker Oats and sold in the United States. The cereal was introduced in 1968, and changed mascots several times. The cereal was discontinued in 2019. King Vitaman Cereal boasted ...
, Life and any of the Cap'n Crunch brands.


Television

The film made its television debut on Thanksgiving Night, November 28, 1974, on NBC. The film was repeated the following year on November 23, 1975, on NBC. There was some controversy with the broadcast, as a football game between the
Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
and Washington Redskins went into overtime, and the first 40 minutes of the film were cut. The film placed 19th in the television ratings for the week ending November 23, beating out '' The Streets of San Francisco'' and '' Little House on the Prairie''. The next television showing of the film was on May 2, 1976, where it placed 46th in the ratings. Some television listings indicate the showing was part of '' The Wonderful World of Disney'' time slot.


Home media

In December 1984, the film became available on VHS and
Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...
in the UK and was released in the US on VHS the same year. In 1996, the film was released on
LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
as a "25th anniversary edition". Additional features included the original and reissue theatrical trailers and music minus vocals for "sing-alongs". Notes explain the letterboxed version as "presented in a "matted" widescreen format preserving the 1.85:1 aspect ratio of its original theatrical presentation. The black bars at the top and bottom of the screen are normal for this format". VHS copies were also available, but only containing the "standard" fullscreen version. The "standard" version is an open matte print, where the mattes used to make the image "widescreen" are removed, revealing more picture at the top and bottom that was masked off from viewers. In 1997, the film was first released on DVD in a "25th anniversary edition" as a double sided disc containing a "widescreen" and "standard" version. On August 28, 2001, a remastered special edition DVD was released, celebrating the film's 30th anniversary, but in "standard" fullscreen only. On November 13, 2001, due to the lack of a "widescreen" release, fan petitioning eventually led Warner Home Video to issue a letterboxed version. Several original cast members reunited to film a "making-of" documentary titled ''Pure Imagination: The Story of 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The two format editions featured restored sound and better picture quality. In addition to the ''Pure Imagination'' feature, the DVD included a trailer, a gallery and audio commentary by the cast. It was also released on VHS, with only one of the special features (the ''Pure Imagination'' documentary). In 2007, Warner Home Video released the film on HD DVD with all the bonus features from the 2001 DVD. On October 20, 2009, the film was released on Blu-ray. It included all the bonus features from the 2001 DVD and 2007 HD DVD as well as a 38-page book. On November 1, 2011, a deluxe edition set was released for the film's 40th anniversary. The set included the film on Blu-ray and DVD, a bonus disc and a number of collectible items including a Wonka Bar tin, four scented pencils, a scented eraser, a book about the making of the film, original production notes and a "Golden Ticket" for the chance to win a trip to Los Angeles. On June 29, 2021, a
4K Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Blu- ...
version was released by
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...
to coincide with the film's 50th anniversary. This edition restored the original Paramount logo at the beginning of the film. The film would also be available to
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
and download digitally in 4K high definition, including standard definition, on devices from various online video platforms.


Reception


Critical response

The film received generally positive reviews from critics.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film four out of four stars, calling it: Charles Champlin of the '' Los Angeles Times'' praised the film as "lively and enjoyable" and called Wilder's performance "a real star turn", but thought the songs were "instantly forgettable" and that the factory looked "a lot more literal and industrial and less empathic than it might have". '' Variety'' called the film "an okay family musical fantasy" that had "good" performances but lacked any tunes that were "especially rousing or memorable". Howard Thompson of '' The New York Times'' panned it as "tedious and stagy with little sparkle and precious little humor".
Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
gave the film two stars out of four, writing, "Anticipation of what Wonka's factory is like is so well developed that its eventual appearance is a terrible letdown. Sure enough there is a chocolate river, but it looks too much like the Chicago River to be appealing. The quality of the color photography is flat. The other items in Wonka's factory—bubblegum trees and
lollypop ''LolliPop'' is a 2008 Indian romantic comedy film directed by Shafi and written by Benny P. Nayarambalam. It stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Kunchacko Boban, Jayasurya, Bhavana and Roma. The film was wide released on 21 December 2008 before Chri ...
flowers—also look cheap. Nothing in the factory is appealing." Jan Dawson of '' The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote that after a slow start the second half of the film was "an unqualified delight—one of those rare, genuinely imaginative children's entertainments at which no adult need be embarrassed to be seen". On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 91% approval rating and an average rating of 7.80/10 based on 53 reviews. The site's critical consensus states: "''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' is strange yet comforting, full of narrative detours that don't always work but express the film's uniqueness."


Roald Dahl's reaction

Dahl disowned the film and was "infuriated" by the plot deviations and considered the music to be "saccharine, sappy and sentimental". He was also disappointed because the film "placed too much emphasis on Willy Wonka and not enough on Charlie" and because Gene Wilder was cast as Wonka instead of
Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
. In 1996, Dahl's second wife, Felicity, commented on her husband's objections toward film adaptations of his works, saying "they always want to change a book's storyline. What makes Hollywood think children want the endings changed for a film, when they accept it in a book?"


