Gene Wilder is the One True Willy Wonka
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My daughter read and watched the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" to close out first grade last school year. Let’s discuss.
She was instantly in. She loves the story. She would tell me all about it everyday after school. I love the book and the original movie, so this info was not new to me but I loved hearing her talk about something I have a special place for in my heart. We have been watching "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" a bunch this summer. We watched it at home, we watched it on vacation and we are watching it right now as I type this. She cannot get enough. I have been loving the rewatches. I'm fully back in. We have also tried to watch "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", with Johnny Depp, but that one hasn't stayed with us as much. It is not as good, in my opinion, and my daughter said she thinks it is creepy. We all have watched the trailer for the new movie coming out starring Timothee Chamalete as Willy Wonka. It looks good, and I will see it, but there is something that makes it, again, for me, carry as much weight as "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". I think I finally know why, I think I cracked it.
Gene Wilder is the only actor that I can see playing Willy Wonka. He does it the best. He is closest to what I envisioned of the character when I first read the book. He has a perfect way of portraying this odd chocolate factory owner. He is childish, but still has adult tendencies. He is an excellent singer and dancer. He plays the pratfalls and fakeouts better than most carnival actors could dream. He never truly raises his voice, until it is absolutely needed. He plays this carefree adult with some dark knowledge of what his factory beholds. The quietness with which he plays Wonka at the start is almost menacing. You can see in his eyes that he may have ulterior motives with the kids who act bratty, spoiled, better than Charlie. He also puts Charlie to task. He questions him as much as the other children. You can tell he has it out for the grownups who have allowed their kids to act with such poor behavior. I talked to a buddy of mine about this role and he said that it feels like Wilder's version of Wonka is a kid who had a tough childhood. I fully agree and the tour of the factory is his way of getting back at kids who may have wronged him when he was young. That is dark, but that is the story of this first movie. As Wonka Wilder hits a homerun at every turn. He is not as creepy as Depp. He is just creepy enough. He is older than Chamalete, and when I pictured this character as a kid, he was an older adult. Wilder was one of the better actors to ever grace our screens, and when he took on this role, it feels like he took it very seriously, and that was the only way to go about this role. He had fun, but also understood the assignment. He may have better roles, "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles" come to mind for me. But his performance as Willy Wonka is as good as it gets. This may be his defining role of all time. I can't envision anyone doing what he did as well as he did.
Gene Wilder is the only true Willy Wonka in my eyes.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.
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