Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
"There is no life I know to compare with Pure Imagination"
Willy Wonka, an adaptation of Roald Dahl's book, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, is one of the sweetest stories ever told and was the inspiration behind many famous retro candies. This story, with all it's original characters, could have only come from a place of Pure Imagination. A timeless story that we all love.
Roald Dahl the Storyteller
Roald Dahl was a children author who wrote about 19 classic stories for children. These stories include the classics ‘James and the Giant Peach’, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘Fantastic Fox’, ‘The Witches’, and ‘Matilda’ among other famous works. He was married to actress Patricia Neal. Roald was born on September 13, 1916, and died on November 23, 1990. The major part of his childhood was spent in South Wales. The Times placed Roald Dahl 16th on the list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945"!
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- The Sweet Laden Story
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a children's fantasy book by Roald Dhal that is a moral story for children. It narrates the story of Charlie Bucket, a boy living in poverty who gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit Willy Wonka’s magical chocolate factory alongside four other children.
Willy Wonka is a strange candy maker.
Wonka tries to protect his business secrets from competitors like Mr. Prodnose, Mr. Slugworth and Mr. Fickelgruber and their spies. Wonka sacks all his factory workers and conveniently replaced them with Oompa-Loompas. The doll-sized creatures that he rescued from the vicious beasts of Loompaland were loyal to him and he felt that his candy recipes were safe with them.
5 Golden Tickets in Wonka Bars
What goes on inside the factory was a mystery, and millions scurry to get one of the lucky invitations. The invitations were hidden inside five Wonka Bars to be discovered by five lucky persons. The finders of the tickets are Veruca Salt, a spoiled girl, Augustus Gloop, a greedy boy, Mike Teavee, a boy who watches television throughout the day, Violet Beauregarde, a girl who is fond of chewing gums and chews it all day and lastly Charlie Bucket, a poor boy. They were led by Mr. Wonka on a tour of the factory.
The factory turned out to be a place of wonders where every child’s sweet fantasies come to life. Almost everything was chewable, and there was even a river of chocolate! However, misfortunes befall the other children one by one due to their spoiled behavior. Augustus Gloop was the first to leave the group as he falls into a chocolate river due to greediness, and gets sucked into a pipe. Veruca followed when she was thrown down the rubbish chute, then Violet turned into a blueberry after excessive chewing, and Mike teleports himself to a few inches tall.
The Candy Industry Influenced Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl got his inspiration for ‘Charles and the Chocolate Factory’ from his experience of chocolate companies during his childhood. Cadbury, one of the largest Chocolate makers, would often send samples of their products to school children in exchange for their opinions.
The candy industry was very secretive, and it is not uncommon for factories to send spies to work with competitors so as to steal their recipes. This was evident in Wonka’s dismissal of all the factory workers and closing the factory forever. He only re-opened the factory when he brought the loyal Ooma-Loompas to work for him.
It was the secrecy in the chocolate industries plus the huge machines in their factories that inspired the story.
Effect on Pop Culture
The first adaptation of the novel into a film in 1971 as a ‘musical’ titled ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’, starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. The production was inspired by 10-year-old Madeline Stuart who asked her father to turn into a movie. Mel Stuart , a movie director brought the book to producer, David Wolper who happened to be in talks with The Quaker Oats Company then. He convinced the company to finance the film version in exchange for the promotion of their candy bars.
The story was renamed 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' to promote the Wonka Candy Brands. In 1971, the Quaker Oats Company introduced a line of retro candies with the book's character and imagery. Till today, various sweet and chocolate products from Roald Dahl's book are enjoyed by both young and old. The popular Willy Wonka Candy line including Laffy Taffy, Nerds Candy, Fun Dip, Bottle Caps, Kazoozles, Shockers, Spree, Runts, Pixty Stix, Sweetarts and Everlasting Gobstoppers are just some of the candies inspired by Roald Dahl’s book
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp
An original titled version, directed by Tim Burton. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was released in 2005 with Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. There were slight modifications to the early version such as Wonka putting the announcement of the golden ticket on a poster and hanging it by himself instead of the newspapers.
Apart from the film sequels, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been adapted for different forms of media including radio, the screen, games, and stage as plays or musicals for children.
Based on Burton’s adaptations, a video game, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was released in 2005. Concurrently, a family attraction themed around the story was opened by the British Theme Park, Alton Towers. Also, an opera show called The Golden Ticket premiered at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis on July 13, 2010.
In May 2013, a musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory based on the novel premiered at the West End’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It stars Douglas Hodge as Willy Wonka.
What is your favourite Willy Wonka Candy?
Till today, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory still holds a high place in the entertainment industry. Moreover, all thanks to Roald Dahl for the numerous candies that we have enjoyed for decades! Which one is your favourite? Sweetarts? Everlasting Gobstopper? Or Laffy Taffy? Whichever your favourite Wonka Candy, one thing is certain, both the movie and the candies are ‘scrumpdidilyumtous’!
Check out all the Willy Wonka Candy at Candy District!