Legacy

''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' remained in obscurity in the subsequent years since its original release. When the distribution rights lapsed in 1977, Paramount Pictures declined to renew, considering it not viable. The rights defaulted back to the Quaker Oats Company, who were not involved in the film business, therefore sold them onto Warner Bros. for $500,000. Wolper engineered the rights sale to Warner Bros. where he became a corporate director after selling his production company to them the previous year. By the 1980s, the film had experienced an increase in popularity due to repeated television broadcasts and gained cult status with a new audience in home video sales. In 1996, there was a 25th anniversary theatrical re-release which grossed the film a further $21 million. In 2003, '' Entertainment Weekly'' ranked it 25th in the "Top 50 Cult Movies" of all time. The tunnel scene during the boat ride has been cited as one of the scariest in a film for children, due to its surreal visuals, and was ranked No. 74 on Bravo's '' The 100 Scariest Movie Moments''. 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".


Awards and nominations


Music

The
original score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...
and songs were composed by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, and musical direction was by Walter Scharf. The soundtrack was first released by
Paramount Records Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Early years Paramount Records was formed in 19 ...
in 1971. Sammy Davis Jr. recorded the song " The Candy Man" which became his only number-one hit. It would spend three weeks at the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100
chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
starting June 10, 1972, and two weeks at the top of the easy-listening chart. On October 8, 1996,
Hip-O Records Hip-O Records is a record label that specializes in reissues and compilations. It is part of Universal Music Group. Established in 1996, the label has distributed releases from 'out of style' genres such as disco and early hip-hop music as wel ...
(in conjunction with MCA Records, which by then owned the Paramount catalog), released the soundtrack on CD as a "25th Anniversary Edition". In 2016, UMe and Geffen Records released a 45th Anniversary Edition LP.


Track listing


In popular culture

* Various comedy TV series have referenced the film mainly as a parody. They include ''
Malcolm in the Middle ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is an American family television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for Fox. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes. The series follows a dysfunctional ...
'', '' My Wife and Kids'', the American version of '' The Office'', '' Saturday Night Live'', and '' That '70s Show''. * Animated TV series have also done parodies respectively, ''
Dexter's Laboratory ''Dexter's Laboratory'' is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It follows Dexter, a short, enthusiastic boy-genius with a hid ...
'' ("
Golden Diskette ''Dexter's Laboratory'' is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network. Initially debuting on February 26, 1995, as a seven-minute ''World Premiere Toons'' pilot, it was expanded into a full series a ...
" in 1997); '' The Simpsons'' ("
Trash of the Titans "Trash of the Titans" is the twenty-second episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The 200th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 26 ...
" in 1998); ''
Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
'' (" Fry and the Slurm Factory" in 1999); ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
'' ("
Wasted Talent The second season of '' Family Guy'' first aired on the Fox network in 21 episodes from September 23, 1999, to August 1, 2000. The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, baby Stew ...
" in 2000); ''
South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...
'' ("
Le Petit Tourette "Le Petit Tourette" (; meaning "The Little Tourette") is the eighth episode of the eleventh season of the animated television series '' South Park'', and the 161st episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October ...
" in 2007); '' Rick and Morty'' (" Tales from the Citadel" in 2017); and ''
American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...
'' (" Jeff and the Dank Ass Weed Factory" in 2019). * In 2001, the band Alien Ant Farm's music video to their song " Movies" paid homage to various Hollywood films and included a scene where the band members were dressed as Oompa Loompas. * In 2017, in an episode of the TV series '' Pawn Stars'' a combination of the original Everlasting Gobstopper and Wonka Bar props sold for $105,000. * In 2017, an animated adaptation of the film with Tom and Jerry was released as '' Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory''. * In the 2010s, a still from the movie became a popular
Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
known as
Condescending Wonka Condescending Wonka is an Internet meme based on the 1971 '' Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' film directed by Mel Stuart. The meme emerged in 2011 and few years later was described as one of the most popular Internet memes, usually used to ...
.


See also

* List of American films of 1971 *
List of films featuring miniature people There is a body of films that feature miniature people. The concept of a human shrinking in size has existed since the beginning of cinema, with early films using camera techniques to change perceptions of human sizes. The earliest film to have a s ...


Notes


References


Sources

*


External links

* * *
The AFI Catalog of Feature Films..''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory''

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory essay by Brian Scott Mednick
at National Film Registry {{DEFAULTSORT:Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Willy Wonka 1971 films 1971 musical films 1970s musical fantasy films American children's fantasy films American musical fantasy films Compositions by Leslie Bricusse 1970s English-language films Films about children Films about chocolate Films based on British novels Films based on children's books Films based on fantasy novels Films based on works by Roald Dahl Films directed by Mel Stuart Films scored by Walter Scharf Films set in factories Films set in Europe Films shot in Bavaria Films shot in Munich Paramount Pictures films Quaker Oats Company Sponsored films Films with screenplays by Roald Dahl United States National Film Registry films The Wolper Organization films Films set in West Germany Films set in Montana Films set in England Films produced by David L. Wolper 1970s American films