History Film / Wonka

* GodwinsLawOfFacialHair: Gerald Prodnose is a corrupt businessman and member of the Chocolate Cartel, he and the cartel are shown to be very obstructive towards Wonka because they recognize him as a threat to their business. Fittingly, he has a toothbrush mustache to reflect his no-nonsense and corrupt approach to the chocolate business, compared to Wonka's more eccentric business practices.

** Noodle has an American accent, but [[spoiler: her uncle Mr. Slugworth]] has a British accent.
* AccidentalTheft: Lofty reveals that the cocoa beans Wonka harvested from Loompaland several years ago were actually property of the Oompa-Loompas that he was guarding. Upon learning this, Wonka tells him that had he known that from the beginning he never would've taken them, and Lofty sheepishly confesses that the reason he didn't speak up is because he fell asleep on guard duty.

* AdaptationalDumbass: Although he is already a brilliant and effectively self-taught inventor and candymaker, Wonka doesn't know how to read until Noodle teaches him, who also points out that his habit of relying on the kindness of strangers is foolish after he ends up in indentured servitude to Mrs. Scrubbit. This foolish gullibility also gives Lofty a chance to attack him and escape, in contrast to the usual depictions of Wonka, who is TheTrickster and wouldn't fall for such a trick. This can be justified by Wonka being young and inexperienced, whereas the more familiar Wonkas are older and more experienced men. [[spoiler:By the end of the film, however, [[CharacterDevelopment he has grown into more of his familiarly cunning self]], to the point he defeats the Cartel once and for all with just his smarts.]]

* AdaptationalOriginConnection: Wonka is shown to have visited Loompaland much earlier in his career than he did in either the book or the previous adaptations. As a result, the Oompa-Loompa Lofty gets directly involved in Wonka's conflicts with Slugworth and his other rivals, [[spoiler:and ultimately helps him to establish his iconic chocolate factory.]]

** Wonka's relationship with the Oompa Loompas is greatly changed. Instead of offering them a place to live in return for working at his factory after firing all regular workers, he unknowingly stole the rare cocoa beans that Lofty was meant to be guarding. As punishment, Lofty must steal more from Wonka, leading to Wonka deeming this strange figure his nemesis but not really understanding who or what he is until he finally captures him. [[spoiler:The film ends with the two ending their rivalry and Wonka paying back the last that he owed Lofty before hiring him as a taster instead of hiring all the Oompa Loompas to work for him, though presumably Lofty ends up convincing others to work for Wonka after the film.]]

* TheCavalry: In the climax, [[spoiler:Lofty the Oompa-Loompa rescues Wonka and Noodle from drowning in liquid chocolate]].

** One of the first chocolates Wonka shows off is the hover chocolates, with the Chocolate Cartel trying to make them sound disgusting. In the climax, [[spoiler: Wonka produces a jar of them "for Lofty", knowing that they'd steal them and end up floating away -- and not before Lofty ambushes them as they leave and from there rescues Wonka and Noodle]].

* CityWithNoName: The main setting of the film is never named, with Wonka only referring to it as "the city [he's] pinned seven years of hopes on".

** The first stretch of the end credits has [[spoiler:Lofty, by way of "The Oompa-Loompa Song", [[WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue explaining what happened]] to everyone other than Wonka, Noodle and the Chocolate Cartel]].

* DisproportionateRetribution: According to Lofty, anyone who steals from the Oompa-Loompas must pay them back a thousandfold. This is very much NotHyperbole as Lofty keeps a careful record of how much chocolate he has left to steal from Wonka in order to settle the man's debt, and [[spoiler:gets back at the Chocolate Cartel for stealing the Hover Chocs that Wonka intended for him by draining their chocolate mixing chamber, an act that also saves Wonka and Noodle's lives]].

* EarnYourHappyEnding: After much struggling and almost losing hope, Wonka [[spoiler:defeats Slugworth, Fickelgruber and Prodnose by exposing their chocolate cartel, frees his friends from indentured servitude who go on to live happy lives, reunites Noodle with her mother, befriends and employs Lofty, and opens his chocolate shop. The film then ends with him buying the ruined castle that will one day become his famous chocolate factory, happy to have finally achieved his dream.]]
* EarWorm: Invoked. When he realizes Wonka doesn't remember taking the cocoa beans, Lofty says he will refresh his memory in the form of a song "so ruinously catchy" that it will never leave his mind: the original Oompa Loompa Song.

