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8Films referenced in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
9Continuity errors
10See also
11References
12External links
Concept
According to those involved with the creation of the film, the main vision behind this film was for it to be a closely adapted and slightly modernized version of the original 1964 book by Roald Dahl, and not a remake of the original 1971 musical film version[citation needed].
It is a topic of some ongoing debate as to which film version is "more faithful" to the original book, as both introduce some key plot, setting, and character differences. For comparisons between the book and two films, please see the article differences between book and film versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Major characters
Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) is a poor boy who lives with his parents and four grandparents in a tiny, rickety shack in a large city. Charlie loves chocolate, especially Willy Wonka's chocolate, but his family can only afford to get him one bar a year, on his birthday. He does not complain about his life, and is a goodhearted boy.
Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp), the best and most magical, astounding chocolate maker in the world. He closed his factory, fired all of his workers, and replaced them with natives of Loompaland because of his fear of corporate spies working in the pay of other, less successful companies. He once made an entire palace of chocolate in India, which tragically melted in a couple of days. He sent out five Golden Tickets and allowed five children to visit the factory in order to find an heir after seeing a gray hair during his haircut. He is charming and intelligent (when he wants to be), but has truly stunted social skills that render him extremely bizarre to most people from the "outside world" due to his unhappy childhood and the long isolation from the world since the factory's closure. He is considerably more vain and silly than in his book version, as well as more involved in the elimination of the unworthy contestants.
Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry), a boy who is obsessed with television and video games. He got a Golden Ticket by hacking into the Wonka Computer Mainframe, and only had to buy one bar after finding its location. He does not like chocolate and he dresses like a typical mall rat. He has very little patience, due to playing so many video games, and a superiority complex over mostly everyone, except for his mom and dad.
Violet Beauregarde (AnnaSophia Robb) is a girl who is constantly chewing gum, and is very competitive, thanks to, in part, her competitive mother, Scarlett. Besides gum-chewing, she is also a practitioner of the martial arts. She took part in the Golden Ticket contest because her mother wanted her to win at everything.
Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), a spoiled, snobby rich girl from Great Britain who is given practically anything she wants from her parents. After insisting that her rich father find her a ticket, he turned his nut factory into a candy unwrapping plant until the ticket was found.
Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz), a gluttonous Germanovereater, found his ticket by accident (and accidentally bit one corner off) on an eating binge. He ate so much candy per day that it was almost impossible for him not to find a ticket.
The Oompa-Loompas (Deep Roy) are Wonka's little factory workers from Loompaland, an uncharted land. They had a horrible life in Loompaland until Willy Wonka arrived, who promised them an infinite supply of their favourite food, cacao beans, if they agreed to work in his factory.
The film begins in a chocolatefactory, where hundreds of chocolate bars are being made in an unusual process. Five chocolate bars rest on various conveyor belts, and a gloved hand is seen laying Golden Tickets on them. They are sent on their way, wrapped with the other chocolate bars, which are loaded into large trucks and shipped across the world.
Charlie Bucket lives in a small shack in the city with his parents and all four of his grandparents. Their only income comes from his father, who screws on caps at a toothpaste factory. Charlie shows his father his small model of Willy Wonka and his factory that he completed that day, made out of toothpaste tube caps.
Grandpa Joe tells Charlie about the time he worked for Wonka at the factory. He begins to recalls some of Wonka's wondrous creations, most notably his building an entire palace out of chocolate for Prince Pondicherry, who let it melt in the sun after ignoring Wonka's advice to eat it. When the prince requested a new one, Wonka could not build it for him because of his own problems concerning spies who had infiltrated the factory. It is because of these spies that Wonka closed his factory, supposedly permanently, and fired all his workers, including Grandpa Joe.
Golden Tickets
After dreaming about Wonka's chocolate all night, Charlie hears about the re-opening of the factory and a major contest to be held for a chance to see it firsthand. Willy Wonka has announced worldwide that five Golden Tickets have been placed in five Wonka Bars. The finder of each of these tickets will be given a full tour of the factory, along with two parents, and a lifetime's supply of chocolate. In addition to this, one of the five ticket-holders will be given a special prize at the end of the tour. Meanwhile, the increased sale of chocolate causes a rise in cavities, which in turn boosts the sale of toothpaste; with the increased profits, the toothpaste factory decides to modernize, and buys a new machine that eliminates Mr. Bucket's job.
Charlie's birthday soon arrives, and he opens his chocolate bar, only to be disappointed when he does not find a Golden Ticket. Later, his grandpa Grandpa Joe gives Charlie some money to buy another bar, but it also does not contain a ticket.
The next day, Charlie learns that the fifth Golden Ticket has been found. He then finds a ten-dollar bill in the snow and decides to buy a chocolate bar. While making his purchase, he hears that the fifth ticket found in Russia was a fraud and that the real one had still not yet been found. After hearing this news, Charlie unwraps his chocolate bar and coincidentally finds the real fifth golden ticket. Charlie wants to sell the ticket to make money for his family, but his Grandpa George convinces him to go on the tour by pointing out that there is plenty of money, but there will only ever be five Golden Tickets.
