I've always loved the original 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'. It balances perfectly on the edge of creepy and sadistic. And Gene Wilder was great - as always.
But one part that always confused me was the forging
of the final golden ticket.
of the final golden ticket.
If you don't remember - it's the part where Charlie, heartbroken, watches a news report about
the final Golden Ticket being found in South America. The newscaster
holds up a photo of the 'lucky winner' ...
This part of the movie always seemed a bit off to me. Maybe it was the fact that some old, mean-looking grown up was trying to fake a ticket to get into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory! WHAT A JERK!
 |
| THIS GUY |
Seriously... why would THIS GUY want a ticket to tour a chocolate factory? I mean, he looks more into world domination than chocolate.
Was he in cahoots with Slugworth?
 |
| SLUGWORTH |
Well, it seems the truth was stranger than anything
my child's mind could ever imagine.
You see, THIS GUY is actually Martin Bormann.
In fact, he was the personal secretary of Adolf Hitler.
So this is where you ask... why... why would the creators of this 'children's movie' use Hitler's secretary as the forger of a golden ticket? The short answer... it was suppose to be a joke!
It was suppose to be a joke?
According to
the film's director, Mel Stuart, the photo was a joke that fell flat,
presumably because they overestimated the number of children
in the audience who possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of obscure World
War II villains.
Here's the 'hilarious' connection:
(hilarious = not funny at all)
Bormann was killed by the Red Army as he tried to flee Berlin, but there
was a rumor that he actually escaped and fled to Paraguay, hence the
reference about him winning the ticket in South America.
Stuart (the film's director) went on
to elaborate on the failure of what he thought was such an obvious knee-slapper:
"25 years
after World War II, very few people knew or cared who Martin Bormann
was," Stuart said. "So the scene was never as successful as I had hoped."
Ya think?!
Ya think?!
I suppose knowing the story behind the scene makes it a bit less creepy.
Though, now that I got a peak into the twisted mind of the director, scenes like THIS make more sense.
Nightmare Fuel!
Back To...
Back To...
I will never be rid of the nightmares caused by the out-of-nowhere what-the-fuckery of seeing the huge millipede crawl over someone's mouth and then a chicken get its head cut off in the tunnel scene. Why did anyone let that into a kid's movie???
ReplyDeleteI was mere moments from posting that "millipede over the mouth" scene as my final pic - but chose to go with him screaming. But now I can't get it out of my head.
DeleteSomehow, I missed seeing this movie growing up. Because it had no sentimental association, I've avoided it as an adult dismissing it as a kids movie. Though the more I hear about it how strange and creepy it is, the more I want to see it.
ReplyDeleteIt's def worth watching as an adult. So many strange things in it to keep you wondering how it was considered a children's film in the first place. The boar scene in particular stands out. Oh... and the whole kids pretty much being killed thing....
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