Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory
Reviewed by: Brian Nigro
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Good |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | All ages |
| Genre: | Family Musical Fantasy Comedy Adaptation |
| Length: | 1 hr. 40 min. |
| Year of Release: | 1971 |
| USA Release: |
June 30, 1971 (wide release) |
POVERTY—What does the Bible say about the poor? Answer
About the POOR in the Bible
Gluttony
Spoiled child of a wealthy father
Addiction to viewing television
Each child’s character flaws result in them giving in to ruinous temptations
Author 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”. Though Dahl is the sole credited screenwriter, David Seltzer made major uncredited rewrites to the script.
In 2003, Entertainment Weekly ranked this film 25th in the “Top 50 Cult Movies” of all time.
| Featuring |
Gene Wilder … Willy Wonka Jack Albertson … Grandpa Joe Peter Ostrum … Charlie Bucket Roy Kinnear … Mr. Salt Julie Dawn Cole … Veruca Salt Leonard Stone … Mr. Beauregarde Denise Nickerson … Violet Beauregarde Nora Denney (Dodo Denney) … Mrs. Teevee Paris Themmen … Mike Teevee See all » |
| Director |
Mel Stuart |
| Producer |
Wolper Pictures [England] Stan Margulies David L. Wolper |
| Distributor |
 Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company |
Top 10 reasons why “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” belongs on every Christian family’s must-see list:
It is based on Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book with timeless “message” that easily carries over to Bible stories.
Vintage 1970’s camera tricks. Recent films like “Austin Powers” and the tacky action-movie sequence in “Boogie Nights” parody it—this is the genuine article.
Numerous social themes, most prominently the need for parental discipline.
Good performance by Gene Wilder as Mr. Wonka himself, the eccentric candy man who loves kids (but not greedy kids).
An even better performance by Julia Dawn Cole as Veruca Salt, the spoiled rich girl who wants everything. Really fun to watch.
And the rest of the cast is still unknown, more than twenty-five years after its release.
The Oompa-Loompas, the funny little chocolate workers.
Terrible special effects. “Willy Wonka” gets your suspension of disbelief the old-fashioned way: It EARNS it. (That’s no mud bog, it’s a chocolate waterfall.)
One of the last “musicals” released by a Hollywood studio, “Willy Wonka” got an Oscar nomination for the music.
It’s a fun movie.
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
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