* FryingPanOfDoom: After Wonka releases Lofty from the jar, Lofty asks Wonka to pass him the frying pan hanging on the wall behind him. Wonka does so, and Lofty immediately hits him in the head with it and runs off with Wonka's chocolates.

** ''The'' Oompa-Loompa Wonka deals with is named "Lofty" for being tall compared to his peers -- the very same nickname and reason Roald Dahl gained in World War II. [[spoiler:However, he later reveals that he is actually a quarter-inch ''below'' the average height and is really named "Shortypants" by his fellows.]]

** Of all characters, [[spoiler:Lofty the Oompa-Loompa]] gets some of Wonka's classic quotes/quotations from the 1971 film, including "Good day sir...I said good day!", and [[Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice "So shines a good deed in a weary world"]] [[spoiler:upon witnessing Wonka reuniting Noodle with her mother]].

** At his newly-opened candy shop, Wonka takes a bite out of an edible cup, just like in the original "Pure Imagination" sequence. Lofty also helps himself to a cup in [[spoiler:the chocolate factory]].
* NeverMyFault: Lofty blames Wonka for getting him banished from Loompaland due to the latter stealing their cocoa beans, and not the fact that he himself had fallen asleep while he was supposed to be guarding them, meaning the other Oompa-Loompas had every right to be angry at Lofty for this. In addition, Wonka also claims that, if he had known Lofty was there and that the beans were being guarded, he would have known not to take them due to having a strong stance against stealing.

* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Or polite nemesis, as the case may be. Wonka cannot convince anyone that "the little orange man" who steals his stock is real because he always gets away before anyone else can see him (and the one time Wonka captures him, he tricks his way into escaping). [[spoiler:The only characters who see Lofty besides Wonka are Father Julius (and Lofty promptly knocks him unconscious with an empty jar) and Noodle, who briefly sees and thanks him when Lofty saves her and Wonka from being drowned in the chocolate]].

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: The film appears to be set in Europe circa the 1910s (given the presence of cars, electricity, and speedboats, the clothes the townspeople are wearing, and the existence of a German aristocracy) and has black men as both wealthy businessmen and high ranking police officers.

* RubeGoldbergDevice: There's Wonka's "Wild and Wonderful Wishy-washy Wonka Walker" and later his elaborate contraption to catch Lofty who sneaked into his room at night.

* SchmuckBait: After freeing Lofty to discuss negotiations, Lofty non-sequentially asks Willy to hand him one of the miniature frying pans hanging on a rack. He specifically clarifies the heavier one. After handing it to him, he asks Willy to come closer, to which he obliges. [[FryingPanOfDoom Take a wild guess what happens next.]]

* SuddenlyVoiced: Sort of. Oompa-Loompas have always sung in the book and adaptations, but in this film Lofty talks normally with Wonka too.

** When singing his backstory, Lofty bends over and farts a cloud of smoke into Wonka's face.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: For the first stretch of the end credits, [[spoiler:Lofty uses one last performance of "The Oompa-Loompa Song" to share how Wonka's fellow wash-house prisoners returned to their lives before showing Scrubbit and Bleacher being arrested for their part in the Cartel's crimes]].

* AdaptationalDumbass: Wonka doesn't know how to read until Noodle teaches him, who also points out that his habit of relying on the kindness of strangers is foolish after he ends up in indentured servitude to Mrs. Scrubbit. This foolish gullibility also gives Lofty a chance to attack him and escape, in contrast to the usual depictions of Wonka, who is TheTrickster and wouldn't fall for such a trick. This can be justified by Wonka being young and inexperienced, whereas the more familiar Wonkas are older and more experienced men. [[spoiler:By the end of the film, however, [[CharacterDevelopment he has grown into more of his familiarly cunning self]], to the point he defeats the Cartel once and for all with just his smarts.]]

* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: Willy's mother is one to Dr. Wilbur Wonka, Willy's CanonForeigner parent from [[Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory the last film]]. Wilbur was [[AbusiveParents a strict and controlling single father]] [[FantasyForbiddingFather who shot down his dream of being a chocolatier]], and he became estranged from at a young age shaping his cynical ManChild personality but made peace with at the end of the movie. Ms Wonka was a [[GoodParents kind and nurturing single mother]] who supported his dream to become a chocolatier, [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest but he lost at a young age]] shaping his [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]] ManChild personality, and who's memory he made peace with at the end of the movie.

* EarWorm: When he realizes Wonka doesn't remember taking the cocoa beans, Lofty says he will refresh his memory in the form of a song "so ruinously catchy" that it will never leave his mind.

