"Your golden ticket to imagination and adventure!"

 

Once upon a time Quaker Oats decided to get into the movie business. It was a short-lived venture but out of it emerged a strange and unusual children's film. In it, five children win special tickets entitling them to a lifetime supply of candy and a personal tour of the mysterious Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. Inside, scores of green-haired midget workers called Oompa-Loompas operate the bizarre machinery that creates "Everlasting Gobstoppers" and other Wonka treats. Kids that don't abide by the rules of this private tour, however, get more than they bargained for in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), a live-action fantasy reminiscent of a Grimm's fairy tale. The film is directed by Mel Stuart, stars Gene Wilder as the unpredictable title character, and is based on the popular children's book by Roald Dahl. At the time, Quaker Oats produced a line of branded chocolate bars (Willy Wonka's Super Skrunch Bar and others) to capitalize on the film's release but the candy sold poorly and was soon discontinued. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, on the other hand, has gone on to become a cult film whose audiences continue to grow with the passing years.
 
Probably the single most compelling aspect of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is Gene Wilder's enigmatic performance. In an interview with the actor quoted in Cult Movies 2 by Danny Peary, Wilder said, "We all grew up on movies with scenes where the actor is lying and you know he's lying, but he wants to make sure you know it's a lie, and so he overacts and all but winks at you, and everybody in the world except for the girl he's talking to knows he's lying. I want to do the opposite. To really lie, and fool the audience...I wanted people to wonder if Willy Wonka was telling the truth so that you wouldn't really know until the end of the picture what Willy's motivations were."

"Charlie is let loose in the chocolate factory and every kid's dream comes true."