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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 film directed by Tim Burton. Following the 1971 film, it is the second film adaptation of the 1964 British book of the same name by Roald Dahl and stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka and Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket. The storyline concerns Charlie, a young boy who wins a golden ticket and goes on a tour, led by Wonka, through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world.

Development for a second adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory began in 1991 with the Roald Dahl estate receiving total artistic control.

Plot[]

The Buckets are an impoverished family consisting of a kind and loving boy named Charlie Bucket, his parents and four bedridden grandparents. Charlie's father is employed at a toothpaste factory, responsible for screwing the caps on the tubes. The family lives in a small house not far from Willy Wonka's giant chocolate factory, which reopened after industrial espionage forced him into seclusion and to make all his employees redundant. Charlie's Grandpa Joe worked for Wonka before the termination.

Wonka announces a contest whereby children that find five Golden Tickets hidden in Wonka Bars will be given a tour of the factory with a lifetime supply of chocolate and a chance to be presented with an unknown grand prize. The skyrocket in Wonka's chocolate sales lead to an increase in cavities which also increase toothpaste sales, causing Mr. Bucket lose his job when the toothpaste factory replaces him with a machine that places the caps on the tubes.

Four Golden Tickets are quickly found: the greedy and gluttonous Augustus Gloop from Düsseldorf, who found a ticket while eating a Wonka Bar, the spoiled-rotten Veruca Salt from Buckinghamshire, who made her father buy as many Wonka Bars as possible to find a Golden Ticket for her, the boastful gum chewer Violet Beauregarde from Atlanta, who gave up gum temporary to start buying candy bars after hearing about the tickets, and the arrogant and aggressive Mike Teavee from Denver, who retracked the manufacturing dates and hacked the system to buy one Wonka Bar only.

Charlie hopes to find a ticket, but his chances are small as the Buckets' money is tight, so the best that has to be made of is his annual yearly birthday present of one Wonka Bar and another one bought with Grandpa Joe's money, both of which yield no tickets. All hope is crushed when the last Golden Ticket is claimed in Russia. Charlie, after finding some money in the street, just intends to enjoy one chocolate bar at a nearby candy shop when news breaks that the last ticket was fake. To Charlie's surprise, the bar he purchased has the real last Golden Ticket. Two bystanders, a man and a woman, attempt to separate him from it by offering to pay him, only for the shopkeeper to tell Charlie to keep the ticket and go back home with it. When Grandpa Joe sees the ticket, he jumps out of bed and dances with joy. He offers to accompany Charlie on the tour, but Charlie explains he was offered money by the woman and intends to sell his Golden Ticket to her. Grandpa George reminds Charlie that money is far more common than the tickets and convinces Charlie to keep his.

The next morning, the puppets that perform for the visitors at the factory's entrance to welcome them melt by some pyrotechnics that went wrong during the performance. The visitors find Wonka to be peculiar, lonely and acting odd at the mention of "parents". The tour shows how fantastical the factory operates under the efforts of the short humans called Oompa Loompas.

While Charlie seems to enjoy the tour, the other four children succumb to temptation and have to be safely recovered by the Oompa Loompas after they each end up being caught in the factory workings, albeit in worse shape than at the start of the tour: Augustus falls into a river of chocolate and has been sucked up by a pipe before being rescued from the fudge processing center, Violet expands into an oversized blueberry when she tries an experimental piece of chewing gum despite Wonka's warnings, Veruca is thrown away as a "bad nut" by trained squirrels, and Mike is shrunk down after being the first person transported by Wonka's new television advertising invention. The four children leave the factory with their parents, revealing their deformities; a chocolate-covered Augustus, a much more flexible but still blue Violet, a garbage-covered Veruca and her father, and a taller and paper-thin Mike who is overstretched by the "taffy puller".

During the tour, flashbacks reveal Wonka's troubled childhood; his strict father Wilbur, a prominent dentist, forbade Wonka from eating candy of any type or quantity and fitted him torture device-like braces affixed to his teeth. But once Willy managed to sneak a taste of one candy, he became hooked to his wish to become a confectioner against his father's wishes and eventually left home to follow and live his dream. He then returned several days later, only to find his father and home completely gone.

Charlie is congratulated as the only remaining child. Wonka takes him and Grandpa Joe home via the Great Glass Elevator. As soon as they arrive, Wonka is introduced to the Buckets and reveals the grand prize: Charlie is Wonka's heir to the factory and his company. After Wonka reveals how he created the "Golden Ticket Contest" with the least rotten child being the winner, he stipulates that Charlie's family has to stay behind, seeing them as hindrance to progress. To Wonka's dismay, Charlie rejects his offer. Wonka sadly flies back to the factory in his Great Glass Elevator, flying through a hole he left on the roof when he landed through it. After Charlie, his mother and his father repair the house, the latter is later given a new job at the toothpaste factory as a technician. The Buckets' lives have become much better for them.

Sometime later, Wonka's candies get sold poorly. He comes to associate his unhappiness with the financial state of his company, so he makes an effort to find Charlie, whom he stumbles upon while the latter is doing a shoe-shining job. After Charlie learns of Wonka's negative views on family, he suggests Wonka to see Wilbur again. During the visit to Wilbur's household, Charlie discovers his display of news articles and other things showing Wonka's achievements and successes as a confectionery businessman, which reveals that the dentist followed his son's success despite his strict prohibition of candy, eventually witnessing the reconciliation between father and son.

Wonka then allows Charlie's family to move into the factory while he and Charlie plan new candy lines to produce. He joins the Buckets for dinner at their house, which has been relocated into the Chocolate Room.

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Production[]

Development for another adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory began in 1991, 20 years after the first film version, which resulted in Warner Bros providing the Dahl Estate with to artistic control. Prior to Burton's involvement, directors such as Gary Ross, Rob Minkoff, Martin Scorsese, and Tom Shadyac had been involved, while Warner Bros. either considered or discussed the role of Willy Wonka with Nicholas Cage, Jim Carrey, Michael Keaton, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, and Adam Sandler.

Burton immediately brought regular collaborators Johnny Depp and Danny Elfman aboard. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory represents the first time since The Nightmare Before Christmas that Elfman contributed to the film score using written songs and his vocals. Filming took place from June to December 2004 at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom, where Burton avoided using digital effects as much as possible.

Reception[]

The film was released to critical praise and was a box office success, grossing approximately $475 million worldwide.

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