* FriendOrIdolDecision: Wonka is faced with this at the end of Act Two: [[spoiler:stay in the city and continue to pursue his chocolate-making dreams (which tie back to his beloved mother's memory) against all odds, or leave the city forever '''but''' with knowledge that all of his friends will be freed from Mrs. Scrubbit's contracts ''and'' Noodle will be provided for. He chooses the latter. In fact, the Cartel's not being wholly honest -- the adults are free of Scrubbit but poor Noodle remains a prisoner (owing to her unknown relationship to Slugworth), ''and'' they are going to kill Wonka in a [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident phony accident]]. Luckily, he figures out she's in danger on his own and this inadvertently saves him from the "accident"]].

* NoodleIncident: Or ''incidents''; as Noodle scolds him for his illiteracy getting him '''nearly''' (his emphasis) eaten by a tiger at the zoo, Wonka tells her that he's been '''nearly''' eaten by a lot of things, "and none of them got more than a nibble!"

** As a child Wonka only got one bar of chocolate a year for his birthday; said bar was painstakingly prepared by his mother. Charlie Bucket gets one ''Wonka Bar'' a year on his birthday in the novel and most adaptations.

** The TragicKeepsake (see below) contains [[spoiler:a message from Wonka's mother written on gold foil, a proto-Golden Ticket]].

** In the 1971 film, Wonka uses an employee to pretend to be Mr. Slugworth as part of his SecretTestOfCharacter. [[spoiler:This is since it's presumed, in this setting, Slugworth and his associates either floated away or had been in prison for years at that point.]]

* EveryManHasHisPrice: The Chief of Police is perfectly comfortable taking bribes to focus the police on catching chocolate sellers operating without a shop, which is illegal. He stands firm when the cartel tries to bribe him with more chocolate to rough Wonka up and possibly even kill him. He is tempted but still refuses as they keep increasing how much chocolate they'll pay him with. Once they offer him 1800 boxes, he instantly agrees.

** The main premise of the "Sweet Tooth" number. Instead of cash, the Chocolate Cartel offers 100 boxes of chocolate to the Chief of Police (specifically of his favorites). The Chief of Police keeps turning it down claiming he must watch his waistline as to not [[HenpeckedHusband upset his wife]]. They then offer 700 boxes (plus the business card of a tailor who specializes in "Elastiwaist" pants), then ultimately 1800 boxes and the Chief accepts. In the reprise of "You've Never Had Chocolate Like This", the Chief of Police comes to regret his decision as he finds Wonka's chocolate much more delicious, even begging the Cartel to give Wonka a break because of this, but is blackmailed by the Cartel to ruin Wonka's business given he already took their bribe.

* SuspiciouslyIdleOfficers: After he's been bribed with 1800 boxes of chocolate, the Chief of Police devotes all his and his men's efforts to capturing Wonka and making sure he 'suffers an accident'. Officer Affable, an honorable cop merely following orders, {{lampshade|d}}s this by asking whether all of the hunting down is necessary. They shouldn't be, like, investigating all those unsolved murders. This shows that the police have been blatantly neglecting their duties in favor of doing the chocolate cartel's bidding.

* SuspiciouslyIdleOfficers: After he's been bribed with 800 boxes of chocolate, the Chief of Police devotes all his and his men's efforts to capturing Wonka and making sure he 'suffers an accident'. Officer Affable, an honorable cop merely following orders, {{lampshade|d}}s this by asking whether all of the hunting down is necessary. They shouldn't be, like, investigating all those unsolved murders. This shows that the police have been blatantly neglecting their duties in favor of doing the chocolate cartel's bidding.

* BigBadEnsemble: On the one hand, there are Scrubbit and Bleacher, the unsavory wash-house owners who trick travelers such as Wonka into signing themselves into indentured servitude. On the other, there's the Chocolate Cartel, a trio of businessmen who hoard and water down their chocolate while using any means, including bribery and murder, to maintain their control of the chocolate industry. [[spoiler: The two forces at one point merge as a BigBadDuumvirate when the Chocolate Cartel bribes the wash-house owners to join them in sabotaging Wonka's business and keep Noodle as prisoner indefinitely but afterwards they go their separate ways again]].

** Wonka commits himself to making sure he can provide Noodle with a lifetime supply of chocolate upon seeing how happy a single taste of it makes her. One of the prizes Golden Ticket winners are promised is, of course, a lifetime supply of chocolate. Taken further in the novelization: [[spoiler: The epilogue reveals Wonka arranges for Noodle's home to have hot and cold running chocolate, which is also a reference to Prince Pondicherry's palace in the novel]].

