Warner has reissued the beloved family film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in a first-ever Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray + DVD boxed set, one of those massive slabs packed with movie discs, extras and some pretty imaginative doodads. The packet of reproduced vintage correspondence for example takes only minutes to read but speaks volumes. Keep in mind that, despite its celebrated legacy, by the admission of the filmmakers Willy Wonka bombed when it initially hit theaters, and only in TV airings and in its subsequent success on home video did the generations of fans finally come to embrace this decidedly deviant musical comedy.
For the occasion of this deluxe release, which in turn is timed around the 40th anniversary of the film--which I did indeed watch with wide-eyed wonderment on the big screen a-way back in 1971--the studio generously invited Big Picture Big Sound to sit down with four of the five original Wonka kids, plus the film's director and even a bona fide Oompa Loompa! All spoke with warmth and fond memories for the unique motion picture they brought to life.
In a new mini-documentary for the set, director Mel Stuart discusses his intentions to make an adult-skewing film that hopefully worked for their kids as well. The results are dark, even subversive, part of the secret to making a movie that audiences have watched and re-watched for years to come. But he seems almost disappointed that other family films did not further this trend.
"I think the films today go juvenile, and go for teenagers, and don't go for adults. There's no mystery about that, just look at them. They're all Twinkie things and animated little guys scampering around. But there are a few serious ones. The Pixar films are pretty good. But they're still not like this. I wasn't interested in making a film for children. So that's why you see throughout the film Shakespeare, English poetry; very witty, sharp commentary. For instance, when Gene was going to enter the factory to see the Oompa Loompas working, we had them speak in German. Does it make sense? No. But is it funny? Yes. Do you get the German? No. But I don't care. If you get it, you get it. If you don't get it, you don't. (Maybe) we can get it years later, when we hear it again."
Rusty Goffe has not only garnered a loyal following for his portrayal of one of the orange-skinned Oompa Loompas but has worked in the original (and best) Star Wars as both a Jawa and the Power Droid, in addition to multiple roles in the Harry Potter saga. I asked him about the challenges faced by him and his castmates as the singing and dancing chorus throughout the film, and he soon expressed great pride in his craft.
"It was quite difficult because there were ten Oompa Loompas, and there were only five guys who could speak English. We had a Turkish, Maltese, Spanish, German. So we (the Brits) did all the close-ups. But we were quite diverse, I was the youngest, at 20, going on to 75. But I could do what he (the director) wanted. There are a lot of dwarfs now who unfortunately are just short people. They're just putting on a funny costume, putting on a funny mask: You're a goblin, you're a clown. But they cannot act. They can't do it. They can be a little person, maybe in a crowd with hundreds of goblins. But they haven't had the training. So they're quality is, they're short. Accident of birth. Willow, yeah, I was quite upset with that movie because they've got all these young people from all over Europe and no one explained what a film was, what to do. These guys don't understand. They do various jobs. They're bricklayers, they're carpenters, they're not actors. It's hard work to make a movie."
An extremely gracious (despite his reputation as a troublemaker), forthcoming Paris Themmen (Mike Tee Vee) offered some first-hand insight into the life of an "old-school" child actor.
"One of my favorite scenes, being the hellion that I was, was in the inventing room, when I had to eat the exploding gum. And they attached a wire to the back of my pants and yanked me into a wire setup and those copper pots and pans all fell around me with a great clanging. And I of course said, 'Great! Let's do it again!' And they said, 'No, no, no: I think we got it, that's okay.' But that was an unsafe moment for me. There were uncomfortable moments for each of us in the film, and borderline dangerous things that we had to do. I think the time when I broke out into tears was when I was hanging out in the flying harness in the Wonkavision room and they had to do this shot with the giant Styrofoam fingers of my mother's hand. And they would push a ladder underneath me to give me some relief, then they would shoot and I would sort of dangle then for a while. And these things, you know, they shoot several takes, different angles."
Elfin, soft-spoken Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregard) confirmed rumors of an on-set rivalry with co-star Julie Dawn Cole, for the affections of Charlie himself, Peter Ostrum.
"Yeah! Peter was it! We were 13, we were coming of age. And there was one of him and two of us. So... it was very civilized though, you know? One day I'd be his girlfriend. Meaning for maybe once during the day we'd hold hands for a millisecond. And the next day it'd be her turn. We weren't particularly thrilled when it wasn't our day, but we just rolled with the punches. And the day of the blueberry (when Denise was dressed in the torturous spherical costume) was not my day. Another day I was his girlfriend was the day I (Violet) picked my nose, and I begged Mel, 'Can I... (just do it casually)?' And he looked at me and he goes, 'I want it straight up to the second digit, Denise!' and I thought, 'I absolutely hate this man.'"
The lovely, charming, and unexpectedly polite Julie Cole (Veruca "I want it now!" Salt) remembers it this way.
"There was rivalry but you have to understand that we were twelve-turning-13, which is a very important age and there we all were, away from home. This is not to put you down Peter, by the way, but just to try and give it context, and (whispers) he was the only guy around. So there was rivalry, but sort of unspoken really. We would take it in turn. But only to stand near him, there's nothing more sinister than that."
The thoughtful, easy-going Peter Ostrum (Charlie Bucket) still displays ample reserves of his boyish charm as he talks about how he and his family view his one and only film, which they haven't watched together in several years.
"It's been part of my life obviously since I was 12 years old, so it's difficult to separate myself from Willy Wonka. And as a result my kids have kind of grown up with it too, so it's always been part of my history, my family's history. And my kids get a kick out of it. Are they impressed with me? No. (laughs) Do they think it's a big deal? No. But, that being said, I think they're proud. As I am. I think that it's pretty neat."
Folks interested in meeting the Wonka kids themselves might be lucky enough to catch them at one of their upcoming convention appearances, with more information available on their official website (see below).
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Special thanks to Ronnee Sass of Warner and the team at Carl Samrock Public Relations.
