Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Question: How did Willy Wonka know that Charlie and Grandpa Joe had stolen Fizzy Lifting Drinks? The entire time they were in the room they were completely alone and security cameras obviously didn't come into existence at the time.

Answer: Closed circuit security was invented in 1942 and came into common use in the late 60s and early 70s. Beyond that, Wonka could have had Oompa Loompas monitoring the group or simply noticed that they were gone and guessed.

Greg Dwyer

Question: When Charlie goes into the candy shop and gets a Scrumdiddlyumptious bar, he gobbles it down and the man warns him he'll get a stomach ache. The fifth golden ticket had been found (or so Charlie thinks at this point), so he can't be digging for it. I've never understood: what was the point in eating it so fast?

Macalou

Chosen answer: In the original book, Charlie has an obsession with chocolate that he only satiates once a year on his birthday. Also, at this point in the book, the Bucket family is going through an extremely hard time and Charlie has had less food than he usually would have, so he is EXTREMELY hungry.

Question: Why did the author of the book, that this movie is based on, hate this movie version so much?

Android Kaeli

Chosen answer: He felt that it took too many liberties with the story. In the original agreement, Dahl himself was to write the screenplay (he was, by that point, a not-unsuccessful screenwriter), only to find that his version of the script was subsequently heavily re-written, including what Dahl felt were a number of unnecessary gimmicks, such as Wonka's penchant for literary quotations. Even the title of the film was changed from the original "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", in order to tie into the launch of the "Wonka Bar", a new candy bar made by the Quaker Oats company, who co-financed the film. Annoyed at all the changes, he ultimately disowned the film and refused to sell the cinematic rights to the sequel, "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator".

Tailkinker

Question: If Roald Dahl hated the way the movie was being made, why in the DVD special features, does it show him on set with cast and crew looking like he's having a good time with everyone?

Answer: Disagreeing with a studio's choices about your story wouldn't preclude enjoying an on-set visit.

Question: In the end credits, Peter Capell is credited for playing "The Tinker" and Peter Stuart is credited for playing "Winkelmann." I have no idea who these characters were in the movie. Does anyone know which characters they were?

Answer: The Tinker was the wierd looking old man that tells Charlie "You see, nobody ever goes in and nobody ever comes out." outside the gates of the factory (he is pushing a cart, that looks to be full of knives). Winkelmann was the little boy that told Charlie's teacher (Mr. Turkentine) about the Golden Ticket's contest (when the teacher dismisses class).

Bruce Minnick

Question: If Augustus Gloop had not fallen into the river, where would he and his mother sit on the boat? There appear to be no empty seats and everyone left gets on board.

Answer: This is a question that can only be answered with speculation since it's entirely fictitious and this is how it was written in the book (and shown in the movies). Either the theory holds that Willy Wonka had planned the entire thing, including which children would find the tickets, and he simply knew the ill-fate of each child based on their personalities (which also could explain how the Oompa Loompas had a specific song ready and only Charlie was left as the winner). Or each incident was random, in which case, Wonka would have some contingency plan, such as a bigger boat.

Bishop73

Answer: Willy Wonka would make a bigger boat. If he didn't fall and it wasn't a accident he would have redone that part.

Answer: Willy Wonka would have expected something to go wrong with the children at some point. Otherwise, he would have trouble reaching his goal- to find the best child to take over for him (which could only be one). Not just the boat, but also how only four seats were available on the Wonka wash. He was ready most likely for child errors.

Question: At the beginning of the song, "I want it now", did Veruca say she wanted a "big feast" or a "bean feast"? If it's the latter, what exactly is it?

Answer: A "bean-feast", which is typically a British word, was a large, annual dinner given by employers to the workers. It later became a term for any lively celebration or outing with a big meal. The term may have come from the Feast of the Twelfth Night where a bean was baked into a cake and whoever got the bean became the "bean king."

Bishop73

Answer: She does indeed say "bean feast," and it isn't really a thing. It's just her making an exaggerated demand for something, and expecting it immediately. She says "bean feast" just to see if her father will object in any way, or agree as he always does.

Question: What is the joke when they are auctioning the box of Wonka bars, and the auctioneer gasps 'Your majesty'?

