One of my favorite movies as a kid was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It showed up annually on nework tv. As with The Wizard of Oz, it was 'must see television' (now, it's on cable somewhere all the time). The musical format made it just that more memorable. Who could forget the "Oompa Loompa" number? The 'edible' candy filled set of the factory just had an incredible appeal to kids.
A large part of the movie's appeal is its seventies feel. That part of its charm, especially the seventies brat kids.
This is one movie I feel there was no need to remake. It's a classic. With Tim Burton directing the remake, I wonder if it will be too dark to be all around family entertainment. Burton remade another classic with mixed results. The new "Planet of the Apes" might have had better make-up and effects, but it couldn't compare to the 1968 original. Mark Wahlberg was bland and unmemorable. Heston's hammy style was great and made the original unforgettable. I think the same thing might happen with the new Willy Wonka. Will Johnny Depp underplay it, or overdo it to the point of parody?
"Get your hands off my chocolate, you D@mned Dirty Oompah-Loompah!"
You have to realize that Tim Burton's film is not a remake. it's an adaptation of the book. The book was also originally much darker, so I think Burton is a great choice. Johnny Depp will probably do a good job, but I really wanted Christopher Walken to get it. Man, that would have been great!
Actually don't have any thoughts on this verison. Hmm, strange.
Oh gads.
Willy Walken?
Actually, that would be really cool.
A lot of people just don't want to see another 'updated' classic such as The Cat in the Hat.
"Wonka" already had a bit of a mean spirit in it. Most of the kids turn out to be snobs or greedy brats who 'deserve' their punishment.
Some of the elements seemed a bit confusing. Didn't the Grandfather's home look more like a home out of the 19th century? It was set in the '70s after all.
"Wonka" already had a bit of a mean spirit in it. Most of the kids turn out to be snobs or greedy brats who 'deserve' their punishment.
Not mean, only just. That's partly what makes Roald Dahl such a popular children's author - his sense of justice is a child's, uncomplicated and un-nuanced.
The bad guys are bad and then get what they deserve; the good guys are good (and often very smart and capable, cf. Matilda) and are showered with rewards. Even kids realise it's a fantasy, but when you're still young enough not to have heard of OJ it's an immensely satisfying one.
With Tim Burton directing the remake, I wonder if it will be too dark to be all around family entertainment.
Nope, Burton's perfect for the job. Dahl wasn't interested in 'family entertainment', in fact I rather suspect he'd have scorned the very idea (again, see the nasty TV-obsessed Wormwoods in Matilda)...but his stories are, in their odd way, also completely innocent. The director of Nightmare Before Christmas will understand that, I think.
MY question is: Why don't they leave well enough alone?
What, in a cosmic sense, or...?
I have some reservations about Burton's work. Some has a dark but fun tone (Beetleguise) and some is dark and unfunny (Mars Attacks, Batman Returns). As with Mars Attacks, I don't like films in which death is depicted as humorous. It never is. To me, such an attitude is mean-spirited. I just don't want to see an update in which the kids are treated in a sadistic manner. I would prefer a more 'family style approach' to Dahl's work such as in James and the Giant Peach.
It's become hip to include mean-spirited and vulgar elements (in films based on children's books). The Cat in the Hat is a good example. Many parents were embarassed at some of the stuff in that, especially when small children were taken to see it.
You mean "Beetlejuice", right?
Isn't that what results when one steps on a bug?
As with Mars Attacks, I don't like films in which death is depicted as humorous. It never is. To me, such an attitude is mean-spirited.
Doesn't one of the big showpiece scenes in Giant Peach come when the two nasty aunts are run over by said enormous fruit?
Anyhow, nobody dies in Willie Wonka. The movie, curiously enough, leaves out a sequence in the book in which Charlie & co. look down from the elevator to see the other kids leaving - Violet's still blue, and Mike Teevee's been stretched until he's ten feet tall, but they're all still alive.
I just don't want to see an update in which the kids are treated in a sadistic manner.
I hear you...but fact is the kids are already being treated in a sadistic manner in the source matieral (softened in a comedy-fantasy type of way, but still). Wilie Wonka is a considerably darker story than Giant Peach to begin with, and to tell it true you have to acknowledge that.
That said, all the movies you mentioned above are very adult; Burton is also capable of moments of great, albeit slightly twisted, gentleness, and I'm thinking that might be just how Dahl's stuff needs to be treated.
