Roald Dahl first wrote his renowned book, Charlie and Chocolate Factory in 1964. The book had a sequel, Charlie and the Glass Elevator in 1972, just a year after the first movie came out. There have been three major movies that have been based on Dahl’s book: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) featuring the late Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, then there’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) with Johnny Depp playing Wonka, and most recently Wonka (2023) with Timothée Chalamet as the chocolatier. Although the book has had more adaptations, like a broadway spin on the story in 2017 and even a movie with Tom and Jerry that same year.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory is what started off the cinematic representations of Dahl’s book and many people enjoyed this movie throughout the decades, it’s a staple of media and entertainment. The movie was mainly made in the idea of selling products. The production of the movie was funded by Quaker Oats in the intentions of selling candy bars called Wonka Bars along with other candies. However, the film was not a big success initially, it took it a while for it too pick up steam, but eventually the movie earned $4 million worldwide on a budget of $3 million. Due to the delay in its success and a problem with the Wonka bar’s formula, the bars didn’t sell well and eventually was cancelled. Even though the movie was widely liked by viewers, the author himself did not like the movie and had a list of complaints. He didn’t like how they changed the title of the movie, to promote the candy, and said it put too much emphasis on Willy Wonka and not on Charlie. Dahl also didn’t like the casting choice of Gene Wilder, he didn’t like how he played the character and would’ve preferred comedian Spike Milligan to play Wonka. The music they used for the film, the exceeded attention towards Wonka and and not enough toward Charlie and the way they portrayed charlie in the movie were additional complaints he had about the film.
2005 saw the release of Tim Burton’s view of the story. The movie had a much more accurate representation of the book. The movie stayed true to the feel that Dahl was trying to convey. Although they, did cut and add in various parts of the movie like the backstory to Willy Wonka. Interestingly, even though this movie was closer to Dahl’s book, Gene Wilder did not like the movie and actuall took offense to it.
“It’s just some people sitting around thinking, ‘How can we make some more money?’ Why else would you remake Willy Wonka? I don’t see the point of going back and doing it all over again,” Wilder said. “I like Johnny Depp and I appreciate that he has said on the record that my shoes would be hard to fill. But I don’t know how it will all turn out.
After the movie’s release, he now put the blame on Tim Burton. He exclaimed that the movie was an insult and although liking Depp as an actor, he didn’t like the way Burton directed the movie.
“It’s probably Warner Brothers’ insult, I think. I like Warner Bros for other reasons, but to do that with Johnny Depp, who I think is a good actor and I like him,” Wilder said. “But I don’t care for that director and he’s a talented man, but I don’t care for him for doing stuff like he did.”
Despite Wilder’s harsh criticism of the film, it was a box office hit. Charlie and the Chocolate factory ended up grossing $475 million, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film worldwide in 2005.
However the latest movie has topped them both and is now the highest grossing Wonka movie to date. Wonka, released December 15, 2023 under the director Paul King, who’s most notable for directing the Pattington movies. The movie has been released for a little over a month now, and has collected an astonishing $534.3 million, with a budget of $125 million. The world of Wonka seems to tie in with the first movie, acting as a prequel, however the movie does not connect to any other movie and is in fact a stand alone film. The movie is an original story, based on both the Gene wilder’s version and the book, serving as sort of a spiritual successor.
“I grew up with the book and that is very near and dear to my heart,” King says. “But because I am the age I am, the Gene Wilder movie was the movie that was on TV, so I think in my childhood imagination, I sort of merged the two and that just felt like who Willy Wonka was.”
The movie may seem like another unneeded remake or cash grab, but it actually has a lot to offer. After seeing it in theaters, it was really entertaining to see his character develop and get through the many struggles and betrayals he faces on his rise to fame. Timothy played the role perfect for the character, and along with the musical and dancing aspects the movie’s threaded with, the movie really separates itself from its predecessors. The movie may just look like a kids movie but it’s one anyone could get into, heck even my friend’s grandma loved it.
Wonka is currently still in theaters and starting on January 30th, you’ll be able to watch Wonka from home.
