Everyone remembers enjoying those moments in their childhood when they went away to their own world of their choosing. Running around in that part of your backyard where small trees block the entire area from view, pretending that whatever you want to happen, happened. We didn’t really realize it yet, but it was a way of exploring who we were and testing what our imagination was capable of. This is a movie that takes all those elements of a kid’s dream world and rolls them into one captivating story that both reminds the older audience of what that felt like, and entertains the younger with another entertaining world that they can delve into.

The first part of the movie introduces each of our characters, the young winners of a sweepstakes like contest for a guided tour into the chocolate factory by Willy Wonka himself. Among these are Charlie Bucket, a poor boy living in London with his grandparents. Each of these children have a parent accompanying them throughout the tour. Each parent gives the watcher a good representation of what kind of parenting can garner the kids in the film. Charlie is our good angel of the group. He is a good hearted kid while the rest of them are all representatives of faults in modern day lifestyles. Veruca salt is a rich little brat and is this way because her father has given her absolutely anything that she wants. Mike TV is an hyperactive kid who, because of all the TV he watches, acts out violently and is overly assertive. Violet Beauregarde is the overly competitive, often bragging girl of the group. She views every new experience as a way of proving herself better than everyone else. Lastly, is Agustus Gloop. He is an obese glutton who eats absolutely anything that is put in front of him.

Gene Wilder’s performance in this movie is absolutely phenomenal. His character is Willy Wonka, the slightly mad, world famous chocolate factory owner. Wilder’s personal influence on the character is part of what makes the film so enjoyable. Wonka is consistently unimpressed by all of his devices and inventions that all of the tour guests are so fascinated by. He will often respond to questions not with answers, but instead with quotes from famous authors or philosophers. His cryptic answers often are related to the question, but do not answer it. He is portrayed as quite mad, never with any care to the safety of the children at all. Anyone who’s seen “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein” can see how much of an effect the casting of Wilder has on the character. His characters always grab the watchers attention easily, not in an annoying or pestering way, but a genuinely interesting way.

The music is great as well. Most of the songs are composed by Anthony Newly, who was a very talented pop musician throughout the late 50’s and much of the 60’s. Some highlights of the film are the songs “Pure Imagination” and “The Wondrous Boat Ride” both sung enchantingly by Gene Wilder himself. The Oompa Loompa’s songs serve to sum up the reason behind each child’s fate, and how their problem came to be, often the fault of the parents in the first place.

Much of the surreal nature of the factory is captivating and really brings you into a sense of being in it yourself. There are very few scenes that are of lesser interest than the others, and it seems to peak in surreal quality during the haunting boat ride, making the scenes afterward only slightly less surprising in comparison.

This is a movie that I personally consider as my very favorite. It can easily be enjoyed by all ages, and by anyone with a sense of imagination. For Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory I give a 9 out of 10.