Wonka (film)

Wonka is a 2023 fantasy musical film directed by Paul King from a screenplay written by Simon Farnaby and King. It was released on December 8th, 2023 in the United Kingdom and December 15th, 2023 in the United States.

The film focuses on Willy Wonka's life as an early candy maker.

It can be considered a companion piece and a prequel to the 1971 film, and is set in the same continuity as it, rather than the 2005 film.

Plot[]

Willy Wonka, a young chocolatier, arrives at the Galéries Gourmet with dreams of establishing his own chocolate shop. Wonka is coerced to stay at Mrs. Scrubitt's boarding house by her co-worker, Bleacher, and unknowingly signs a predatory contract due to his illiteracy. He introduces "hoverchocs", which make the consumer fly, but rivals Arthur Slugworth, Gerald Prodnose, and Felix Fickelgruber have Wonka's earnings confiscated by the police for selling without a shop. Unable to pay the contract's exorbitant fees, Wonka is forced to work in Scrubbitt's launderette alongside her foster daughter, Noodle, and fellow captives Abacus Crunch, Piper Benz, Larry Chucklesworth, and Lottie Bell.

Wonka befriends Noodle, who agrees to teach him how to read. Meanwhile, the "Chocolate Cartel" bribe the Chief of Police to torment Wonka. Crunch, having previously worked for Slugworth as an accountant, reveals that the Cartel has a secret vault of chocolate, used for bribes to maintain their power. Wonka and the launderette workers embark on a chocolate-selling crusade to alleviate their debts, using the city's storm drains to evade the police. Wonka discovers his chocolates are being pilfered by an Oompa Loompa named Lofty, who seeks retribution for the cocoa beans Wonka took from Loompaland under his watch.

Wonka finally opens his dream chocolate shop, but the Cartel bribe Scrubitt to sabotage his chocolates with Yeti sweat. Chaos ensues among Wonka's customers, disfigured from the sabotaged chocolates, leading to the destruction of the shop. Wonka reluctantly accepts the Cartel's offer to pay off everyone's debts in exchange for him leaving town by boat. The laundry workers are released, but Slugworth pays Scrubitt to keep Noodle indefinitely. Wonka deduces that Noodle and Slugworth are related, before he, with Lofty aboard, realizes the Cartel has rigged the boat to explode. After escaping from the boat and rescuing Noodle, Wonka and his friends devise a strategy to obtain the Cartel's incriminating account book.

Wonka and Noodle infiltrate the Cartel's headquarters, only to be confronted by the Cartel. Slugworth reveals that after the death of Noodle's father, his own brother Zebedee, he lied to her mother Dorothy Smith that Noodle had died as well and gave the newborn to Scrubitt. Held at gunpoint and locked in the Cartel's vault of liquid chocolate, Wonka and Noodle nearly drown, but Lofty, still seeking reimbursement from Wonka, rescues them.

Wonka and Noodle expose the Cartel's misdeeds, releasing their chocolate reserves into the city fountain, now laced with Wonka's unique ingredients, ruining the Cartel's enterprise. The Cartel float away, having eaten Wonka's hoverchocs, and the Chief is arrested. Wonka reunites Noodle with her mother and purchases an abandoned castle that he transforms into his own chocolate factory, with Lofty heading the tasting department.

During the credits, Lofty shows footage of Wonka's friends returning to their old lives while Scrubitt and Bleacher are arrested.

Cast[]

Timothée Chalame as Willy Wonka
Calah Lane as Noodle
Hugh Grant as Lofty
Paterson Joseph as Arthur Slugworth
Matt Lucas as Prodnose
Mathew Baynton as Fickelgruber

Development[]

Reception[]

The film received mostly positive reviews.

Canonicity[]

While it can be considered a prequel, it is never said to be in the same continuity as either the 1971 film or 2005 film. It is has been said that is can be considered a companion piece to the 1971 version, as shown by the Oompa Loompa resembling the 1971 film.

One strange point is that in Wonka, Arthur Slugworth is a black man, but in the 1971 film, Mr. Wilkinson pretends to be Slugworth to Charlie which can be seen as odd, although it is not impossible that Wilkinson expected Charlie to be unfamiliar with Slugworth's appearance.

Trivia[]

The film is the highest-grossing Willy Wonka related film, making quite a bit more than the 2005 film. This is quite remarkable considering it tells an original story as well. While the success of Wonka can be attributed to there being more people on Earth in 2023 compared to 2005, it can also be attributed to how Willy Wonka became more of a Western pop cultural staple over the past two decades.
There is a novelization of the film written by Sibéal Pounder.
It is unclear when the film is set, but the screenplay mentions a "1940s" boat, meaning it can not be set 1939 or before. Given that World War II is never mentioned in the film, it is likely set between 1946-1949.