I wonder why they never made a movie of the sequel - Charlie & The Great Glass Elevator?
Because its very very weird, Chris. And thats compared to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
Maybe if this upcomming version is well received they will make the sequel. Its weird, but good.
S C R A M
Some of the kids meet a rather humorous fate.
The 'blueberry' girl is a classic!
The 'Cowboy' kid is reduced down to microsize. Mr. Wonka had constructed what appeared to be a transporter...quite ahead of his time. Take note Mr. Spock!
The 'flying' glass elevator at the end was cool too. Looked like a Victorian era flying machine straight out of Jules Verne or Wells !
Roald Dahl also wrote the screenplay for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. He was married to Patricia Neal, and was at her side as she recovered from a debilitating stroke.
Mars Attacks! was on one of the HBO channels tonight. Total waste of a good cast. 'Nuff said.
I saw some "Wonka" brand candy at the supermarket. I assume it is a tie-in for the upcoming movie...some sort of gobstoppers or something!
NGen, those have been around for as long as I can remember. I've been addicted to gobstoppers for many years
Re:"Wonka Confectionery"
The multinational firm Neasle bought the right to use the name "Wonka" to promote their confectonary, from, presumeably the Dahl estate...
Effectively, Neasle are promoting the "Wonka" brand to children.
BTW, It isn't linked to the remake, in any way, although if sucessful at the box office, Neasle, will get a LOT of "free" publicity....
P.S Drink "Classic" Slurm ! Your body will get the D.T's otherwise...
What exactly are "gobstoppers"?
...sound like something horrible.
In the book and the first movie, "Everlasting Gobstoppers" were a special gum-ball sized piece of hard candy which delivered full flavor without ever disolving, so one would last you for a lifetime. The Neasle candy version (which was originally a tie-in to the first movie, but never quite died out) is a large Jawbreaker.
I remember as a child being very disgusted with the real-life gobstoppers for having none of the qualities of those in the book.
One review I read of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory suggested that the colorful "boat ride" in the film was popular with hippies (as was 2001's "trip" a couple of years earlier). I find this a bit hard to believe. The sequence is actually a bit frightening (one shot is of a chicken getting its head cut off, although I think it was later edited out) Wouldn't a drugged hippie find it too disturbing?
Drugged hippies don't all react the same way, you know.
I've never used mind-altering drugs, but I would imagine one wouldn't want to experience a scary trip. As to 2001: A Space Odyssey, I can't understand the appeal of watching that (or anything) while under the influence of drugs.
The movie was colorful and psychedelic enough without drugs.
As I understand it the thing with 2001 is that if you take acid (I've never taken acid but I have taken other drugs) at the begining of the movie it will build up as the movie moves along (and those long ponderous shots are so much more interesting if you're on acid) and you will peak at the same time the light show starts.
A lot of drugs work well with light shows. Ecstasy and Mushrooms do too.
The "just say no" crowd would be mad at you. Last month, ABC News ran a documentary that the government used false data to scare people about ecstasy in the 1980s: "Using ecstasy will create holes in your brain".
Now, we're told the carb-loaded candy from Wonkaland is no good either!
I remember when I watched this as a kid I was quite enchanted by the idea of Charly and his grandfather being able to fly by drinking Wonka's fizzy soda.
If only I could have had some of that soda!
FYI -- I believe that scene was added in a later stage of production. Notice Charlie looks older and I recall they had some sound problems because his voice was changing at the time.
I read that Willy Wonka was filmed in Munich (where the Neverending Story and Enemy Mine were filmed too) and that the exterior of the Wonka factory was actually the Municipal Gas Works facility...with a big Wonka sign attached!
The film does have a "Euro"feel to it, which is confusing since Charly seems to be an all-American kid.
Also in the mix are a few Brits in supporting roles as well.
The commentary on the DVD states that the Wonka sign was added in post-production. Of course, the people doing the commentary were all kids at the time, but I suspect they are right.
I think they intentionally never made it clear whether it was America or Europe, in an effort to make it universal. I'd rather not hear that the factory was in, say, Detroit. I'm not sure they succeeded though, as it ends up seeming like Noplace, but then, that brings its own storybook charm.
Wonka explains that he imported the Oompa Loompas from Loompaland in order to save them from various carnivorous beasts, such as "vermicious Knids" (in the movie version). Now of course vermicious Knids are NOT native to Earth, but are creatures of outer space, and will burn up if they attempt to enter Earth's atmosphere. A poor cover-up story by Wonka to explain away his little slavery operation.
