Wonka (2023 musical film)

I don't know if I'm the only one, but at times I assumed that the villain was the girl's father.

I figured with Slugworth taking such a special interest in Noodle that while I was kind of hoping they wouldn't go the Evil Uncle route, it still worked for me though.

Where exactly is this movie supposed to be set? Is it just meant to be an ambiguous European city? Several scenes are obviously in Prague or Oxford, but all the street signs are in German , the cathedral's denomination is also very ambiguous since it looks like an Orthodox church on the inside but the cleric wears catholic robes . ..

The galleria gourmet is obviously in Milan, but if it were for selling chocolates shouldn't it be in Brussels?

Edited by Xopher001 on Jan 19th 2024 at 1:42:39 AM

By my understanding, it’s deliberately vague. It could be anywhere by design.

Best not to overthink it.

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Jan 19th 2024 at 4:44:15 AM

Pretty much the same as the original. Filmed in Munich but everybody seemed American.

Much like the original Willy Wonka, the intent without a doubt was to make it a catch-all. Anybody anywhere could see the city and think it was where they lived.

This movie was unexpectedly delightful. I bought the Blu-Ray.

I will say this, though: I vaguely remember Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator saying or at least suggesting that Willy Wonka is Asian and I'm a bit surprised that not a single adaptation has cast an Asian actor, especially in today's socially conscious climate. Am I misremembering?

From what I'm reading from a basic Google Search, the original Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator was full of racist jokes aimed at Asisn people.

I was actually kinda wondering why the first book has been twice made into a film and a prequel was made and the Glass Elevator hasn't been adapted.

That makes sense. A lot of stuff Dahl wrote would have aged badly as I understand it. Like that Bond movie he wrote.

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Mar 1st 2024 at 4:08:17 AM

The Dahl estate has explicitly forbidden adaptations of the Great Glass elevator. Because Dahl was very pissed off at Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

So no Vernicious Knids?

After I saw the first Wonka movie back in The '70s, I checked the book out from the library. Turns out they had an original edition. 😬

I'm know Dahl himself didn't want an adaptation of The Great Glass Elevator, but I don't know if the estate is enforcing it.

Edited by alanh on Mar 1st 2024 at 5:54:16 AM

Great Glass Elevator is weird too, even by Dahl standards. There's a whole Trapped by Mountain Lions plot that's just "world leaders doing wacky things" (the racism as far as I remember is basically just a bunch of stereotypes about a bunch of world countries, including puns and wordplay that have aged poorly but could easily be cut) and the grandparents besides Joe all firmly hold onto the Jerkass and Idiot Balls.

I like the book, but it might be hard to make into a good movie. There isn't really an overarching plot either, it's all Random Events, and random events plots in children's books tend to get butchered in movie format.

Edited by PhiSat on Mar 3rd 2024 at 3:29:23 AM

Maybe the biggest problem is that it is so different from the first book?

I feel like the most logical sequel would be Wonka showing Charlie the ropes in running the factory.

Honestly, that could be a good plot for an animated sequel series.

Why why did the grandparents become assholes?

They were sitting in bed infirm and one of them sprang to life at the opportunity to eat chocolate.

Something ain't adding up there

Because the book needed an antagonist besides the Knids, which cannot be dealt with except by scramming outta wherever they are.

The second half of the book happens because they refuse to even try to get their butts out of bed, leading to the Wonka-Vite and Vita-Wonk plot.

Also, a bit off topic, but Vita-Wonk would be a horrifying weapon of mass destruction in any other kind of book. It doesn't even need to be ingested, just getting it on you is enough to make it work. Imagine if it got dumped on a city.

Edited by PhiSat on Mar 3rd 2024 at 8:31:38 AM

The wild thing about Vita-Wonk is that it doesn't just make you older biologically, it also retroactively moves back your birthdate so you actually lived through all those additional centuries you just aged. Wonka didn't just invent an age increasing spray, he invented a time travel spray.

I picked up the movie last week on Blu-Ray BTW.

I got my copy too.

Got it recorded on DVR right now. Planning a DVD purchase though at some point soon.

Recently I got a nice reminder of the funny irony when I went to see it. The movie theater I chose had two of its outdoor posters that were hilariously opposite. There was one of a good magic guy (Willy Wonka) next to one of a bad magic guy (King Magnifico).