Dec. 15, 2023 marked the day that a third film adapting Roald Dahl’s novel, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” was bestowed upon the world. Fans of the original film adaptation, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” from 1971, have been anticipating the release of “Wonka” since the project’s announcement back in 2021. Dedicated fans of heartthrob Timothée Chalamet were also excited when his role as the titular chocolate maker was revealed in May. Besides a single leaked photo of Chalamet on the film’s set, fans didn’t know what to think about the prequel for some time. So, when the first official trailer was released this past fall, the internet responded almost immediately. Whether imitating Chalamet’s overly exaggerated performance on TikTok or comparing his costume to The Great Gonzo’s in “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” social media has had its fair share of berating Hollywood’s next prequel, lowering audience’s expectations even further. However, movie trailers don’t always succeed in showing its project’s full potential. Was Chalamet truly miscast? Is the prequel drained of any originality and a waste of time for viewers? To quote the Oompa-Loompas, “If you are wise, you’ll listen to me,” as The Blue and Gold dives into the worthiness of Willy Wonka’s backstory.

Synopsis: 🍬
Avoiding any major spoilers, the film centers around a young Willy Wonka seeking a fresh start to begin his career as a chocolatier. When he finds he’s been held hostage by a malicious landlady and becomes the enemy of the town’s competing chocolate makers, a young girl and a group of fellow underdogs assist Willy on his road to scrumdiddlyumptious success.

Notable choices: 🍫
The film opens with Willy aboard a ship that’s sailing into the port of a European village. As soon as he appears on screen, the film throws the audience head-first into an opening musical number. Typically, films in the “movie musical” genre manage to evenly balance song-and-dance with traditional filmography in order to keep the audience’s belief suspended. In contrast, the musical bits in “Wonka” are anything but typical. Due to the actors’ extravagant blocking and choreography, no performer seems to know they’re inside a film rather than on a stage. The direction of the film can be best described as if the over-the-top characters and situations from the Broadway musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” were combined with the staging and self-aware corniness of “The Muppets” film from 2011.
Furthermore, the best way to describe Willy Wonka’s character is a young man with a heart as big as his hope. He arrives in Europe with twelve coins in his pocket, which he plans to use to jumpstart his new life. However, as he moves about town, he ends up giving most of them away to others in need and accidentally drops his last into a storm drain. The viewer immediately sees not only how much Willy is driven by his dreams, but also his deep care for those whom he feels are worse off. These traits can cause him to be absentminded and even naive at times, especially since he apparently lacks formal education.
Nonetheless, in a scene where Willy plans on earning his place amongst the other chocolatiers, he realizes that his giraffe-themed macaroon recipe calls for the milk of an actual giraffe. Noodle, the girl he’s recently befriended, tags along with him to the city zoo. The landlady who has been holding Willy hostage, Mrs. Scrubitt, gave her the name “Noodle” upon becoming her caretaker. Willy and Noodle discuss her crude nickname at one point, prompting Noodle to rhetorically ask him what words would even rhyme with such an odd name. In the following song, “For A Moment,” Noodle reflects on how much joy Willy brings into her life compared to the bitterness she’s used to, while Willy takes the time to tell her all the words he can think of that rhyme with “Noodle.” As ridiculous as his effort is, Willy is showing how much he cares about her by proving the worth of her name, which is a sweet way to set their new friendship in stone.
This scene also manages to incite an ongoing motif found throughout the rest of the film. Willy and Noodle first walk past the flamingo exhibit when arriving at the zoo, whose enclosure has no efficient boundaries that would keep them trapped. Noodle asks why the flamingos haven’t yet left their captivity, to which Willy responds along the lines of, “Maybe they just don’t know they can.” Thereafter, as Willy becomes closer to reaching his goal and Noodle becomes closer to gaining her freedom from Mrs. Scrubitt, the very same flamingos begin to migrate. Their abandonment of the zoo and searching for a new home symbolizes the new, hopeful beginning in store for the two characters.

