Movie Sign: Willy Wonka

Get ready for a scrumdiddlyumptious film and article for Easter!
On
March 26, 2013
Hi, everyone it's almost Easter and...

AAH...WE'VE GOT MOVIE SIGN!!!




As you know, Easter is almost here and candy is sold at this time, this is the 2nd biggest candy holiday next to Halloween. And I still wonder why do Easter Bunnies deliver Easter Eggs?



Well..."Willy Wonka" would be a good film to talk about because I saw this film umpteen times in my childhood on The Disney Channel (It wasn't a Disney Film nor a Warner Brothers Film originally)! I had stories when I was a child that Willy Wonka would visit our school...it didn't happen. But since it is Easter and Willy Wonka is about chocolate...this would be the right time for this season!



So...if you saw the film, then there's so much time and little to talk about...you know what I'm saying! But if you didn't then yes...spoilers! The movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" was based upon the 1964 book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Rohd Dahl. (Dahl wasn't that excited with the film itself, or so I heard).



It starts with the local schoolchildren going to their local candy store and the owner gives the children candy and starts to sing "The Candy Man" to them. Charlie Bucket sees those happy children and wishes he could join them, but he doesn't have the money nor the time. In the movie, Charlie is a paperboy and as he does his rounds, he sees Willy Wonka's Factory. A tinker stops by and tells Charlie that "No on ever goes in and no one ever comes out" and confuses Charlie. Back home, Charlie's mom and grandparents George, Georgina, Josephine, and Joe (Played by Jack Albertson). His father isn't in the film, I wonder if there was a Toothpaste Factory Accident and Father Bucket didn't make it?



But Charlie comes back home with cabbage-water soup and a loaf of bread that he bought (The Buckets thought he stole it) but Charlie DID buy it from the money he earned on his 1st pay-day. He was even generous by giving his Grandpa Joe tobaccoo money, but Grandpa Joe decides to give up his pipe once Charlie bought real food.



That night, Charlie told Grandpa Joe about the Chocolate Factory and why does no one go in nor come out. Well, according to Grandpa Joe, Willy Wonka's Factory made great chocolates and everyone wanted to compete with him. So Wonka's competition would send spies to his factory, the worst one was Slugworth. So Wonka would close the factory for a few years and then would reopen with the same chocolate he was making before, but the factory was closed to the public.



The next day, while Charlie and his teacher were making a formula for warts, but it can only work for big warts...there was a ruckus in the school hallway because Willy Wonka would open his factory to the public, but only for 5 people. However, you need to open Wonka Bars to get the Golden Ticket to get in the Factory! And Wonkamania began! Anyone who was anyone were opening Wonka Bars, even Richard Nixon wanted to get that Golden Ticket (He was president when the film was made, so it makes sense)! There was even a psychologist who was talking to a dreamer patient and he too wanted to know where the Golden Ticket was.



The 1st Golden Ticket was found in a small fictional town called Dusselheim, Germany (The film was actually filmed in Munich, Germany) by a son of a successful butcher named Agustus Gloop. His plan was to eat The Chocolate Factory out of buisness. Agustus is encouraged to eat due to his parents. Soon, it was Charlie's Birthday and not only did he get a scarf, but a Wonka Bar. It didn't have The Golden Ticket, but Charlie would try to share his candy bar to family yet all turned it down.



The 2nd Golden Ticket would be found by a daughter who's father has a Nut Factory called Salt's Nuts. Her name...Veruca Salt. Her father is overexausthed because his workers haven't shelled a nut since Monday and his wife just does needlepoint. (Mr. Salt is played by Roy Kinnear, who appeared in my last movie review "Help" as Algernon). But once the Golden Ticket was found, the employees can resume working on shelling nuts. Now, there was a new problem...Wonka Bars have gone out-of-stock, and even a Computer Technician would try to impress the people that he can find the next three Wonka Bars...but it seems the computer was smarter than him!



The 3rd Golden Ticket was received by a daughter of a Politician/Car Dealership Man in Miles City, Montana. Her name was Violet Beauregarde who's a constant gum-chewer and chewed a stick of gum for 3 months solid, even when she switched to chocolate bars temporarily and made her friend Cornelia jealous. That night, Charlie was worried that he wouldn't get even one Golden Ticket, but his mom sings a song for him called "Cheer-Up Charlie".



