There is something magical about the original Willy Wonka. The fantasy of it all takes you to another place and captivates your wildest imagination.
I have seen both films and although Johnny Depp does an excellent job, the film is dark and creepy and possibly somewhat frightening for children. There is something about the old fashion assembly line with balloons wafting each chocolate bar verses the more conventional manufacturing machinery spitting out the chocolate in Burton's version. But an excellent film nevertheless. Let's not forget all the wonderful music the original version had that is still being listened to today. But then the original was a magical musical with so much mystery!
For me, I continue to enjoy the endless inventive and creative original version and the visual effects of all the scenes that makes this writer wish she were there with the Oompa Loompas. Where would you ever find eatable marshmallow pillows; lickable wallpaper for nurseries; hot ice cream on a cold day; a cow that gave chocolate milk; and lets not forget about those fizzy lifting drinks. The imagination just takes you away into a fantasy to another world.
As quoted from Grandpa Joe: "Mr Willy Wonka can make marshmallows that taste of violets, and rich caramels that change colour every ten seconds as you suck them, and little feathery sweets that melt away deliciously the moment you put them between your lips. He can make chewing-gum that never loses its taste, and sugar balloons that you can blow up to enormous sizes before you pop them with a pin and gobble them up. And, by a most secret method, he can make lovely blue birds' eggs with black spots on them, and when you put one of these in your mouth, it gradually gets smaller and smaller until suddenly there is nothing left except a tiny little DARKRED sugary baby bird sitting on the tip of your tongue." It makes me want to go there and experience all this magic and mystery. The factory was a fantasy world full of Oompa Loompa elves and crazy schemes of colors with wild inventions and secret rooms of fun filled surprises. But who knew that each child would be judged on their kindness, good heartedness and honesty? This was the true test that old Willy was looking for. Okay so he allowed them to be bad and allowed them to punish themselves by seeking beyond the forbidden fruit. How else would he be able to select the right child for his hidden agenda?
The story gives hope to a poor and innocent boy who never gave up on the Golden Ticket. Grandpa George said in the original and I quote: "The kids who are going to find the Golden Tickets are the ones who can afford to buy bars of chocolate every day. Our Charlie gets only one a year. There isn't a hope." But Charlie didn't give up his dream of finding the golden ticket. It wasn't about whether Charlie could afford it or not - he didn't give up.
Such determination in a young good natured boy. What are the chances of being poor and winning one of those 5 tickets spread out around the world? It is true that Willy Wonka was eccentric and sometimes mean spirited, but there is an ending to this story that has meaning. Okay so Charlie and Grandpa Joe went against the rules when they sipped the fizzy lifting drink, so what....it was the Gobbstopper that proved Charlie was honest and unselfish. The Gobbstopper was about money and Charlie and his family were poor and that money would have meant everything to them. It was Charlie's honesty that made him return the candy back to Willy Wonka not wanting any more to do with it or Willy Wonka.
The reward? Quoted by Willy Wonka himself:
"Listen, I'm an old man. I'm much older than you think. I can't go on for ever. I've got no children of my own, no family at all. So who is going to run the factory when I get too old to do it myself? Someone's got to keep it going - if only for the sake of the Oompa-Loompas. Mind you, there are thousands of clever men who would give anything for the chance to come in and take over from me, but I don't want that sort of person. I don't want a grown-up person at all. A grown-up won't listen to me; he won't learn. He will try to do things his own way and not mine. So I have to have a child. I want a good sensible loving child, one to whom I can tell all my most precious sweet-making secrets - while I am still alive."
The moral? Charlie and his whole family moved into the factory. To add a little humor, all four Grandparents would now have their own bedrooms with their own beds and not have to share the one bed. Charlie's mother would no longer have to wash everyones laundry by hand. They had plenty of food, lots of chocolate and would never be hungry again. Let's not forget they had the Oompa Loompas to take care of them all.
They lived happily ever after.