The company making the Wonka candy is Nestlé not Neasle.
One interesting thing about the book. I read two different versions of it as a kid. I had a hardcover and a paperback. In the hardcover, Oompa Loompas were a tribe of pygmies from Africa. The paperback had them from Ooompa Loompa land like in the movie.
I don't know if they changed it to make it more compatable with the movie or to be more "politically correct" and not have people make allusions to Willy Wonka being some sort of modern slaver or what.
Wonka took the Oompa Loompas because the Gronka Lonkas were already making Slurm.
Plus, the Chumbawambas were busy making beer for Pawtucket Pat.
Weren't the Oompa Loompas changed to green fantasy characters because it would have been offensive to use Dahl's African Pigmies?
I don't know if they changed it to make it more compatable with the movie or to be more "politically correct" and not have people make allusions to Willy Wonka being some sort of modern slaver or what.
Yes, to the latter. (Derek's right, too.) The controversy was highly reminiscent of the trouble another British children's author of roughly the same era, Hugh Lofting, got into over the African characters in Doctor Dolittle.
So Dahl - apparently just as prickly a man in real life as in fiction - gave in and rewrote the Oompa-Loompas as fantasy characters, but despite further grumbles refused to eliminate them altogether.
I have always been a bit disappointed that the movie O-Ls didn't recite the wonderfully witty poems Dahl gives them after each child is eliminated - much more fun than simply having them walk in, announce the moral, and walk out.
Burton will confront the same problem with his version of Dahl's work. If anything, there is an even greater sensitivity (or political correctness) today than there was in 1970 when the first film was made.
"Weren't the Oompa Loompas changed to green fantasy characters because it would have been offensive to use Dahl's African Pigmies? "
ORANGE fantasy characters (it was their hair that was green!)
>The film does have a "Euro"feel to it, which is >confusing since Charly seems to be an all->American kid.
The movie definitely seems to be set in Europe, while the two books from internal evidence can be placed in America (at the end of the second book, the gang gets invited to the White House by the President).
I believe that the setting for the movie is the United States.
My reasoning:
1. The television reports showing where the golden tickets were found indicate the country of discovery. It states that Augustus Gloop = Germany. It doesn't state the country for Violet Beuregard or Mike Teevee. Both of these kids, and their parents, speak American English. Veruca Salt and her parents both speak British English. The (movie-only) false 5th ticket is announced as being found by a man from Paraguay.
2. When Charlie brings his golden ticket home, he announces to his family that he found a "dollar in the street."
Yes, I've watched this movie waaaaay too many times.
Regarding the candy:
Nestle's "Wonka" candy includes Everlasting Gobstoppers (jawbreakers that change color as you •••• them, and which used to be larger and go through more colors back when I was a youth), Nerds (small little pellets, innovatively sold in a divded package with two flavors, one on each side), a roll of thick, round candies (kind of like giant SweetTarts) which I don't recall the name of (Bottlecaps?), and within the past few years, a chocolate candy bar with graham cracker pieces in it.
And I may as well comment that it is a joy to share the book, and the movie, that I loved as a kid with my own kids. Woot!!!
Uh... those 4 red dots should read kcus spelled backwards.
Dumb profanity filter. I'm talking about CANDY!!!!!!!
If I recall correctly, Charlie said he found "some money in the street."
My brother concurs with you, Snick. It was in the BOOK that he finds a dollar. And gets handed his change in dimes.
I believe the movie was deliberately ambiguous about where it was set...but the view from the elevator at the end showed one really Europey town.
Okay, I just got this film on DVD and I now have a few comments and nits to post.
After winning a ticket for Veruca Salt, it's interesting that the rest of the Wonka bars weren't checked to see if they by any chance had another ticket. For all anyone knew, the remaining tickets could have been in the candy bars in the Salts' nuts factory.
The one thing that bugs me is that nobody seems to notice Slugsworth's presence whenever someone wins a ticket. He appeared on camera three times - when Augusta Gloop, Violet Beauregarde and Mike TeeVee won their tickets. He's miraculously at the Salt factory when Veruca's ticket was found and spoke with Charlie shortly after he won his ticket. Makes you wonder if the contest was rigged somehow?
