Two of the largest competing chocolate companies, Cadbury and Rowntree, would send spies posing as employees to discover the other’s trade secrets. In the 1920s, chocolate makers in England would frequently send samples to school children in exchange for their opinions on new products. Rarely has a tale of morality ever been more deliciously entertaining to read, as Roald Dahl’s story warns children and adults alike of the dangers of bad parenting, spoiling children, and self-indulgence.ĭahl drew inspiration for the story from his own childhood. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television and Charlie Bucket, our hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!įirst published in 1964, the dark humor and cheerful gruesomeness of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory immediately endeared the book to children, making it an instant bestseller. Willy Wonka’s famous chocolate factory is opening at last! But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. It skips about to cover multiple storylines, including Willy's memories and the four bad children's separate exploits, all eventually pulled together by Charlie's good-boy summary of what matters most, his cozy family.One of the most beloved children’s stories of the 20th century, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl is a masterpiece of pure imagination. While the novel maintains a more or less steady focus through Charlie's perspective of all these crazy goings-on, the film is less coherent. But the narrative rhythms are uneven, and Charlie, especially, is undeveloped, more an emblem of goodness than a full-on character. The film's strangeness is often fun, in particular Depp's white-faced makeup, frisky line readings (check his explanation: "Everything in this room is eatable even I'm eatable, but that's called cannibalism and frowned on in most societies"), and weird affect. There are some current-day references, some of which fail miserably (the Oprah appearance comes to mind), while others are merely annoying and serve to break the film's dreamlike power. These are staged as song-and-dance numbers by the Oompa Loompas, modeled after scenes that some parents will recall from other venues, for instance, Esther Williams musicals, the Who's guitar-smashing rock shows, Hair, Psycho, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Fly, and even Tim Burton and Depp's Edward Scissorhands, in Willy's flashbacks to his troubled relationship with his dentist father ( Christopher Lee). Indeed, the non-Charlie children are so loathsome that their various "punishments" seem deserved. Portrayed in broad, cartoonish strokes, the kids' cruelties in the film serve as comedy, though they're not always funny, and each child-parent set reveals its dysfunction.