A Surprisingly Sweet Willy Wonka Avoids Dahl’s Bitterness

A refreshing take on Willy Wonka, this version sheds Dahl’s usual bitterness for a surprisingly sweet and delightful twist.

1. Timothée Chalamet stars as the chocolatier Willy Wonka

When seen from the point of view of a child, there is no more appropriate use of magic than the ability to conjure candy out of thin air. In and of itself, this first law of speculative metaphysics, which I just came up with, is what makes Wonka an irresistible film for children to watch.
Paul King, the writer and director of the original musical prequel to Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), not only provides the customary superficial delights, but he also forces-feeds a concept that is always catnip for children: the insatiable need for self-invention and reinvention.

During the beginning of the film, the enthusiastic, idealistic, and orphaned magician-waif Willy Wonka, played by Timothy Chalamet, arrives by boat in the big metropolis, which is assumed to be London. In a perfect example of the (fictional) intrepid child protagonist finding their way through the confusing, unfair, and immoral adult world, Willy is plainly American. This is probably due to the fact that the area is filled to the brim with English actors. However, why is Willy clearly American?

In other words, Wonka, which will be released on Friday, December 15, is an excellent choice for holiday entertainment for the children who are in your immediate neighborhood. In situations when there is an excessive amount of storyline and chitchat and an insufficient amount of fantasy, they may become restless; yet, this is precisely why God and Santa put candy counters in theaters.

Wonka does not make an effort to be hip or politically current, in contrast to the films produced by Pixar, which have a plethora of gags that are not only incomprehensible to children but also keep adults alert and interested despite their age. The chocolate cartel, which is made of three merchants who are ostensibly autonomous, is the antagonist of the work. The principles of capitalism, with the exception of paying the police chief, are not satirized but are completely ignored.

In addition, it is not a problem that Willy Wonka wants to be a straightforward crowd-pleaser, whose underlying moral is to remain faithful to both your ambitions and your friends. In an era in which the future is not only unwritten but also unknown, the movie is perfectly suited to serve as a feel-good family entertainment. Will it be an instant addition to the collection of classics that have stood the test of time? If it had been a little bit more magical, it would have been enough to shift the scales decisively, but in the long run, I wouldn’t bet against Willy. Even without proceeding through his songs in a hurried manner.

2. What is the real truth behind Willy Wonka’s Oompa Loompas?

According to the first version of the book, every child who has “failed” the tour has a song that has already been written about them. It would appear from the book that the Oompa Loompas are endowed with a magical talent, since they are able to spontaneously perform a song that is specifically crafted for them, which is about four peculiar children whom they are only seeing for the first time. When we look over the book, we don’t find any indication that Wonka provided them with any advance information either.

One thing that we do observe in the first Willy Wonka movie, which starred Gene Wilder, is that Mr. Slugworth appears at the scene as soon as each golden ticket is found. We are able to observe him whispering in a confidential manner to each of the children, and later on, we discover that he is giving a substantial sum of money in exchange for Wonka’s perpetual gob stoppers.

Naturally, upon further investigation, it is discovered that Slugworth is a business agent who has been working covertly for Wonka the entire time. Taking into consideration the logic presented in the first film, it is possible to assert that Willy Wonka must have employed security personnel in order to meticulously monitor the movements of all of the golden tickets.

This enables him to have Slugworth in a position to make his sales pitch, and you can presume that Slugworth and these same agents will subsequently construct a comprehensive dossier on the history of each child.

Be sure to keep in mind that Willy Wonka has already distributed the golden tickets in order to find a suitable replacement for himself. Consequently, once he has received comprehensive reports on each child, he is able to set up five tests or traps for each child, and as an added treat, he will also give each youngster their very own personalized Oompa Loompa song.

One of the primary goals of the creators of the Johnny Depp movie is to provide us with a more bizarre interpretation of Willy Wonka and to poke fun at the entirety of the concept. Later on in the same movie, after Augustus Gloop has been involved in an accident by the chocolate river and the new Oompa Loompas, led by Roy Deep, have completed their major song, Mr. Salt makes a statement on how everything seems to have been “rehearsed.” To put it another way, they are conveying the impression that there was some kind of planning, but they are avoiding providing any explanation as to how this occurred.

In light of this, I will refer to the first movie and continue to adhere to the concept that Willy Wonka employs covert operatives in order to track down the golden tickets and obtain information on each child.