The second Wonka bar Charlie opened was given to him by Grandpa Joe, who bought the candy bar with the money Charlie had given his grandfather for pipe tobacco. Um, if Grandpa Joe hasn't been out of bed for 20 years... How'd he get that Wonka bar?
And 20 years without walking? It's very, very doubtful that Joe could just get out of bed and walk the way he does after Charlie wins the fifth Golden Ticket.
The Golden Tickets entitle the winners to enter Wonka's factory on the 1th of October. By a helluva coincidence, Charlie found his the day before. What would have happened had that fifth one not been found?
Just as they enter the chocolate factory, the kids are told they have to sign a contract. Just how legally binding is a contract signed by minors? Please note, the parents did not have to co-sign the contract.
Isn't it amazing the Oompa Loompas and the Gloops all speak fluent English? The Gloops are German, but they speak English. Really remarkable.
That song that Wonka sings on the boat is quoted by Marilyn Manson's debut album, btw.
Before they enter "Der Inventing Room", Gene Wilder says, "Dammen und herren" (sp). He uses that phrase again in Young Frankenstein.
Those Everlasting Gobstoppers look like they're basically a spiky ball. Wouldn't that be a bit painful to $uck on for any extended periods of time?
If you look carefully, you'll notice that a particularly chubby Oompa Loompa appears in the Golden Goose scene. He's then later seen in the Wonkavision room.
Let's see, the Wonkavision is existentially a STAR TREK transporter. That Wonkavator sounds like it's a turbo lift, doesn't it?
2. When Charlie brings his golden ticket home, he announces to his family that he found a "dollar in the street." - Gelzyme
If I recall correctly, Charlie said he found "some money in the street." - Snick
My brother concurs with you, Snick. It was in the BOOK that he finds a dollar. And gets handed his change in dimes. - Gelzyme again
I did a zoom on the DVD to get a better look at the coin that Charlie finds. It's hard to make out any details to identify what kind of coin it is. All I can say is that it was silver and about the size of a Silver Dollar.
I love Gene Wilder's performance in this film. He is so perfectly deadpan and yet manic at the same time. It's just perfect.
Peter Ostrum, the actor who played Charlie Bucket, never made another movie after this. As a matter of fact, it seems he left the acting field completely.
"I've got a blueberry for a daughter!"
Re:Peter Ostrum
Apparently, he's now a Vet....
Let's see, the Wonkavision is existentially a STAR TREK transporter. That Wonkavator sounds like it's a turbo lift, doesn't it?
When did a turbo lift go flying out of the Enterprise?
Well, okay, other than that...
What I was talking about was the directions the Wonkavator is able to move in. It reminded me of the STAR TREK turbo lifts.
"We have so much time and so little time."
The Gloops are German, but they speak English. Really remarkable.
Benn, a lot of Germans speak English....
The Golden Tickets entitle the winners to enter Wonka's factory on the 1th of October.
How do you pronounce that? The 'oneth' of October?
(Just kidding with you, Benn.)
My old maths teacher used to pronounce a half (1/2) as 'a twoth'...
The Gloops are German, but they speak English. Really remarkable.
Benn, a lot of Germans speak English....
I haven't seen this movie, but do the "Germans" talk with an english/american or german accent?
And do they talk English to non-Gloops, or also among themselves, when discussing their plans? (Like all foreign bad guys will discuss their evil plans among themselves in english, so the eavesdropping hero and the audience can understand?)
The Golden Tickets entitle the winners to enter Wonka's factory on the 1th of October. - me
How do you pronounce that? The 'oneth' of October? - Kevin
(Annoyed grunt!) Times like this, I wish we could edit our own posts. Good catch, Kevin.
The Gloops are German, but they speak English. Really remarkable. - me again
Benn, a lot of Germans speak English.... - Kevin part II
I haven't seen this movie, but do the "Germans" talk with an english/american or german accent?
And do they talk English to non-Gloops, or also among themselves, when discussing their plans? (Like all foreign bad guys will discuss their evil plans among themselves in english, so the eavesdropping hero and the audience can understand?) - constanze
No need for quotation marks, constanze. The kid who played Augusta Gloop, Michael Bollner, is German. (He was born in Munich.) His mother was played by German actress, Ursula Reit. (She was born in Wuppertal, Germany.) So whatever accents they come by them naturally.
But back to your question, at no point do I recall the Gloops speaking German. Not even amongst themselves. The only character to speak German is Willy Wonka himself. It's because Wonka is the only person to speak German that I find the Gloops' fluency in German unusual. It's like English is the Gloops' 1st language, rather than a secondary one.
