There’s an old saying which runs, “You can’t remake a classic.” Another good saying is, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I don’t think either of these two expressions has ever been uttered in the film industry. For the past few decades, the motto seems to have been, “If it worked once, it can work again ... and again ... and again.” Whether through remixes, spin offs, or countless sequels, Hollywood of today would clearly much rather continue an existing theme than come up with something original.
One of the most anticipated films being released this holiday season is “Wonka.” As the title implies, this Warner Brothers film is a prequel to the beloved “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” from 1971, based on Roald Dahl’s children’s book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Timothée Chalamet takes over for Gene Wilder in the title character, and the producer behind the “Harry Potter” films produced it. Although it could have taken a darker approach to his backstory, this production opted to remain a musical geared toward families.
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“Wonka” was released nationwide on Dec. 15. It was directed by Paul King, who co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Farnaby, basing it on characters introduced in Dahl’s book and the earlier film. The producers are David Heyman, Alexandra Derbyshire, and Luke Kelly. When I first heard about this film, I expected it to be a darker take, in typical Hollywood form, which would earn a PG-13 rating for language, violence, and possibly thematic content. Instead, it’s a fairly lighthearted musical, with original Broadway-style songs by Neil Hannon, the lead singer of the pop group “The Divine Comedy,” in addition to some familiar songs from the 1971 film, including “Pure Imagination” and “The Oompa Loompa Song.”A young Willy Wonka (Chalamet) arrives in an unnamed European city to sell chocolate, using fantastic ingredients, a lot of showmanship, and at least a little magic. He squanders all his money the first day, so he accepts the recommendation of an ominous thug named Bleacher (Tom Davis) to stay at Mrs. Scubitt’s (Olivia Coleman) boarding house. The next day, he discovers that it’s a trap, since the fine print of the contract he signed includes ridiculous fees which bring the cost of his one night’s stay to 10,000 sovereigns. Since he can’t pay the fee, he becomes an indentured servant in her laundry in the basement, alongside an assorted group of travelers who were tricked by similar means. Among them is a young orphan named Noodle (Calah Lane), whom she claims to have rescued as an infant. Willy shows Noodle his amazing skills as a chocolatier and tells her how he was inspired to make chocolate by his late mother. She agrees to help him sneak out each day to sell his chocolate, but they are up against a vicious chocolate cartel between the three greedy chocolatiers, Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas), and Fickelgruber (Matthew Baynton), and the corrupt chocoholic chief of police (Keegan-Michael Key).
It’s natural to compare “Wonka” to the 1971 classic, which certainly is an enjoyable film. However, I prefer to recommend movies made during the Golden Era of Hollywood (1934-1954), when the Motion Picture Production Code ensured Hollywood had higher standards. If you examine “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” you’ll find many elements in it that some might deem offensive and inappropriate. For that reason, I compare “Wonka” to a much older movie about a young inventor, “Young Tom Edison” from 1940.
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“Young Tom Edison” stars 19-year-old Mickey Rooney at the peak of his adolescent stardom at MGM. At the height of his popularity as Andy Hardy in the Hardy Family film series, he appeared as the young inventor in the first movie of this two-part film series; the second film, “Edison, The Man,” starred Spencer Tracy as the grown Thomas A. Edison and was released two months later. This film was directed by Norman Taurog and produced by John W. Considine Jr. The screenplay was written by Hugo Butler, Bradbury Foote, and Dore Schary.
In his teenage years in the 1850s, young Thomas Edison (Rooney) is always getting into trouble. He doesn’t mean to cause mischief, but his curiosity and imagination spur him on to create inventions and experiments which frequently cause trouble. Tom is expelled from school because his schoolmistress thinks he is “addled” and insists his daydreaming distracts the other students. Tom’s father (George Bancroft) doesn’t know what to do with the boy, but his mother (Fay Bainter) loves him very dearly and sees his potential for genius. Tom is also very close to his younger sister, Tannie (Virginia Weidler), who helps him with his schemes. Together, they start a business selling snacks to train passengers. When the Civil War breaks out, Tom starts a printing press in the baggage car to distribute war news, as well. Although he does well for a while, several business misfortunes and failures make Tom decide to leave town. However, when his mother becomes ill, he must return and use his ingenuity to save the day.
Both films are prequels, if you will, about the adolescence and young adulthood of an inventor. Both characters are played by youthful young men, who appear much younger than they are. In both cases, the films show us the adventures that led to these genius but eccentric inventors becoming the men they would be. Both fellows have young female assistants: Noodle in Willy’s case and Tannie in Tom’s. Both boys were very close to their mothers, who seemed to be the only ones who truly understood and encouraged their ingenuity. Of course, characters like this are always misunderstood, so both young men have great struggles to get their inventions off the ground. In Tom’s case, no one will take him seriously; however, Willy’s problem is that his opponents take him so seriously, they try to destroy him!
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Perhaps the biggest difference between these two films is that Tom is a brilliant but relatable young man who struggles with realistic problems as he develops true inventions. Willy, on the other hand, is a magician who seems to use wizardry to rise above the law, both manmade and physical. Older movies like “Young Tom Edison” also utilize real talent and ingenuity behind the scenes and on the screen instead of just using CGI.Contrary to my expectations, “Wonka” was rated PG, clearly geared toward younger children. However, I couldn’t wholeheartedly recommend it to families. The Classification and Rating Administration gives the warning that the film contains “some violence, mild language and thematic elements.” It certainly contains the “comedie de toilette” which the modern film industry persistently believes is the only way to entertain children. Of course, that’s nothing new, since the 1971 film including a whole scene about burping. The elaborate chocolate cartel scheme includes many drug references, with the chocolate becoming contraband and almost seeming to have mood-altering effects in some cases. The cartel’s connection with a corrupt church, guarded by “500 chocoholic monks,” is sacrilegious and offensive to Christians.
While “Wonka” has some entertaining moments and certainly is more wholesome than the average recent release, it’s a waste of time when you consider how many masterpieces from Hollywood’s Golden Era could be watched instead, such as “Young Tom Edison.”
