Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Year: 2005
Running time: 110 minutes
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is my favourite childhood book, partly because it was my first taste of the magical world of Roald Dahl and partly because of the fantastic sweet treats inside Mr Wonka's factory that had my imagination running wild. It was a story that developed my passion for reading and stimulated my creativity. The second film adaptation of this classic story, this one directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp, certainly lived up to my expectations.
The main character, Charlie Bucket, is a humble boy from a poor family, who barely have enough to eat save for cabbage soup (mmm tasty!). Charlie, his parents and his grandparents live in a small house that is literally falling apart. Meanwhile, just down the road is Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, the largest in history. The genius chocolatier announces a world-wide competition for five children to visit his factory if they find one of the golden tickets hidden in random Wonka chocolate bars. Charlie dreams of finding a golden ticket but because of his family's dire circumstances, he only receives one chocolate bar each year - on his birthday. This birthday bar does not contain the highly sought-after golden ticket, however.
In the meantime, four awful children find golden tickets:
⦁ Augustus Gloop from Dusseldorf, Germany - a "porker" of a boy who has a chocolate
addiction.
⦁ Veruca Salt from Buckinghamshire, England - a spoilt rich girl whose daddy gives her
everything that she demands.
⦁ Violet Beauregarde from Atlanta, Georgia - a competitive brat who loves chewing gum.
⦁ Mike Teavee from Denver, Colorado - a know-it-all TV addict who hates chocolate.
Fate steps in as Charlie finds a ten Pound note in the snow and uses it to purchase a Wonka chocolate bar - one containing the last ticket. I'll never forget sharing Charlie's excitement, as a ten-year-old hearing the story as it was read to the class, and eagerly awaiting his entrance into the factory.
The five winners, and one family member to accompany each child, enter the gates of the factory and meet Willy Wonka, the eccentric chocolatier with a terrible bob and a freaky voice reminiscent of Michael Jackson's, wearing his signature velvet coat and top hat. Depp does an excellent job of capturing Willy Wonka's idiosyncrasies, perhaps turning up the creepy levels too much at times, and his not-so-subtle disdain for the annoying children is such fun to watch.
The adventure of a lifetime begins as the children encounter all kinds of wonders and mysteries inside the factory, including a chocolate waterfall and river, marshmallow trees with peppermint bark, sugary minty grass and, of course, the Oompa Loompas who appear to have been inspired by Britney's latex ensemble from Oops I did it again.
One by one, the obnoxious children eliminate themselves from the tour: Augustus' greed causes him to fall into the chocolate river and he is subsequently sucked up by a giant pipe. Violet's stubbornness turns her into a giant blueberry when she chews a piece of experimental gum. Veruca's petulant demands for a squirrel from the nut sorting room cause her to be attacked by the creatures and thrown down a garbage shoot along with the other "bad nuts". Finally, Mike's arrogance leads him to be shrunk and teleported into a television.
And Charlie's fate? Well, as the last child standing, and one who has shown the factory (and Mr Wonka) the respect and awe it deserves, Charlie gets the entire chocolate factory but not before ensuring that his whole family get to live in it as well.
Like any Roald Dahl story, there are valuable lessons to be learned: Nothing is impossible, success comes from thinking outside the box, no good comes of indulging a child's every whim and family is worth more than all the chocolate in the world.
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