Oompa Loompa doompadee doo. I have a Blu-ray Review for you.
There may be several old-time live-action musicals from your childhood with memorable songs, but none are matched by the dark-offbeat lyrics and images of “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.”
When the legendary-candy recluse and mogul, Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder), decides to open the gates of his candy factory to five lucky people, the world spirals into chocolate-infused frenzy. Five lucky children find the golden ticket necessary to gain access to Willy Wonka’s factory. What they end up discovering is a whole new world built on imagination, where everything is edible and just about everything is punishable under the law of Wonka.
“Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,” based on the novel by Roald Dahl, is filled with several dark comedic elements that, looking back, feel startling for the time. In one scene, a woman wins last lot of Willy Wonka bars in Britain during an auction. In the following scene, she learns that her husband has been kidnapped and the perpetrators don’t want money, just the Wonka bars. But, nothing compares to the events that occur in the Chocolate Factory. As each child falls victim to their own greed, Willy Wonka’s orange colored Oompa Loompa’s sing a song to mark their punishment. Throughout the story, Gene Wilder delivers an unprecedented performance that delivers reality to the bizarre. Wilder ensnares with his childish smile that hides subtly evil and duplicitous side.
There are some elements in this film that will strike you as strange. For instance, Grandpa Joe’s body is stiff because he hasn’t gotten out of bed in 20 years. If that were true, then how did he use the bathroom? Next you’ll notice that despite being a worldwide rush to find the golden ticket, the tickets still end up in the hands of five Caucasian children. The only other ethnicity referenced is South American. However, the ticket holder from Paraguay is revealed as a forgery.
The Blu-ray release has had an amazing audio and visual upgrade. There are no artifacts in the video. And, the sound and music have gone through an excellent remastering process.
The Blu-ray release is packaged in a 38-page book. The book contains full cast bios and sing-along song lyrics, as well as full-color photos. Unfortunately, I was surprised by the amount of typos present. On page 29, “Oompa-Loompa Song #4,” the line reads, “A pain the neck an I.Q. of three.” The word “in” is missing after pain. Right after that, the line “Why don’t try simply reading a book” is missing the word “you” after the “why.” Where was quality assurance? This “is” the Oompa Loompa song. You would thing that more people will automatically look at these pages before the cast bios. Also, the text isn’t so dense as to be permissible.
There are several special featurettes packaged with this release. You’ll learn how the movie came to be, through a Quaker Oats candy bar release. Also, Gene Wilder gave production a character-development ultimatum before agreeing to do the role of Willy Wonka. The featurette also gathers all the original Wonka children to share their casting experience. All the songs are included as sing-along songs with subtitles. The 1971 vintage featurette is just that: vintage. There has been no clean up on the footage; it is presented as it was in 1971. Not to be greedy, like the “naught” children in the movie, but I thought it would have been a nice touch to include a replica golden ticket with the Blu-ray release. Hopefully, I won’t turn into a blue ball or drown in a chocolate river for voicing my opinion.
“Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” is an uniquely dark and vividly imagined Blu-ray release worthy of your collection. Snafus with typos take down the quality of this release. However, after your initial grimace at the Oompa-Loompa lyric mistakes, you will be more than happy with the actual Blu-ray disc.
Special Features
- Delectable Documentary
- “Imagination: The Story of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”
- Mouth-Watering Commentary with the Wonka kids
- 4 Scrumptious Sing-Along Songs
- Tasty Vintage Featurette
- Theatrical Trailer
Title: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryStarring: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum
Directed by: Mel Stuart
Screenplay: Roald Dahl
Studio: Warner Bros
Release Date: October 6, 2009
Rating: 8.5 / 10
Yeah, this one is on my “hope someone picks it up for me for Christmas” list. Kind of a bummer about the typos. You’d think when they’re making a big deal about the “book” packaging, they’d at least give the book a once over, which should have caught these mistakes. Really though, I’m more concerned about what’s on the disc, so I’m still in. Such a great movie!