Sam Beauregarde: "What is this Wonka, some kind of funhouse?"
Willy Wonka: "Why? Are you having fun?" (Some really great lines in this film.)
And a shout for wonderful Munich, (where I come from) as well as Wuppertal (where my mother comes from), home of the famous Schwebebahn! (A floating streetcar). (Though I've never heard of these actors before...)
So Gloop is a family name. I thought it was some kind of race...
Maybe I'll get to rent the DVD original version and listen to how well Willi Wonka's German is... (depending on what your first language is - or which language you've been using recently, talking and thinking in it - certain patterns of speech, word usage and grammar should show up. At least, that's what my german friends always tell me when I spend too much time thinking/reading/writing in english, that my german sounds funny.)
Benn: Makes you wonder if the contest was rigged somehow?
Of course it was rigged! Wonka wanted children and children only to test out, and amazingly that's what he got. I think Wilkinson/Slugworth pretty much planted the tickets where they were found so he'd be in position to make the offer to the winner. That's why the Salts didn't have any other tickets.
That's why the Salts didn't have any other tickets. - Snick
Didn't have any other tickets? Hell, I don't think they even looked for any others. But assuming the game was rigged, why were those particular five children chosen? Four of them were clearly unacceptable as heirs to the Wonka Factory. And how would Wonka know about them? They were, until they found their tickets, total non-entities as far as the world is concerned. I'm thinking this movie through too much, aren't I?
As for Wonka's German, here's (according to the Internet Movie Database) what Willy Wonka says: "Meine Herrschaften, schenken Sie mir ihre aufmerksamkeit", "Sie kommen jetzt in den interessantesten und gleichzeitig geheimsten raum meiner fabrik" and "Meine Damen und Herren, der Inventing Room." Supposedly, they translate as "My friends (masters), please give me your attention", "You have now come to the most interesting and, at the same time, the most secret room of my factory" and "Ladies and gentlemen, the Inventing Room", respectively. Of course, you might still want to watch the movie to hear how good Gene Wilder's German is. (And besides, it's a great movie, so you ought to watch it anyway! )
"The suspense is terrible...I hope it lasts."
Not to be nitpicky ... (who - me? On a nitpickers board? Whyever would I think of that? )
Except that "Meine Herrschaften" doesn't mean "My friends" but is more along "Ladies and Gentlemen" (what's the english word for adressing them both at once?), the translation is correct.
Though I wonder why a German would call sth. "The Inventing Room" as if he thought of the english word first (I don't think "invent" belongs to the basic vocabulary of 1,000 words beginners learn) and not call it "Forschungsraum" (Research room) or "der Raum, in dem meine Erfindungen gemacht/entwickelt werden" (The Room in which my inventions are made/developed).
If you say it's good, I'll try to rent it...
Charlie drops by to visit his mother at work. She tells Charlie there's "a 100 billion people" in the world. Lots of folks must've died since 1971 (when this movie was made). I think the current world population is something like 6-7 billion people. (I think at the time of the movie it was really only around 3 billion.) (I could be wrong, though.)
For the record, the "winner" of the fifth Golden Ticket, the gambler (the one is Paraguay), is Martin Bormann.
Watch carefully the scene where Charlie brings home the fifth Golden Ticket. Mrs. Bucket says something to Grandpa Joe. Well, her lips move, but no sound is uttered. Shortly after that, after Mrs. Bucket goes off camera, we hear her say, "Read it, Joe, for heaven's sake." (She call Grandpa Joe by his first name? Must be her father-in-law.)
I'm not sure, but it looks like one of the stagelights can be seen as a reflection in the Buckets' TV set as Charlie helps Grandpa Joe out of bed as well as during the "I Got a Golden Ticket" scene.
As Wonka walks up to the gate, the shadows of the buildings changes size and position.
The musical comibination is not Rachmaninoff, as Mrs. T.V. proclaims. ("T.V." is how Mike signed the contract. In the credits, however, it's spelled "Teevee".) It's from Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro".
It's really strange that they got by with this, but if you look very closely during the boat ride through the tunnel, from Mrs. T.V.'s point of view, you can see a chicken getting its head chopped off.
And if you look closely, you'll see that the Everlasting Gobstopper conveyor belt already has some Gobstoppers on it before Wonka starts the machine up to make some.