Answer: In other words, the Queen of England was bidding on a box of Wonka Bars.

Ken Hogan

Question: At the end of the movie, Wonka tells Charlie and his grandfather that they do not get the lifetime supply of chocolate because they drank the bubble juice and floated to the ceiling, thus breaking the rules. Charley then places his share of the everlasting gobstopper next to Wonka and all of a sudden, Wonka is very friendly and gives Charlie the entire factory. Did I miss something?

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: It was a test. Even though Wonka was being a jerk to Charlie, Charlie gave the Everlasting Gobstopper back. By refusing to sell its secret to Slugworth, even though the Buckets were very poor and Wonka was rude, Charlie proved himself an honorable, honest person and a worthy heir to the business. Wonka was happy for Charlie.

Phixius

Question: What are the lyrics and name of the song Willy sings during the creepy boat ride?

Answer: The song has no real name. It was a poem/song that Dahl put into the book durring the tunnel scene (Actually, they are the only song lyrics in the whole movie that actually came out of the book, I believe.) The words go like this: "There's no earthly way of knowing / Which direction we are going! / There's no knowing where we're rowing, / Or which way they river's flowing! / Is it raining? Is it snowing? / Is a hurricane a-blowing? / Bah! Not a speck of light is showing, / So the danger must be growing, / Are the fires of hell a-blowing? / Is the grizzly reaper mowing? / Yes! The danger must be growing, / For the rowers keep on rowing, / And they're certainly not showing / Any signs that they are slowing...

Garlonuss

Question: I've read that all 5 children in the story represent one (or more) of the seven deadly sins. What is the exact rundown of this?

Answer: There's some debate over this one, but certainly there's some lining up between the characters in the movie and the seven deadly sins, although whether this was necessarily intentional is entirely open to debate. Some are pretty clear - Augustus Gloop is obviously Gluttony, Violet Beauregarde is Pride, Mike Teevee would be Sloth and Veruca Salt Greed. Charlie himself is Envy although unlike the other children he ultimately overcomes his sin and therefore escapes punishment. Wrath is less easy; Veruca Salt shows elements of it, as does Mike Teevee (especially in the Tim Burton remake), but arguably Wonka himself is the best representative, with his outburst at Charlie towards the end of the movie leading to him ultimately begging for forgiveness. Finally there's Lust, which, when interpreted as an intense desire for something rather than something strictly sexual, could readily be assigned to quite a number of the main characters or indeed the world in general, where we see people going to extraordinary and ludicrous lengths to find one of Wonka's golden tickets.

Tailkinker

Question: What is the translation of what Wonka says, after getting off the boat, going into the testing room?

Answer: "My friends, please give me your attention. You have now come to the most interesting and, at the same time, the most secret room of my factory. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Inventing Room."

ChiChi

Question: What was the significance of the scene on the boat? To me it always seemed quite irrelevant, albeit scary (for a child), and now when it is shown on TV, most of the time this scene is edited out anyway. So why was it in there in the first place? Was it more important in the book?

Answer: In the book there is very little about the tunnel. They go very fast and there are many doors along the way, but nothing scary. I think it is to illustrate how weird and frightening Wonka can be. He does sing the little song in the book. Also, in the book, Wonka offers Grandpa Joe and Charlie a cup of chocolate from the river. Charlie and his Grandpa have been starving, so the fact that he takes notice and gives them chocolate that no human hands should ever touch is very significant. Also, at this time with the boat going so fast, everyone is really scared, in the book they start calling him a million names for crazy. Grandpa Joe stands up for him. Additionally, the book shows that the Oompa Loompa's are cracking up, and this falls right before they hit the Inventing Room where Violet meets her demise, so it kind of foreshadows that something is about to go down.

Question: When the people are on the boat ride, can anyone tell me what the things in the pictures on the walls are?

Answer: I don't know every detail but I do know that there is a spider, a chicken being beheaded, Wonka's rival Slugworth, an eyeball, a giant centipede crawling across a man's face, and a chameleon eating a bug.

Question: How does Slugworth know where to go and find all the kids that found the golden ticket? I've watched the movies a lot of times and I still don't get how he finds them all so fast.