** Played with regarding Slugworth's [[CrushingHandshake very firm]] business handshake, which lets others know he means business. [[spoiler: It's so strong that the second time he does it, it leaves an imprint of his signet ring on Wonka's hand for a while afterward. Wonka recognizes it as looking similar to the ring Noodle has...]]

* CloseOnTitle: Provided by [[spoiler: the neon sign of Wonka's newly constructed factory lighting up]], to be specific.

* DarkReprise: "For a Moment" gets one when [[spoiler: Wonka is leaving the city, having ensured (he thinks) Noodle's future prosperity but at the expense of the dream they had come to share that Wonka would become a successful chocolatier, and their friendship (it's called "Sorry, Noodle" on the soundtrack)]].

* DisproportionateRetribution: According to Lofty, anyone who steals from the Oompa-Loompas must pay them back a thousandfold. This is very much NotHyperbole as Lofty keeps a careful record of how much chocolate he has left to steal from Wonka in order to settle the man's debt, and [[spoiler: gets back at the Chocolate Cartel for stealing the Hover Chocs that Wonka intended for him by draining their chocolate mixing chamber, an act that also saves Wonka and Noodle's lives]].

* EatTheEvidence: When Wonka and Noodle's discovery of [[spoiler: Slugworth's accounting book incriminates Scrubbitt and Bleacher for their part in contaminating Wonka's chocolate with potions that gave the customers horrific mutations (such as Yeti Sweat), police come knocking on the criminal pair's door. The smart thing for them to do would have been for one of them to take all the potion bottles to the bathroom and dump it down the toilet or sink while the other distracts the police[[note]]Though earlier in the film Scrubbit mentioned their toilet was clogged so that may not have been an option.[[/note]]. Instead, they both panic and being too frightened to think rationally they both gulp down the potions themselves. As the police come barging down, we see that they drank so much of it their mutation instantly happened and the police consider them caught red-handed]].

* GirlsWithMoustaches: One juvenile girl who eats [[spoiler: Wonka's unknowingly Yeti Sweat-contaminated chocolate at his newly-opened shop]] grows an orange one while at least one other woman grows a beard. [[spoiler: The former's mother joins the angry mob by cutting down a chandelier, causing a fire that burns down the shop.]]
* HateSink: We can't really hate the Chocolate Cartel due to their comedic quirks (although [[spoiler: the reveal that Slugworth is Noodle's uncle and why she never knew this makes him truly wicked]]), but we can hate Mrs. Scrubbit and Mr. Bleacher. They are obviously intended to be as despicable as possible, as they constantly punish Noodle and their other tenants with a workload of debts and chores.

** In the climax, [[spoiler: Noodle and Wonka realize that there is a glass skylight leading into the cathedral at the top of the chocolate mixing tank they're going to be drowned in. They call for help]]; alas, [[spoiler: the only people who see them are the departing Chocolate Cartel members, Slugworth even waving them goodbye]]. Luckily, [[spoiler: TheCavalry arrives soon after and saves them in a different way]].

* InformedAbility: The dreaded martial artist vault guard only ever demonstrates her martial skills during the montage in which the heroes are learning about the cathedral security precautions (though this talent could tie into how [[spoiler: she's a pretty good dancer when she tries the chocolate Wonka and Noodle leave for her as a distraction, precisely so they don't have to confront her]]).

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: In a non-romantic example, [[spoiler: Wonka is prepared to leave town and never make chocolates again in exchange for Slugworth erasing his friends' debts with Scrubbit and Bleacher, and to pay for a better life for Noodle. Once he's onboard a ship bound for the North Pole, he only decides to go back upon realizing Noodle has some kind of relationship with Slugworth and thus may be in danger (he's right), which ''also'' saves his life because the boat was rigged to explode]].

** Noodle's personality and backstory have some strong resemblances to those of Literature/{{Matilda}} ''and'' Miss Honey, being a mistreated bookworm who must work off a "debt" she never deserved. For those familiar with [[Theatre/{{Matilda}} the stage musical adaptation of the novel]], [[spoiler: the reveal that she is a librarian's daughter and their subsequent happy reunion may be a reference to the Librarian traditionally being played by a black actress]].

** Thanks to eating all those chocolate bribes, the blue-clad Chief-of-Police bears some resemblance to Violet Beauregarde's blueberry form by the denouement. His belt even pops like hers did mid-transformation when [[spoiler: the town square rumbles with the imminent release of the hoarded liquid chocolate]].
** Of all characters, [[spoiler: Lofty the Oompa-Loompa]] gets some of Wonka's classic quotes/quotations from the 1971 film, including "Good day sir...I said good day!", and [[Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice "So shines a good deed in a weary world"]] [[spoiler:upon witnessing Wonka reuniting Noodle with her mother]].

* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Or polite nemesis, as the case may be. Wonka cannot convince anyone that "the little orange man" who steals his stock is real because he always gets away before anyone else can see him (and the one time Wonka captures him, he tricks his way into escaping). [[spoiler: The only characters who see Lofty besides Wonka are Father Julius (and Lofty promptly knocks him unconscious with an empty jar) and Noodle, who briefly sees and thanks him when Lofty saves her and Wonka from being drowned in the chocolate]].

** Downplayed after Slugworth [[spoiler:lies to his destitute almost sister-in-law that her baby daughter has died]]: he does give her a handful of money before sending her away, although his face indicates this is more of a dismissive gesture than a compassionate one (especially given that it's a direct analogue to how [[spoiler: Wonka compassionately gives up some of his few silver sovereigns to a poor woman with a baby at the beginning of the film]]).

** PlayedForLaughs when [[spoiler: the adult tenants of the boarding house are freed]] and Bleacher tells Larry he should keep working on his act because ''he'' at least thinks he's talented. Of course, Bleacher can't help but be menacing and Larry nervously responds with "You frighten me."

* ProducePelting: Poor Wonka gets pelted with his own products when [[spoiler:Scrubbit and Bleacher's tampering causes said candies to cause unnatural, colorful hair growth in its consumers]]. This escalates into [[spoiler: the whole shop being destroyed]].

* SingleTear: Wonka sheds one while he is surrounded by [[spoiler: the burned ruins of his chocolate shop after his customers turn against him.]]

** This is one of Wonka's familiar character flaws retained in this prequel: The reason he can't read as an adult, by his admission, is that he was so preoccupied with becoming a master at chocolate-making. Even in the climax, where he and Noodle are [[spoiler: about to be drowned in liquid chocolate]], his first thought is to [[spoiler: start putting his own ingredients into it so they can at least drown in ''Wonka'' chocolate and spite the villains]].

* {{Manchild}}: Wonka appears to be at least in his twenties (Creator/TimotheeChalamet was 25 during filming) and is a bouncy, energetic WideEyedIdealist, who is obsessed with chocolate, [[NoSocialSkills struggles to pick up on social cues]] and tends to be naive and overly trusting [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter with the wrong sort of people]]. Following the reveal that Willy NeverLearnedToRead, Noodle is also shown giving him alphabet lessons not dissimilar to that of a pre-school class.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Wonka reveals to Noodle that, due to dedicating his entire life to making chocolate, he never had the time or focus to get a more thorough education, resulting in him being illiterate, which is why he wasn't able to catch onto Scrubbit's scam even with the fine print right in front of him. Noodle spends several nights trying to teach Willy to read, eventually allowing him [[spoiler:to find the name of Noodle's mother in Slugworth's files]].

''Wonka'' is a 2023 musical fantasy comedy film prequel to Creator/RoaldDahl's ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', specifically the famed [[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory 1971 film adaptation]]. It is directed by Creator/PaulKing from a screenplay by King and his ''Film/Paddington2'' cowriter Simon Farnaby and stars Creator/TimotheeChalamet, Calah Lane, Creator/KeeganMichaelKey, Creator/RowanAtkinson, Creator/SallyHawkins, Creator/PatersonJoseph, Creator/MathewBaynton, Creator/MattLucas, Creator/NatashaRothwell, Jim Carter, Rich Fulcher, Rakhee Thakrar, Tom Davis, Creator/OliviaColman, and Creator/HughGrant. Neil Hannon of Music/TheDivineComedy composes the film's songs.

* TheMall: The Galeries Gourmet where part of the action is taking place.

* NeverMyFault: Lofty blames Willy Wonka for stealing the cocoa beans even though Lofty was guilty of sleeping on the job and so the other Oompa-Loompas had every right to be angry at Lofty for this. Wonka also claims that had he known they were being guarded, which he couldn't have as Lofty was sleeping out of his view, he would not have taken them (he has a strong stance against stealing).

* AccentsArentHereditary: Willy Wonka speaks with an American accent, and had it even as a young boy. His mother has an Irish accent.

** Wonka never liked Slugworth, Fickelgruber, and Prodnose in the source material, but in this version they run a chocolate cartel where they threaten and bribe everyone to get what they want. As a result, instead of being simple business rivals, they become enemies of Wonka, especially Slugworth, who threatens his new friends.