In the Wonkavision Room, the Oompa Loompas are wearing white pom-poms on their shoes. However, when they sing their song, the pom-poms are orange.
When Mike T.V. is transported by the Wonkavision, the Oompa Loompa operating the camera puts his goggles on twice.
The motif of Wonka's office is that everything is cut in half. Well, not everything. The lightbulb in the lamp is still whole.
When Wonka, Charlie and Grandpa Joe enter the Wonkavator, it does not have a spire on top. However, After it crashes through the glass roof of the building, it magically acquires a spire. It also looks more spacious on the outside than it does on the inside.
As the Wonkavator flies across the blue sky, you just make out the wire carrying it.
Constanze, another reason you may be interested in seeing this film is that much of it was filmed in Munich and other parts of Germany, I do believe.
"...don't forget what happened to the man who got everything he wanted...He lived happily ever after."
Though I wonder why a German would call sth. "The Inventing Room" as if he thought of the english word first... - constanze
Actually, I suspect that Wonka was purposefully mixing German and English in that one sentence. He wanted to make sure everyone knew just exactly what the name of the room was, since none of the remaining people spoke German. (The Gloops had already been removed from the group.)
"Can it, you nit!"
The musical comibination is not Rachmaninoff, as Mrs. T.V. proclaims.
You are correct, but most fans don't consider that a nit, just a slightly esoteric reference.
It's really strange that they got by with this, but if you look very closely during the boat ride through the tunnel, from Mrs. T.V.'s point of view, you can see a chicken getting its head chopped off.
Commerical TV always showed a different cut that, unsurprisingly, cut that part. Still, you're right: that's an amazingly daring shot for what is essentially a children's movie. (Although tamer by comparison, some of the other shots in that sequence, as well as the knife pedler outside the factory at the beginning, are quite sinister in their own right.)
"Can it, you nit!"
If you've watched the movie with the commentary, you'll have heard that that line was part of a joke that didn't relly come together. At one point, you hear that line, 'Can it, you nit' said to Veruca. Later, you hear her called a 'twit.' Later, Grandpa Joe puts them both together and tells Charlie, 'Because she's a nitwit.'
It also looks more spacious on the outside than it does on the inside.
And Wonka is very Doctor Whoish himself.
I'll agree that the contest probably *was* rigged, but will therefore also wonder why those five kids were chosen too. Was it just supposed to be Charlie who wins and the other four were chosen to show him how dangerous a place this was? or just to make it more legal and appear less fixed?
Regardless, one of my favourite movies.
If you've watched the movie with the commentary, you'll have heard that that line was part of a joke that didn't relly come together. At one point, you hear that line, 'Can it, you nit' said to Veruca. Later, you hear her called a 'twit.' Later, Grandpa Joe puts them both together and tells Charlie, 'Because she's a nitwit.' - Kevin
Yeah, and what's funny is that Peter, I think it was, wanted to point that out when they got to Grandpa Joe's line, but they all talked over it. So, he had to refer back to it.
And you're right, this is, indeed, a great movie.
"Don't. Stop. Come back."
Benn: Didn't have any other tickets? Hell, I don't think they even looked for any others. But assuming the game was rigged, why were those particular five children chosen?
I don't think they bothered to look for any more because A. Mr. Salt was losing money every second, and B. Veruca wasn't uber-selfish enough to demand more than one. And regarding those kids, I don't know if Wonka really looked up personality profiles on all of them, maybe he just picked a few kids at random.
Or...
Augustus because he's German (good chocolatiers) and loves food, and would appreciate quality in confections.
Veruca because she's the daughter of a factory owner and would (potentially) know production.
Violet because she's the daughter of a car salesman and would potentially know marketing.
Mike because he's obsessed with TV and might be the best to advance both WonkaVision and the company's TV marketing in the future.
And Charlie as a control.
she tells Charlie there's "a 100 billion people" in the world.
Technically, that's not wrong, if you accept the theory that just about 100 billion humans have lived on this world already, and that "in this world" might be taken literally in most of those cases. :-D
Shortly after that, after Mrs. Bucket goes off camera, we hear her say, "Read it, Joe, for heaven's sake."
That sounds like Grandma Josephine's voice to me.
The musical comibination is not Rachmaninoff, as Mrs. T.V. proclaims.
I think it was deliberate, to show Mrs. Teevee as a smug doesn't-know-it-all.