The 4th Golden Ticket was received by a Teleholic named Mike Teavee who resides in Marble Falls, Arizona. He's sooooo obsessed with television that he even eats his meals by the television. That night, Grandpa Joe wakes-up Charlie and gives him a Wonka Bar wondering if the winning ticket was in there...but it wasn't. Would the ticket make the chocolate tastes bad?



In England, Wonka Bars were auctioned-off being the last of the Wonka Bars at the time and Elizabeth II bought them all! Then some woman got a ransom note that would make a tough decision...her husband or her Wonka Bars. But she didn't have to worry because the 5th and final ticket was found by a Casino Tycoon from Paraguay which discouraged Charlie who was looking forward of going.



The next day, Charlie's teacher would now give tests on Monday rather than Friday, but since it was Tuesday...it didn't matter so he would talk about percentages. Charlie said he only opened 2 Wonka Bars, but he said he couldn't use 2 for a percentage (actually it would be .2%) so the teacher says Charlie opened-up 200 Wonka Bars instead. While Charlie is going home, he sees a silver dollar in the gutter and takes it to the Candy Store and buys a Wonka Bar which he devours and forgets to pay the Candyman...but does. Then the Candyman tells Charlie to not to eat so fast (I wonder why he didn't tell the other kids earlier who stuffed their faces)? Charlie would ask for another Wonka Bar for his grandfather, but while he steps-out the Candy Store a ruckus occured at the News Stand seeing that the Casino Owner made a counterfeit ticket, so who has the 5th Golden Ticket?

It was Charlie Bucket who got the 5th and final ticket! The crowd tells Charlie to go home, but Charlie encounters Slugworth who wants the secret of the Everlasting Gobstopper. Charlie tells Grandpa Joe that he got the final ticket...and it was real! Grandpa Jow would then get up for the 1st time in 20 years and would dance and sing. The Golden Ticket informs that the event was happening tomorrow, so Charlie was informed to get ready because...



...The Chocolate Factory would be open for the five winners. Just then, Willy Wonka (played by Gene Wilder) appears and would give the winners a tour to his Chocolate Factory. First, the winners would hang-up their hats and coats on weird coat-hangers which are hands. Little surprises in every corner...but nothing dangerous. Next, the children had to sign a contract that Wonka would bring-up. After the children signed the contract, Willy Wonka would send the winners to a door that would send them into a room but into another place when they left the same door. The Chocolate Factory was in a hallway that gets smaller or Wonka gets bigger and the combination is a Mozart tune (NOT Rachmaninoff that Ms. Teavee would say).



Now the Chocolate Factory which was almost eatable...edible...you can eat almost anything! The best part of Wonka's Factory was the Chocolate River which would Wonka's Chocolate just right. Just then, the Oompa-Loompas arrive to mix the chocolate, now the Oompa-Loompas onced lived in Loompaland which was a desloate island filled with Wangdoodles, Hornswogglers, Snozzwangers, and rotten, Vermicious Knids. So Wonka sent the entire Oompa Loompa population whatever was left of it to his factory.



While Wonka was talking about the Oompa Loompas, Agustus Gloop would drink the Chocolate River and...fall in! Charlie would try to help Agustus, but he would get sucked-into one of the pipes that Agustus would be stuck in but would get pushed-up by the pressure of the pipes. Mrs. Gloop was worried that his son would be marshmallows...but it goes to the fudge room, so Mr. Wonka escorts Mrs. Gloop to the fudge room and the Oompa-Loompas would sing.



After the Gloops are gone, Willy Wonka would send the other guests on the Wonkatania which would send them into a tunnel which would wind-up being a freak-out with millipedes walking on men's faces, chickens getting decapitated, and Slugworth appearing. By then, Willy Wonka sings and gets freaky too and stops the boat once it was demanded. The boat stops at the inventing room where Wonka keeps his secrets and he warns his guests NO messing about, touching, tasting, or telling! The inventing room is 93% persperation, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple...105%? Unfortunately, some of the guests DO mess about. Mike Teavee tries exploding candy for your enemies but wasn't ready since it was a little weak, Veruca tries to taste something but Wonka puts an alarm clock in it, and Mr. Beauregarde touches Wonka's secret invention...the Everlasting Gobstopper Machine! Wonka gives the children an Everlasting Gobstopper as long as they keep it a secret and one was enough for anyone. The last machine Wonka shows in the invention room is a gum machine that makes a 3-course dinner gum. BULL! No...it's roast beef so it could be from a bull but it wasn't complete unfortunately Violet the Gumaholic takes the gum though was warned and it was Tomato Soup, Roast Beef and a Baked Potato with sour cream? Then comes the dessert...Blueberry Pie with cream and Violet becomes the blueberry! So Wonka gets the Oompa-Loompas to send Violet to the de-juicer before she explodes. Now Sam Beauregarde has a blueberry for a daughter!



