Willy Wonka

• 1. Introduction

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  Five Golden Tickets lie hidden inside chocolate bars, and finding one means a tour of a candy factory. Willy Wonka, the man behind the contest, is a fictional character created by British author Roald Dahl for his 1964 children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He is the eccentric founder and owner of the Wonka Chocolate Factory. What does he actually want from the children who win? Why do some versions of him charm audiences while others unsettle them? And how did a candy maker from a children's book become a role that actors keep reinventing for the screen, the stage and the shop shelf? The answers begin with what the tour is really for.

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• 2. The Hidden Test

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  Four of the five children who tour the factory in Dahl's novel are eliminated along the way, leaving Charlie Bucket as the winner. The children do not realize that the tour doubles as a competition to test their moral character. Each of them brings one adult of their choice, and the advertised prize is a lifetime supply of chocolate. When Charlie wins, Wonka reveals that the real prize is the factory itself. He needs someone to take it over when he retires, and to look after the Oompa-Loompas who work there.

  Dahl introduces Wonka as a "little man" with a goatee. He wears a purple coat, green trousers and a top hat. He bounces with energy and darts about as quickly as a squirrel. Yet he tells Charlie that he is "much older than you think."

  In the 1972 sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Wonka climbs aboard the elevator with Charlie and his family. They link up with the Space Hotel USA, which then tracks the elevator back down to the factory. Afterward Wonka travels with Charlie's family to the White House in the United States. That glass elevator would later rise again, on screen and on stage.

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• 3. Wilder's Wonka

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  In the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Gene Wilder's Wonka answers each bad child's flaw with a matching temptation. The ticket finders get a full tour of a tightly guarded factory and a lifetime supply of chocolate. One child after another gives in and disappears from the tour, until only Charlie remains. Yet Charlie and Grandpa Joe have slipped too. They sampled Fizzy Lifting Drinks, Wonka's experimental beverages that let a drinker float for a short time. The drinks were still too strong, and the pair came close to death before burping saved them.

  Then the mood turns. Wonka abruptly dismisses Charlie and Grandpa Joe and vanishes into his office without a word about the promised chocolate. The pair follow him in to demand an answer. Wonka points to the forfeiture clause in the contract that every ticket holder signed at the start. Drinking the Fizzy Lifting Drinks, he says, amounted to theft, so Charlie gets nothing. He sends them off with a furious "Good day, sir!" When Grandpa Joe berates him for crushing his grandson's hopes, Wonka angrily dismisses him again.

  Grandpa Joe then vows revenge by selling the Everlasting Gobstopper to Slugworth, Wonka's main rival. Charlie goes the other way. Honestly acknowledging his own wrongdoing, he puts the Gobstopper back on Wonka's desk and turns to leave. Seeing that Charlie did not choose revenge, Wonka recognizes an honest character in him. He lets the drink incident pass, tells Charlie he passed the test, and restores the prize. He also reveals that Slugworth, who had been spying on the children, was really his own employee, Mr. Wilkinson, in disguise.

  The trio then step into the Great Glass Elevator, which rises high into the sky. There Wonka reveals that the grand prize is the entire factory and business, which Charlie will receive when Wonka retires. Charlie's whole family will move in meanwhile. Wonka leaves Charlie with a reminder about the man who got everything he ever wanted: "He lived happily ever after."

  Time Out Film Guide called the result "Great fun, with Wilder for once giving an impeccably controlled performance as the factory's bizarre candy owner." Critic Jeffrey M. Anderson noted that a child sees magic in Wonka, but an adult rewatching finds "a frightening combination of warmth, psychosis, and sadism." Kevin Carr praised the mixture of childlike wonder and "bitter, deserved vengeance." Widgett Walls called it "Probably Gene Wilder's finest, most manic hour." Wilder earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, but lost to Chaim Topol as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.

  Wilder himself counted Wonka among his signature roles. His next of kin said he kept his Alzheimer's diagnosis private on purpose. So many young children recognized him on the street as Wonka, and he wanted those encounters to stay joyful.

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• 4. The Dentist's Son

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  In the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wonka has kept his factory closed for many years. Industrial espionage drove him to lay off every employee, Charlie's Grandpa Joe among them. Then he announces a contest, with Golden Tickets hidden under the wrappers of Wonka Bars across the world. Charlie is the last to find one. At the gates, Grandpa Joe introduces himself to Wonka as a former employee, and Wonka stays suspicious of him.

  One by one, every child except Charlie succumbs to a temptation and leaves the tour. Wonka then offers Charlie a chance to live and work in the factory. He explains that he is getting old, and that the contest was a search for a successor. There is a condition. Charlie must leave his family behind forever, because Wonka sees family as a hindrance to a chocolatier's creative freedom.

  The source of that belief is Wilbur Wonka, his father, a prominent dentist. Wilbur forbade his son to eat any candy and made him wear a large, uncomfortable set of braces. One day young Willy, played in his youth by Blair Dunlop, secretly sampled some candy and was instantly enthralled. He ran away from home and travelled to Switzerland and Bavaria to learn the trade. When he came back, he found that Wilbur had moved the entire house to an undisclosed location.