Christie

Chosen answer: "Slugworth" is really an employee of Wonka's named Wilkinson. One can assume that part of this clever plan is that Wonka knows and controls what boxes the tickets are in, when they go out, and where they are going so it's not that difficult for Wilkinson to be on hand when the winning candy is opened.

Myridon

Chosen answer: The 1971 version of this story focuses on Charlie and the other children finding their tickets, followed by all of the action that takes place within the chocolate factory during the tour. While some narrative exposition of past events is given by various characters in the film's present time, it is absent any of the flashback depictions that peppered the 2005 version starring Johnny Depp. Not only is Prince Pondicherry's story not told, but we also see none of Wonka's strained relationship with his father as a child, nor the escapades which lead him to discover the Oompa Loompas, nor any of the scenes depicting Grandpa Bucket's past association with the factory, some of which were created for the 2005 film rather than coming from the original novel.

Michael Albert

Question: Did Wonka intend for those 5 kids to find the golden tickets? In other words, did he have Charlie in mind as the heir all along? It looked like the candy shop owner purposely gave Charlie the bar with the ticket in it. Also, Wonka treated Charlie kindly upon meeting him at the gate whereas he was sarcastic to everyone else-including Grandpa Joe, who didn't deserve the abrupt rudeness.

Answer: Yes, he did. Mel Stuart initially wanted to reveal that Willy Wonka had strategically placed the Golden Tickets in order to give the factory to Charlie. The idea was dropped, but the hints remained in the fact that Mr. Wilkerson conveniently showed up every time a ticket was uncovered.

Answer: It isn't clear the extent to which Wonka had a hand in the selection of the five finalists. The scenario you outline would be more likely in the later "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005) with Johnny Depp. In that version, and in the book, it is expressly stated that Grandpa Joe had once worked in the Wonka factory, making it more likely that, somehow, Wonka would have prior knowledge of the Bucket family. In the 1971 version, with Gene Wilder, Wonka has no explicit ties to the Buckets. That being said, it is quite coincidental that the faux "Mr. Slugworth" just happens to be everywhere a winning ticket is found moments later, which lends credence to your suggestion. Wilder's Wonka is portrayed as a highly eccentric and slightly dyspeptic candy mogul with a sardonic tone and a sadistic streak. His sarcasm to other characters is a reaction to the flaws which they openly display - and he really isn't even that rude, at that. In Charlie, Wonka recognizes a pure soul, to which he responds with kindness. The book and the 2005 film portray Willie Wonka as having a more childlike nature and being highly distrustful of adults, which would explain any wariness he might have regarding Grandpa Joe.

Michael Albert

Question: When the first golden ticket is found, it seems like the news reporter has antlers on his head. Did they intentionally do that, or was it an accident?

Answer: It is almost certainly on purpose; it fits the kind of comedy of the movie, and the editors would had to have been really dull not to notice it if it was an accident.

Blibbetyblip

Question: Was there any significance to Wonka's 'half-room' aside from showing his eccentricity?

Answer: None at all. It isn't mentioned in the book and appears to simply be designed to show how unusual Wonka (and the factory) are.

Question: When Slugworth is trying to bribe Charlie into bringing him the Everlasting Gobstopper, he says that his reward will be "10,000 of these" as he shows Charlie a bunch of money. Does anyone know what "those" were and how much "they" were worth? They look too big to be American dollars.

Paul Pepiton

Chosen answer: The story itself is purposely set in a fictional European country (accordingly to the DVD's audio commentary), so no real town or city can be identified (keeping the cities anonymity). Coupled with the fact that Willy Wonka IS a fantasy, the money offered to Charlie by Slugworth is of a non-descript denominational currency used in that country. It can be safely assumed that it was a very large sum of money.

CCARNI

Revealing mistake: After Violet has chewed the gum and is blowing up, if you look near the bottom of her right leg, you can see the air hose that is blowing her up. Visible on full screen only.

More mistakes in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Mr. Salt: What is this, Wonka? Some kind of fun house?
Willy Wonka: Why? Having fun?

More quotes from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Trivia: Peter Ostrum won the role for Charlie while acting at the Cleveland Playhouse children's theater in 6th grade. He had no acting experience after that, and is now a veterinarian.

More trivia for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

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