Behind the Chocolate
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s story needs no introduction, but Willy Wonka - its eccentric founder - still lacked one. Indeed, Roald Dahl deals with this character as an already renowned chocolatier, leaving the path that led him to the creation of his empire of choco-wonders concealed. But what was his background? How could Willy become Wonka?
Wonka. Warner Bros Pictures, 2023.
Tim Burton had already tried to flesh out this mysterious character by sewing flashbacks into the original plot. We certainly all remember the gloomy scene where a young Willy with large braces watches his father - the most famous dentist in the country - throw the sweets gleaned from Halloween trick-or-treating into the fireplace because they cause tooth decay. However, Paul King, in 2023, offers much more insight than just flashbacks, gifting us with a dive into a childhood we didn't know we needed. Fans of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) may have been disappointed by the 2023 prequel's lack of a father figure and the orange and green appearance of the Oompa-Loompas, but Paul King draws inspiration from Mel Stuart’s 1971 play, constructing an unprecedented and decidedly sweeter past for the 'Mad Hatter' than the one Tim Burton glimpsed. It is certain that King has created an undeniably engaging musical, built on a masterfully composed soundtrack (by Joby Talbot), enhanced by the re-adaptation of two songs from Stuart's film and seven original songs by Neil Hannon. The plot could not have found a better interpreter than the mesmerizing Timothée Chalamet. Though very different from the early Gene Wilder and the much-loved Johnny Depp, he brings inimitable authenticity and depth to the story conceived by King. In fact, the naivety, goodness, and courage that characterize the Willy Wonka of 2023 are the values on which this unprecedented characterization of the protagonist is built. Chalamet, with his youthful, delicate, and pure being, alongside his musical talents as a singer and dancer, interprets every scene with disarming sincerity. It must be emphasized that his performance is included within a cast equally up to the task of artfully interpreting the figures of the Wonka universe: from the petty Bleacher and Mrs. Scrubbit - very reminiscent of the Thénardiers in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables - and Noodle, the young Calah Lane, to the chocoholic priest played by Rowan Atkinson and the fair Hugh Grant as an Oompa-Loompa.
Jaap Buittendijk/Warner Bros.
Wonka did not shine at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards, starting the year with only Timothée Chalamet winning an award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. However, it did, for all intents and purposes, end 2023 by bringing a question into the spotlight: what would the child we were say if they could see what we have become today? This child, like Willy Wonka, certainly had dreams, which, as his mother teaches us in one of the two flashbacks concerning her, are the fertile soil from which all good things in the world sprout, and which we must therefore hold on to. In this regard, it seems that this prequel is a perfect fit to wash away the beliefs we have about who we are and what we do, to try and look at ourselves through our childhood dreams, and ask ourselves if we are actually happy. Paul King himself says that he wrote Wonka with the usual advice given to children - 'do your best and everything will be fine' - in mind. The chocolate cartel, the corrupt police, and the greedy always prevailing over the righteous are evidence that the world, in reality, is not going in that direction at all. But at the same time, Willy Wonka is there to dismantle reality. With a world of pure imagination, with a fervent belief in his dreams and possibilities, Wonka is willing to change the world. Want to change the world? There's nothing to it. It serves as a reminder to adults to be less biased by grown-up thoughts, and believe more in dreams, as children do."
