Gene Therapy

at

Oompah.

And, furthermore, loompah.

Andy Pipkin writes:

I don’t know if you or your readers are interested but today marks the 50th (yes 50th!!!) anniversary of the release of the amazing movie Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971).

One of my favourite movies ever, Gene Wilder was born to play the role [of Wonka], considering it was 50 years ago the ‘special effects’ were way ahead of their time as in this clip above!

Original cast of ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’ celebrates 50th anniversary of classic film (ABC7)

Alternatively…

‘…the film honors Wonka’s antisocial, child-unfriendly coolness, to the point of leaving the fates of most of its young characters unresolved. (The book’s coda, detailing the kids’ survival, is excised from a rushed finale.) Yet it cushions him in starry-eyed romanticism, too, from the first bars of its signature song Candy Man, which posits Wonka as joy-spreading visionary who wants only to make the world taste good. Is he an idealist of pure imagination, or a canny commercial opportunist and coloniser of cultures? The film defused the NAACP-stoked controversy over the book’s racialised depiction of Wonka’s Oompa-Loompa workforce by making them orange-faced alien beings, but the sour taste remains.’

Jayz.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at 50: a clunky film that Roald Dahl rightfully hated (Guy Lodge, The Guardian)

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Related posts:

The Cast Of Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory: Now And Then You Get NOTHING! So Shines A Good Deed In A Weary World… Gene Wilder: Dead At 83

30 thoughts on “Gene Therapy”

  1. Bertie blenkinsop

    One of my favourites too Andy (The Producers is my favourite, not that you asked). The movie gets a bit of a kicking in The Guardian this morning…. The contrarians!

      1. Shitferbrains

        The quote at the end of the article isn’t from Dahl. It’s Hilaire Belloc quoted by Wonka.

    2. U N M U T U A L

      If you haven’t seen it… Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx.
      Set in Dublin and co-starring Margot Kidder.
      It’s great for playing the aul who’s that, where’s that game…
      Wilder wrestling with the oirish accent also adds to the enjoyment. ;-)

      2. Bertie blenkinsop

        My barber has a great photo in the shop of Gene Wilder standing outside The Gravediggers

          1. Redundant Proofreaders Society

            Taken after he foolishly gave away his factory to Grandpa ‘fizzy lifting drink-thieving’ Joe and clan.

        2. U N M U T U A L

          A quick pit stop at the diggers to sample the aforementioned Fizzy Lifting Drinks.

    3. alickdouglas

      Watched it recently and really enjoyed it, I cannot really understand Dahl’s dislike of it. I thought if anything it was a neater story than the one told in the book. I think some of Dahl’s books haven’t really aged that well whereas this film still looks and sounds good to me.

      2. scottser

        I watched it religiously as a kid, it used to be on every Christmas. Ive since watched it with the kids who love getting freaked out by the oompa loompas.

      3. millie bobby brownie

        It’s a firm favourite in our house too. I truly don’t think there’s anyone better equipped than Wilder to deliver Willy Wonka, and without him the particular magic that makes this movie so great would probably be lost.

        I’d pay good money for a George’s Marvellous Medicine movie too. Loved that book as a kid – particularly the vile and hilariously mental grandmother who inspires George in the first place.

  5. H

    We have a rule in our house – if this film (or the Tim Burton version) is on the telly, then we have to watch it! The same rule goes for Stardust….

    1. U N M U T U A L

      Question is, what happens if both wonka movies are on?
      .
      .
      .
      .

      Don’t know about you, but I can’t decide if I prefer type 1 or type 2? ;-)

      1. Andy Pipkin

        It’s the original and the best, no questions asked, the second one with Depp was worse than Grease 2 , and that was poo on a stick!!

        And if you don’t agree, you get nothing!!

        https://youtu.be/fpK36FZmTFY

        Nobody does shouting like Gene!!

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