‘Wonka’ is sweeter than chocolate

“Wonka,” a heartwarming and nearly sickeningly sweet tale that eases the controversy and darkness of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and the sinister auras of the story’s previous film adaptations, puts a new face and lighthearted twist to the iconic chocolatier. 

Most who remember watching their generation’s version of the story for the first time would likely recall the experience as being wildly fantastical — yet somewhat off-putting. 

Dahl’s original novel, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” tells the story of a young Charlie Bucket, who wins one of the coveted golden tickets allowing people the chance to tour the ever-magical Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Filled with adventure, eccentricity and the slightest bit of stop-and-reread bizarreness, the story has survived the test of time and is still loved by many.

“Wonka” tells the origin story of protagonist Willy Wonka, played by Timothée Chalamet. Tommy Jenkins, lecturer in the English department, said the presentation of this film as more of an origin story, as opposed to a prequel, was likely a conscious decision.

“There’s kind of a love-hate relationship with prequels,” Jenkins said. “People either love it or they think ‘Oh, you're ruining the original movies.’ I think a lot of it has to do with how and how well the prequels are done.”

“Wonka” faced a trial when it came to audience acceptance. The film’s trailers and overall marketing appeared to house a far more fantastical and far less sinister feel than the preceding movies, which many interpreted to be an injustice to the titular character. 

Before the release of the film, Chalamet hinted that this film wouldn’t be as dark as previous adaptations. 

“It’s not mining the darker emotions in life,” Chalamet said to Time Magazine. “It’s a celebration of being off-center and of being okay with the weirder parts of you that don’t quite fit in.” 

In terms of audience response and general reception, Jenkins said he thinks it’s often best to take a new and different direction to films that serve as prequels or origin stories. 

“[When] doing a prequel, just in my opinion, it's almost better to go in a very different kind of direction than trying to follow too much of what the original was like,” Jenkins said. “I think it would be more risky to follow [the previous films].”

The casting of Gen Z-favorite Chalamet in this cheerier, sing-songy version of the darkly eccentric chocolatier further contributed to the mixed reactions of the film even before its release. 

Jenkins said that casting, despite the actor’s popularity, is reliant on the story the film is trying to tell and the interpretation it intends to take. 

“Timothée Chalamet is obviously a versatile actor, but from the trailers and seeing him in other works, I don't think he would do that kind of dark and sinister kind of Wonka,” Jenkins said. “If you wanted that, [you could] cast somebody else in that role.”

Jenkins said the comparison by many of Chalamet to Johnny Depp and Gene Wilder, actors who played Willy Wonka in previous films, is flawed because there’s strong differences between each film. 

“Each person playing Wonka has to do their own interpretation of him for each film,” Jenkins said. “The Johnny Depp interpretation of Wonka was almost a little bit more sinister and there was a little more darkness to it, whereas the Gene Wilder one had a more childlike quality.”

Paul King’s “Wonka,” as indicated by trailers and pre-film releases, is a more fantastical and wonder-filled film than Mel Stuart’s or Tim Burton’s. No eerie undertones of Dahl’s stories or the previous films are present — just magic and chocolate. 

The entire movie is full of whimsical songs and dancing in the street. Even the portion of the film dealing with danger and potential death concerns an innocent “death by chocolate” proposition. 

Much of the post-release criticism of the film revolves around the idea that it’s “too fantastical” and “too cliché.” What these criticisms fail to acknowledge is that “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” regardless of interpretation or version, is a children’s story at heart. Children’s stories are fantastical and cliché to an almost-overwhelming degree — making them a popular business move. 

Jenkins said the film’s marketing approach was similar to the marketing for “Barbie,” which intended to appeal to both children and older audiences who grew up with the character and franchise. 

“One of the things that ‘Barbie’ did so well was appealing to a younger audience, but also attracting people who had grown up playing with Barbie who are adults,” Jenkins said. “You had this wide spectrum of an audience that was interested in this movie. And I would say that the people making ‘Wonka’ want that exact same thing.”

Collider reported that in just over one week, “Wonka” had made $246 million worldwide, against a budget of $125 million. It seems the business tactic has been successful — and that the film has passed its trial by audience.