Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

7/10

Starring

Gene Wilder

Jack Albertson

Peter Ostrum

Roy Kinnear

Directed by Mel Stuart

I was born fourteen years after this cult classic was made, but the invitation of the beautiful Willy Wonka intro song:

Come with me

And you'll be

In a world of pure imagination

Take a look and you'll see

Into your imagination

Was all the juice I needed that made me see this movie time and time again when I was younger. I just wanted to be in that world, be one of the children who got to experience the magic in the chocolate factory. This 1971 adaptation became so loved, that many of my pairs childhood was not complete until they had seen it.

The film tells the story of a poor child named Charlie Bucket who lives with his mother and four grandparents.

There is a popular man named Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) known around the world for making the best chocolates. Wonka stays away from the public eye and his factory does not allow visitors.

Then to the surprise of the world Wonka has decided to open his factory to visitors, but only to those who find a Golden Ticket in one of his chocolate bars. They were five tickets in total, and each ticket allows the child and an accompany adult. Well, Charlie found one ticket and he was allowed into the Willy Wonka's chocolate factory along with four other children from around the world. The movie is about their journey through the factory.

The movie is based on a children’s book named Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, in the year 1964. Roald also wrote, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Fantastic Mr Fox and The BFG all of which have also been adapted into films.

Roald initially was part of the script directors, but later left the production and did not approve of the final result, because of some of the deviation from his original plot. The movie maintained the main theme though and gave us the late Gene Wilder in one of his best performances.

The film allowed his eccentric nature go lose on screen and with it came beautiful music. Even though Wilder is not known for singing, he deliverd.

The movie may not have been a box office hit when it was released, but the cult following and the constant TV broadcast has turn it to a hit.

The movie also has a second adaptation done in 2005 called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. This adaptation gave us a little more light to the origin of Willy Wonka, something Burton made up for the movie. The adaptation also had a different ending for Willy Wonka.

I will be seeing this 1971 adaptation again, just for the joy of being taken to a world of Pure Imagination.