What sets “Wonka” apart: 🍭

What makes “Wonka” a refreshing break from typical modern prequels is how it maintains a healthy balance between connecting to the original 1971 film and existing as its own piece. Instead of heartlessly wearing out the material that audiences are already greatly familiar with, the film efficiently expands on notable characters and the “Wonka-verse” as a whole. Not only do the references fail to excessively spoof its source material, but they also don’t stretch too far away from the referenced subject. For instance, in order to convince Noodle to help him escape Mrs. Scrubitt’s boardinghouse, Willy offers her a lifetime supply of chocolate as a reward. Since Willy Wonka would later propose this promise to the five Golden Ticket contestants in his lifetime, the idea that Noodle would earn the same reward for her genuine goodness and determination makes perfect sense.

Roald Dahl references: 📚

The film also manages to allude to numerous story details that can be found in Roald Dahl’s other children’s books. Dahl often wrote about intelligent children who were oppressed by a malicious caretaker, and Noodle is no exception to this trope. To be more specific, Noodle’s character is most likely a direct reference to James Henry Trotter from “James and the Giant Peach.” Just like Noodle, a very young, orphaned James falls into the custody of two horrible people who treat him as a personal servant. Both James and Noodle, who are only addressed as a degrading nickname, are threatened to be locked up as punishment for misbehaving and hold high expectations for what their lives should look like once they’re free from their imprisonment. Additionally, the three chocolate makers who square up against Willy—Slugworth, Fickelgrube and Prodnose from the original book—are a part of a mysterious “Chocolate Cartel.” The crooked chocolatiers share a common enemy in Willy Wonka and go out of their way to ruin his formidable career. This dynamic mirrors that of the three farmers in Dahl’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Boggis, Bunce and Bean, who altogether will stop at nothing to prevent Mr. Fox from stealing from them. Even the lyricism in a handful of the film’s songs sounds similar to the songs Dahl would write for his characters to sing in his books. Musical numbers like “You’ve Never Had Chocolate Like This (Hoverchocs)” feature genuinely creative word choice and rhyming that help showcase Dahl’s impact on the story.

Character choices: 🎩

“Wonka” consisted of both original and familiar characters, which either produced interesting story dynamics or skepticism among fans of the 1971 film. Willy met his loyal friends in the launderette of Scrubitt’s boardinghouse when he was doomed to join their endless servitude. Besides Noodle, all of Scrubitt’s hostages are adults who have good hearts and strong ambitions like Willy. “Grown-up” major characters who aren’t malevolent are very rare in any Dahl-inspired media, so their presence in this prequel is a refreshing take. This new dynamic, however, manages to accidentally contradict one of Wonka’s key decisions he makes in the “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” story, which won’t be spoiled here.

Furthermore, fans were afraid that Timothée Chalamet might have been miscast as the lead based on his subpar performance in the official trailer, an idea that can be examined from a few different angles. Up front, it’s difficult to believe that Chalamet, with his hazel eyes and brown hair, would one day look like the blue-eyed ginger Gene Wilder portrays in this specific version of Wonka. Even so, sometimes the ones to blame for an actor’s poor performance are the writers, since they lay down the foundation on which the actor must build their character. Chalamet told “Vanity Fair” that Willy was his most physically challenging role yet, but he also expressed genuine reverence for Wilder’s performance. Chalamet blatantly shows audiences that he understands the character he’s channeling throughout “Wonka,” and is prepared for the part, even if his flexibility with the character is limited.

Another unexpected choice was Hugh Grant’s casting as an Oompa-Loompa. Although he’s been reported several times for loathing his involvement in the project, his performance was far from out of the ordinary. His character, an Oompa-Loompa called Lofty, was down-to-earth rather than over the top. Whether he was describing his life in Loompaland or dancing to the nondiegetic “Oompa Loompa” song, Lofty showed the audience that his nonsensical world was his reality instead of parodying the story.

Overall: 💫

“Wonka” is far from a waste of time. Despite fan speculation, the prequel succeeded in expanding not only Willy Wonka’s character, but the original “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” universe as a whole. As Hollywood continues to release new films this year, keep an eye out for Blue and Gold’s next movie review.