Wonka: Cheerful Origins of the Chocolatier

Paul King’s “Wonka” is as delightful as the titular character’s chocolate, even more so as we approach the end of the year. The film took nibbles from a variety of genres, ranging from a heartfelt musical to even a family mystery, almost summing up another year of cinema. There was a variety of charming elements, but the heart of it being Chalamet’s portrayal of the purple suit, top-hat character stole the show, not just in terms of performance, but how to stay positive when coming face to face with adversity.

The movie begins with a cheerful Willy Wonka arriving in the city, full of certainty that by the same time tomorrow, he’ll have amassed a fortune. In a matter of only a handful of encounters, the little money he had come to the city with was gone. When he is getting ready to sleep on a bench, a mischievous man known as Bleacher, played by Tom Davis, takes notice of the poor fellow and offers him a room. He brings him to the hotel owned by a Mrs. Scrubitt, portrayed by the humorous Olivia Colman. The two nice strangers are welcoming to Mr. Wonka, with Mrs. Scrubitt offering the young man a glass of gin, a warm fireplace, and an entrepreneurial suite. The next day is a major turning point in Wonka’s story, as he presents himself to the public at the Galleries Gourmet with a song, dance, and of course, his infamous chocolates. It is here where he meets his three adversaries: Arthur Slugworth, Gerald Prodnose, and Felix Fickelgruber. The three control the chocolate trade, or essentially run a monopoly on the chocolate industry, and throughout the entire movie try get rid of Wonka as they see him as a threat to their multimillion-dollar business. The crowd formed by Wonka’s theatrics is dispersed when police arrive, summoned by his newfound enemies, and is left with just one shilling. Back at the hotel, Scrubbitt and Bleacher present Wonka with a variety of nonsensical fees that reach such an insane amount that he’s practically doomed to work for them for a decade.

Given his situation, Wonka never loses his childlike sense of wonder and amazement that not just drives the other supporting characters around him or even the story, but the entirety of the film. Wonka’s enemies are powerful men who are not just capable of influencing the city’s police force, but also the church. That doesn’t stop him one bit from trying to sell his chocolate as he collaborates with his friends on how to pay their debt to Scrubitt and regain their freedom to live a life with no constraints to her hotel of hell.

When there’s a will, there’s a way, especially as he sneaks out into the city during the day to sell his chocolate to the public, having set plans in motion to help evade the police. He goes around, breaking out into song and dance, bringing together lovers and spirits of adventures to broken down souls. When he sees the signs, he jumps down sewers to evade his captors that look to do him harm. As he does this all, he inspires a little girl known as Noodle the most with his wonderous ways.

Yet while Wonka was always on the positive side, there are heavy, realistic undertones in the movie that may or may not stand out to the viewer. There’s the roughed-up spirit of the working class, doing day by day labor with little to nothing in return represented by Wonka’s friends who were practically enslaved by Scrubitt. Then there’s Wonka, who’s money practically vanishes as soon as he reaches Europe, similar to the way we watch our paychecks evaporate quickly with sky-high inflation on basic commodities. The icing on the cake is the rich businessmen having the most influence on the town and seemingly getting richer while keeping their monopoly in place, making it impossible for Wonka and his small business to thrive.