I don't think they bothered to look for any more because A. Mr. Salt was losing money every second, and B. Veruca wasn't uber-selfish enough to demand more than one. And regarding those kids, I don't know if Wonka really looked up personality profiles on all of them, maybe he just picked a few kids at random.
Or...
Augustus because he's German (good chocolatiers) and loves food, and would appreciate quality in confections.
Veruca because she's the daughter of a factory owner and would (potentially) know production.
Violet because she's the daughter of a car salesman and would potentially know marketing.
Mike because he's obsessed with TV and might be the best to advance both WonkaVision and the company's TV marketing in the future.
And Charlie as a control. - Snick
Nice theory. Too bad it's not used in the movie. As it is, Slugworth's presence when Veruca and Charlie win their tickets is something you have to wonder about.
Technically, that's not wrong, if you accept the theory that just about 100 billion humans have lived on this world already, and that "in this world" might be taken literally in most of those cases. :-D - Snick part II
The problem with that, Snick, is the context of the "100 billion people" reference. Mrs. Bucket is talking about how many people are trying to find one of the five Golden Tickets. I don't think there were all that many corpses looking for one. 
Shortly after that, after Mrs. Bucket goes off camera, we hear her say, "Read it, Joe, for heaven's sake."
That sounds like Grandma Josephine's voice to me. - Snick part III
Maybe. At any rate, Mrs. Bucket is clearly saying something and Grandpa Joe is looking at her as she speaks. Yet, we hear no dialogue from Mrs. Bucket.
The musical comibination is not Rachmaninoff, as Mrs. T.V. proclaims.
I think it was deliberate, to show Mrs. Teevee as a smug doesn't-know-it-all. - Snick part IV
Yeah, I really should have prefaced that one with a "NANJAO". For the most part, I was merely trying to point out just what Wonka actually played as the combination.
"Help. Police. Murder."
As it is, Slugworth's presence when Veruca and Charlie win their tickets is something you have to wonder about.
I think the filmmakers purposely intended for the contest to be rigged, but never spelled it out. At any rate, enough weird stuff happens that Slugworth/Wilkinson could just be omnipresent when he does Wonka's bidding.
The Oompa Loompas are scabs. They crossed the picket line at the WONKA factory & stole our jobs!
Constanze-
I appreciate the lessons in German vocabulary that I've been learning from reading your posts lately. (Schwebebahn = Suspended tramway; Schnitzeljagd = "tracking" (according to bablefish literally "shred*-hunt" <I suppose that this refers to hunting for someone or something by the "shreds" (traces) he leaves along the trail.>)
(Meine) Herrschaften appears to be (correct me if I'm wrong) similar to the French Monsieur, the Spanish (Mi) Señor or the Italian (Mio) Signore a polite address original used with someone who was a social superior, but now used with anyone with whom one does not have a familiar relationship. In English we usually use Sir (singular male) [although the Cockney words M'lord or Guv'ner come closer to the historical sense of the Continental words], Sirs, (plural male) or Madam (singular female). I can't think of a word or simple phrase for plural female or plural mixed/indeterminate gender, although at one time "Sirs" or "Gentlemen" would be acceptable in written communication.
*So Schnitzel apparently is "shred." Until now I'd only known the word as a cut of meat. We call it a cutlet: a small boneless, thin slice of meat, usually served breaded and fried. I can see how that cut of meat might come to be called a shred or a scrap.
I think the filmmakers purposely intended for the contest to be rigged, but never spelled it out. At any rate, enough weird stuff happens that Slugworth/Wilkinson could just be omnipresent when he does Wonka's bidding. - Snick VI: The Undiscovered Country
That or Slugworth is a series of clones. Each having the same scar on their faces...
(Good thing John Lang hasn't read this. He'll be claiming Slugworth and Mr. Leslie are related. )
"It happens every time. They all become blueberries."
TomM,
according to bablefish literally "shred*-hunt" <I suppose that this refers to hunting for someone or something by the "shreds" (traces) he leaves along the trail.>
Yes, originally small pieces of paper were left along the trail. Though we more commonly used chalk marks or similar, since paper shreds easily get blown away...
I remember reading an Enid Blyton book (what's called the "Dolly" series over here, girls at an English boarding school), where the girls had a fox-hunt on horseback - one rider was the fox and had to leave a trail behind, and the others would follow. I have no idea, though, if scrap hunt and fox hunt (without fox) have influenced each other (copied?), or just evolved indepently as simple hunt games for children.