  Charlie refuses to part with his family. His refusal sends Wonka into a deep depression that drains his creativity and hurts his business. With Charlie's help, Wonka tracks down Wilbur. As Wilbur checks his teeth, he recognizes his son, and Charlie sees that the old dentist has saved every news clipping about Wonka's success. The two reconcile, and Wonka invites the entire Bucket family to live in the factory. How such a dark portrait ended up on screen was a matter of argument between the director and the studio.

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• 5. Burton's Choices

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  Nicolas Cage was once in discussions to play Willy Wonka in the 2005 film, but he lost interest. Warner Bros. president Alan F. Horn then wanted Tom Shadyac to direct Jim Carrey in the part. Horn believed the pair could make the story relevant to mainstream audiences. Roald Dahl's widow, Liccy Dahl, opposed the idea.

  Tim Burton was hired as director in May 2003, and he thought of Johnny Depp immediately. Depp joined that August, for his fourth collaboration with Burton. He was the only actor Burton had considered. Depp signed on without reading the script, intending to take a completely different approach from Gene Wilder. "Regardless of what one thinks of that film," Depp explained, "Gene Wilder's persona, his character, stands out."

  On The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Depp said he based the character on how he imagined an "incredibly stoned" George W. Bush would act. Wonka's childish manner also drew comparisons to Michael Jackson. Burton joked about the difference: "Michael Jackson likes children, Willy Wonka can't stand them." Depp said the comparison never occurred to him and pointed instead to Howard Hughes: "Reclusive, germaphobe, controlling." Burton agreed, and added Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane: "Somebody who was brilliant but then was traumatized and then retreats into their own world." Depp also wanted prosthetic makeup and a long, elongated nose, but Burton thought that would be too outrageous.

  The studio and Burton clashed over the character. Warner Bros. wanted Wonka to be the idyllic father figure Charlie had longed for. Burton saw a recluse who would make a poor father. "In some ways," he protested, "he's more screwed up than the kids." To explain that damage, Burton and screenwriter John August created Wilbur Wonka. "You want a little bit of the flavor of why Wonka is the way he is," Burton reasoned. "Otherwise, what is he? He's just a weird guy."

  Depp's performance polarized critics and audiences. Roger Ebert wrote, "Depp, an actor of considerable gifts, has never been afraid to take a chance, but this time he takes the wrong one." Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post felt Depp was "straining so hard for weirdness." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly placed him among Burton's classic crackpot conjurers, like Beetlejuice or Ed Wood. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that Depp's "deliciously demented take on Willy Wonka demands to be seen." Depp received a Golden Globe nomination, but lost to Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line.

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• 6. Chocolate Origins

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  In the 2023 film Wonka, Timothée Chalamet plays the chocolatier in a standalone origin story about his early days. This version adds a more troubled upbringing. Wonka's mother, who made chocolate bars, has died. The young man travels to Europe to open his own chocolate shop.

  By the end, he has exposed the crimes of the local Chocolate Cartel. Then he opens the last bar his mother left him. Inside is a golden paper with a message: chocolate is best shared with others. He and Lofty, an Oompa Loompa, go on to acquire an abandoned castle and begin building a new factory.

  Chalamet's take drew mixed reviews. Courtney Howard of The A.V. Club found that his performance "has its own unique sway and ease." Kristy Puchko of Mashable called him "marvelous." Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles Times said he "gives himself over fully to the wonderment and vocal demands of the role." David Fear of Rolling Stone disagreed and wrote, "He's not bad, just blank." Alison Willmore of Vulture found him hesitant. Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post called the performance "one-dimensional."

  Chalamet received a Golden Globe nomination for the role, but lost to Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers. The same year, author Sibéal Pounder wrote a novelization of the screenplay, telling the origin story in prose.

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• 7. Footlights and Cartoons

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  On the 25th of June 2013, a stage adaptation of the novel opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London's West End. Douglas Hodge originated the role of Willy Wonka. The play opens with Charlie on a large trash pile, searching for items that are "almost nearly perfect." The Golden Ticket winners appear on an oversized television, with actors inside it. Wonka tempts each child with a weakness until only Charlie is left. The two board the Great Glass Elevator, which takes off over the audience.

  A reworked musical premiered on Broadway in 2017, with added songs from the 1971 film. Christian Borle played Wonka. The production received mixed to negative reviews, but Borle's performance was praised. A U.S. tour began in 2018 with Noah Weisberg as Wonka, and the musical reached Australia in 2019.

  In 2017, a direct-to-DVD animated film put Tom and Jerry inside the 1971 story. Its plot largely follows that film, and J. P. Karliak voices Wonka. Tom and Jerry have been adopted by Charlie, and they sneak into the factory to stop who they think is Slugworth. Wonka finds fur left behind by Tom and grows suspicious that a guest has smuggled in a cat. When he accuses Charlie, it turns out to be part of a test, because Wonka had meant Charlie to inherit the factory from the start.

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• 8. The Candy Counter

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  In 1988, Nestlé acquired the company that sold Wonka-branded sweets. The Willy Wonka Candy Company used the character as its mascot, and its products were marketed by Nestlé Candy Shop. Real-life versions of the Everlasting Gobstopper and the Wonka Bar went on sale, alongside other candies with no direct link to the book or the film.

  The brand began as a tie-in with the 1971 film, originally under Quaker Oats. A series of sales eventually carried it to Nestlé. The Wonka brand was discontinued in 2015. Its products were later sold to Ferrero, which makes them under the Ferrara brand.

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