Now with 3 children left...Wonka introduces the guests with lickable wallpaper which comes in flavors like pineapple, orange, plum, banana, strawberry, and snozzberies! Snozzberry...whoever heard of a snozzberry? Well...now we have! Next, Wonka would take his guests into the fizzy-lifting room where fizzy-lifting drinks are made but it was too powerful to try right now, but Joe and Charlie Bucket try the fizzy-lifting drink and they had fun until they reached the celing but when both Grandpa Joe and Charlie Bucket burped, they floated down to safety and return to find the others where they were in the egg room with giant geese. These geese would make chocolate golden eggs and if they were good eggs...they go to the people, but if it's a bad egg...down the chute. Obviously Veruca wanted to have one of those geese, but Wonka said they're not for sale so she couldn't have one. So Veruca sings about wanting everything now and then goes-down with the other bad eggs, inside the garbage which will be sent to the furnace, but Mr. Salt would rescue her daughter by going down. Charlie was worried that Veruca may be burned, but Wonka said that she has a 50/50 chance of not being burned.



By then, Mrs. Teavee wanted to rest, but Wonka said that his Wonkamobile can send her to the next room and the Wonkamobile produced a lot of suds from the pop that fueled the Wonkamobile and it goes through the Hsawaknow (It's not Japanese, it's Wonkawash spelled backwards). The next room Wonka takes his guests contain dangerous material, so the guests and Wonka put protective gear on and it contained the Wonkavision. Wonka tests the Wonkavision with a giant Wonka Bar and it gets sent through the TV. Mike would act smart and got tempted to get sent to the Wonkavision. Now, Mike is an inch tall and Mrs. Teavee wouldn't have him go through again because he could be microscopic. So Wonka sends Mike to the Taffy-Pulling room to be normal size again, Mrs. Teavee fainted as she was escorted away.



After that, Willy Wonka would have the Buckets go home which puzzled them. So Grandpa Joe and Charlie Bucket enter into his office to wonder what went wrong and Wonka explains that they both drank Fizzy-Lifting Drinks, bumped on the celing that now must be cleaned so they get nothing! Grandpa Joe defends Charlie with no avail until Grandpa decides to see Slugworth himself so Charlie gives Willy Wonka his everlasting gobstopper and Wonka tells him that he won, he had to test them and he passed the test! Wonka then introduces him to Mr. Wilkinson who played Slugworth, but it was a test. So after that, Wonka takes Charlie and Grandpa Joe to the Wonkavator that can go any way and he lets Charlie push the red button which sends them flying through town. Wonka gives Charlie the Chocolate Factory and he lets his family move-in there right away.

Don't forget about the man who got everything...

He lived Happily Ever After!




This film was actually a flop when it came-out, Dahl didn't care for the screenplay since it wasn't about Charlie, The Wonka Bars that were made by Quaker Oats didn't sell so well, and in the late-70's Paramount which first owned the film let the contract expire and it was bought by Warner Brothers which made the film into a classic flare.

And this is one of the many films Leonard Maltin rated 2 1/2 Stars, the same rating he gave "Laserblast", a film that MST3K reviewed! So this film gets...

LEONARD MALTIN'S 2 1/2 STAR SEAL OF APPROVAL!


I, myself give this film...



4 STARS


The movie would later be remade in 2005, focusing on the book a little more than the 1971 film. But to me, it's a little darker due to having Johnny Depp star in the film and Tim Burton directing it.



The children would later see the film 30 years later in its entirety. Michael Bollner who played Augustus Gloop became a lawyer in his home country Germany, Julie Dawn Cole who played Veruca Salt had a few acting gigs in the United Kingdom, Denise Nickerson who played Violet Beauregarde would be a child actor until her 21st Birthday, Paris Themman who played Mike Teavee basically layed-low most of his life, and Peter Ostrum would get more roles in acting but turned them down. He now is a vetrenarian in Upstate New York.



So as of now...

HAPPY EASTER!

HAPPY TOYS!
5
More Articles From MrCleveland
An unhandled error has occurred. Reload Dismiss