Meine) Herrschaften appears to be (correct me if I'm wrong) similar to the French Monsieur, the Spanish (Mi) Señor or the Italian (Mio) Signore a polite address original used with someone who was a social superior, but now used with anyone with whom one does not have a familiar relationship...
Right on the spot - if you wanted to adress your equals today, you'd say "Meine Damen und Herren" which literally translates as Misses and Misters, though it's commonly translated as Ladies and Gentlemen, too, I think. But using "Meine Herrschaften" today in German has a different connotation and feeling to it ... quaint, old-fashioned. Either the speaker wants to be very formal, is addressing special persons of nobility or really high rank; or the speaker is making fun of sth. by being overly stilted and old-fashioned.
Colloqually, today, you can also say just "Herrschaften!" to adress a group of young people in a half-joking or stern way to get them to listen up, behave, etc. Complicated?
But since the Wonka movie seems to have an old-fashioned feel on purpose - or even takes place in an earlier time period? - the adress would be the polite form during that time.
*So Schnitzel apparently is "shred." Until now I'd only known the word as a cut of meat.....
Welcome to the wonders and complexity of living languages and their double, triple, multiple meanings of words, depending on context ... Imagine the fun non-english people have discovering the equivalents ... e.g. bloody describes a wounded, or a not-well-done steak, or it's a mild curse. (and you usually don't learn the impolite meanings of words in language class!)
Do you know the famous "Schimmel" double meaning? (It's famous because there's a joke in german about a foreigner having trouble with it...)
The Schwebebahn: schweben literally means to float, and Bahn generally translates as Railway. But in this case, we didn't invent floating cars - it's pretty old, actually, - because of the hilly nature of Wuppertal, they didn't have enough space on the ground for the cable-cars/street-cars (like the ones shown in San Francisco), so they built a big steel rail above the city, and suspended the cable-car from that. Since I haven't heard of any other city that has sth. like that, I don't think there's a real translation
Charlie drops by to visit his mother at work. She tells Charlie there's "a 100 billion people" in the world. Lots of folks must've died since 1971 (when this movie was made). I think the current world population is something like 6-7 billion people. (I think at the time of the movie it was really only around 3 billion.) (I could be wrong, though.)
Considering Mrs. Bucket's status in life, it would be reasonable to assume she's not particulary well schooled. It's therefore, IMO, completely reasonable that she might think there are 100 billion people in the world, or that she has no idea how many people are in the world so she just chose a really big number.
BTW, do Oompa Loompas count towards the world population? I realize they wouldn't number enough to make up the difference, it was just something I thought of while writing this post. In the original book, where they're a tribe of pygmies from Africa, of course they would, but in the revised version and movie where they're orange skinned and from Loompa Land, do they count as human anymore?
Considering Mrs. Bucket's status in life, it would be reasonable to assume she's not particulary well schooled. It's therefore, IMO, completely reasonable that she might think there are 100 billion people in the world, or that she has no idea how many people are in the world so she just chose a really big number. - J
That's most likely the case. Still, I thought I'd mention it.
"Violet Beauregarde, while shoving a finger up her nose: "Spitting's a nasty habit."
Willy Wonka, looking directly at Violet: "I know a worse one."
Another OT post for TomM
this is the homepage for the city of Wuppertal (in german, of course)
here is the history of the Schwebebahn (including the famous story of Tuffy, the elephant, who didn't like flying, so he took a jump into the Wupper river)
and here you can see live pictures of the Schwebebahn.
Gene Wilder's portrayal of Wonka still beats Johnny Depp's creepy "Michael Jackson" version of him.
Here's my three-year old niece and my two-year old nephew dressed for Halloween. "Willy Wonka" is my niece's favorite movie and for some reason Violet Beauregard is her favorite character.
http://bp2.blogger.com/_zqjmcDXxxPs/RyY4NSlBHMI/AAAAAAAAAAU/-WfDdvZq3gU/s1600-h/100_1426.jpg
The Oompa Loompa's claim books are better than TV because while reading a book "You'll get no commercials". Not necessarily true. Ever read one of those paperbacks from the sixties or seventies with a Winston cigarette ad insert stuck in the middle?
why does Willy Wonka act as he does and why do people seem only a little bit annoyed when children are maimed or killed?
How Willy Wonka Should Have Ended:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsE0UOz1uw4
Denise Nickerson, who played Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, has died.