Factory tour
The next morning, Charlie and his Grandpa Joe arrive for the tour, and are greeted by an automated puppet show that breaks down and is destroyed by a shower of sparks. They then meet Willy Wonka, an eccentric candy man. During a tour of the factory, the first four ticket-winning children are one by one tempted by something relating to their personality flaw, causing a strange accident that eliminates the child and their worried accompanying parent from the tour. In every case, Mr. Wonka seems indifferent, and it is implied that he planned for the 'accidents' to occur.
The accidents with the tourists, in order of occurrence:
Augustus Gloop drinks from the chocolate river in the Chocolate Room against Mr. Wonka's warnings, falls in, and is sucked away by a pipe that leads to the Fudge Room.
Competitive gum chewer Violet Beauregarde chews an experimental piece of Three-Course Dinner Chewing Gum, but the defects of the blueberry pie within it turn her into a giant blueberry. She is then taken to the juicing room to be squeezed so she can compete (and not in a county fair) again.
Spoiled Veruca Salt tries to steal a squirrel in the Nut Room, where she is deemed a "bad nut" by the squirrels and thrown down the garbage chute. At the close of the Oompa-Loompas' song about her, her father is pushed down the chute by one of the squirrels as he peers down into it.
Mike Teavee, who is obsessed with violent television and video games, teleports himself over Mr. Wonka's TV waves, shrinking him down to miniature size, and is taken to the Taffy Pulling Room to be stretched back to normal.
Each accident is followed by a song of morality led by the Oompa-Loompas. By the end of the day, each of the children leave the factory, altered in some way by their wrongdoings: Augustus is covered in melted chocolate, Violet is completely blue all over and extremely flexible, Veruca and her father are covered in garbage, and Mike is at least ten feet tall and thin as paper.
Flashbacks
During the tour, Willy Wonka has flashbacks to his unhappy childhood. These give background on his defunct relationship with his dentist father, Dr. Wilbur Wonka, played by Christopher Lee. As a child, Wonka was denied chocolate and candies by his father because of the potential risk to his teeth. After finally sneaking in a piece of chocolate, he became obsessed with it, dreaming of becoming a chocolatier. Despite his father's wishes and threats, Wonka ran away from home to follow his dreams.
Ending
After Mike Teavee's departure, Willy Wonka notices that Charlie is the only remaining child. He reveals his desire to hand over the chocolate factory to Charlie, as he is the least rotten of the group. The only catch is that Charlie must abandon his family in order to accept the arrangement, because, in Mr. Wonka's opinion, family members only tell one what to do, and a chocolatier needs complete creative freedom. Charlie's family is the most important thing in his life, even more important than chocolate, and so he refuses the offer.
The viewer sees that Charlie's family is living contently a while later. Charlie's father gets a new job maintaining the machine that performs his old job. Later, Wonka encounters Charlie (who has a new job as a shoe-shine boy) and, in an attempt to understand Charlie's love of family, asks Charlie to join him in confronting his own father. The elder Wonka and son end up reconciling, and Wonka finally realizes the value of family. Charlie's house and family are relocated to the factory's Chocolate Room. In the end, Charlie has the chocolate factory and Wonka has a family.
Felicity Dahl chose which actors were considered, which made it to the final ten, and which made it to the final three. For consideration, she chose the actors she felt captured the magic of Roald Dahl's books through their acting; for the final three, she chose those who she felt also captured the books' humor, as well as the magic and humor of Spike Milligan (who Roald Dahl wanted to play Willy Wonka in the 1971 musical). She had an option to choose which of the final three got the part, but she felt it was the director's honour, privilege and (most of all) right to make that choice[citation needed].
Originally, Marilyn Manson had been considered for the role of Willy Wonka, but could not participate due to schedule conflicts.
Deep Roy played every Oompa-Loompa himself: each of several hundred Oompa-Loompas represents a separate performance by Roy. These were then put together digitally. However, for some shots (such as the boat ride), animatronic Oompa-Loompas were used and therefore they could be filmed along with the live actors.
The production team of Brad Grey and Richard D. Zanuck determined that director Tim Burton was the ideal choice for the film. Martin Scorsese and Frank Oz were both at one point attached to direct. After agreeing to direct, Burton hired Big FishscreenwriterJohn August; he had read the book as a child, but not seen the 1971 film. Burton recommended that August complete his first draft of the screenplay before viewing it.
The entire film was shot at Pinewood Studios, just outside of London, the same studios that most of the James Bond films were shot. Filming began on June 15, 2004. Burton preferred to avoid using computer-generated imagery, instead building actual full-size sets, created by production designer Alex McDowell.
Reception and criticism
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was released in the United States and Canada on July 15, 2005. In its opening weekend it earned US$55.4 million at the North American box office, and received mostly positive reviews, with an 83% rating[1] on Rotten Tomatoes, a website service that summarizes the nation's top print and online film critics. As of September 2005, the film has grossed $400 million in worldwide box office receipts. It was released on DVD on November 8, 2005. According to Rotten Tomatoes the 1971 Version has a higher rating by both critics and Rotten Tomato reviewers 2005 Adaptation and the 1971 Adaptation
Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka in the 1971 film, initially opposed this version, stating it "is all about money. It's just some people sitting around thinking 'How can we make some more money?' Why else would you remake Willy Wonka?" [2] Johnny Depp responded by saying "We didn't remake Willy Wonka, we remade Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's based on the same book they based theirs on. Making a statement that they only made this film because of the money is a really odd statement to make from a guy who has been in the business as long as he has ... all movies were made because somebody somewhere wanted a return on their dollar that they spent." [3] However, since the film's release, Wilder has supported Depp, stating "If I were going to cast the movie, I would cast Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka because I think he is wonderful. Mysterious—always—and magical."[4].
On its release, the film received generally favorable reviews. The average was 83% positive on Rotten Tomatoes[5], and earned a score of 73 from Metacritic[6].
A number of movie critics, including one from The New York Times, criticized Burton's Freudian backstory for Wonka as being both unnecessary and out of the spirit of Dahl's original novel. It should be noted, however, that Dahl's surviving family gave their wholehearted support to the film.[citation needed]
Some film reviews have noted the resemblance of Depp's performance to pop star Michael Jackson. Like Jackson, Depp's interpretation of Wonka had pale skin, spoke in a soft tone, had a childlike persona, and had a troubled childhood. Depp denied any resemblance to Jackson. Burton commented, "Here's the deal: Michael Jackson likes children, Willy Wonka can't stand them. To me, that's a big difference in the whole personality ya'know?"
Some critics have suggested that Depp is doing a Jim Carrey impersonation throughout the film, noting that many of his mannerisms as Wonka are similar to classic Carrey schtick.
Films referenced in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The shot when Wonka turns to the crowd during the ribbon-cutting for the Wonka Factory quotes the Depp/Burton film, "Edward Scissorhands"
One of the news trucks seen reporting at a house has a circle seven logo on it.
In his welcome speech, Willy Wonka says "Good morning, starshine. The earth says hello!", a song from the musical Hair.
The scene that takes place in the TV room and leads to the downfall of Mike Teavee contains a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film is shown on the TV and the famous rendition of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Strauss plays at the same time. The chocolate bar teleported onto the screen acts as the monolith in the film. Also while Charlie is looking at the chocolate bar, a faint Ligeti Requiem can be heard. The design of the room looks very similar to the interiors of spacecraft and space stations in the film as well.
In the TV room, the Oompa-Loompa was seen watching Oprah Winfrey, making her first cameo appearance in a Tim Burton movie, one of the modern-day enhancements of the story. Additionally, the song "Macarena" can briefly be heard on the TV.
In another TV Room scene, Mike Teavee can be seen falling into a shower that represents the one from the famous stabbing scene in the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho. Afterwards, an Oompa-Loompa is shown attempting to stab him with a knife.
The toothpaste in the factory in which Charlie's father works is named "Smylex", like the Joker's venom in another Tim Burton movie, "Batman".
In one of the earlier flashback scenes where Willy Wonka is remembering his father, an orthodontist, Dr. Wonka is burning candy while Willy is bound in a facial contraption (presumably used to keep his jaw straight) that is similar to the face mask that Hannibal Lecter wore in The Silence of the Lambs.
The character of Mike Teavee is no longer addicted to watching television as described in the original novel, but to playing games on his video game system - a notable cultural change.
In the dentist scene between grown-up Wonka and his father, the camera uses a shot from inside of Wonka's mouth, a shot similar to a scene in a dentist's office in the cult classic Little Shop of Horrors.
Continuity errors
The appearance of the Golden Ticket in each chocolate bar: At the beginning of the film, Wonka is seen placing the tickets on the underside (the smooth side) of the bar, but as the tickets are discovered, they are shown to be on the top of the bar (the squared side).
As the children are ready to go into the factory, there are policemen shown standing a metre or so away from the crowd in the aerial shot. But when the camera zooms in on Mr. and Mrs. Bucket, the policemen are shown to be standing right in front of the crowd, with no gap.
When Mike Teavee is smashing the pumpkin in Wonka's factory, he steps on it twice so that it just opens, but when the camera angle changes as his father comes to talk to him a few seconds later, the pumpkin is entirely smashed up.
When Mike Teavee has been sent by television: Wonka is pointing to the screen when the camera is showing outside the screen, but a split second later, when the camera is showing inside the screen, both of Wonka's hands are leaning on his cane.
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