This movie always kind of creeped me out

[Lsura]

Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

I'm watching it right now on TNT. I remember having nightmares about it when I was little. Even now, it's kind of freaky.


Funny thing, I read the book with no problem.

[Ad Noctum]

those purple-faced oompa-loompa's are to the Flying monkees as Willy Wonka is to Charles Manson

[Ruffian]

...I always hated this movie as a kid. I thought Wonka was killing all of those kids, and thought he was an evil, evil man.

The Oompa Loompas, however, I loved...I'd stay for a refrain or two of their song, and then be done with it.

[racinchikki]

Oh GOD, did I hate that movie. Still do. The Oompa Loompas aren't harmless little Wonka helpers -- they're The Evil! Minions of the devil! Servants of Beelzebub delivering the tortured souls of the children of the damned to their chocolately torment in Hades!!!!!!!!!!

[Bubble Girl]

Hey!!!!

You bunch of Nazis!!

This is one of my all time favorite movies! I always fantasized about owning my own chocolate factory after watching this movie. I thought Willy himself was god since he had all that candy to eat. Without fail on every Thanksgiving we watch the movie sometime during the day. I can't wait!

[Mamapotomus]

That movie has warped my soul. Because of the Oompa-Loompas, I am..*gasp*.. a midget-hater.

:::hanging head in shame:::

Seriously. Every time I see a person of less than average height, I get the willies. Shamefully, in my fear, I once smacked a wee person atop his head one Halloween when he surprised me coming around a corner. I've never even dated someone under six feet tall.

I totally blame Willy Wonka and his demon minions for the evil in my heart.



..... the songs are catchy, though!

[TVeblen]

::"Twilight Zone" music swells::

Synchronicity rules. I just saw some clips from The Grinch and it looks horrifying. And this is someone who who adores Nightmare before Christmas and Scrooged.

Nobody was born more whimsical than Gene Wilder. If he couldn't pull off a fantasy by Roald Dahl--who was complex, to say the least--then no wonder a physical comedian like Carrey makes terrifying hash of Dr. Seuss.

Sorry, unintentional derailment.

Veb

[slackergirl]

Is that the one with the girl that blows up into a blueberry? I think it was, and it completely freaked me out too. I still have nightmares about that scene occasionally, even though I only saw it once, more than 20 years ago. Although I would like to see that once again because I'm curious as to how accurate my memory actually is.

[RealityChuck]

Folks, the darkness in the movie is just a reflection of Roald Dahl. He had a very sick mind -- read his collection, "Switch Bitch," or any of his other stories like "Lamb to the Slaughter" or "The Landlady."

So you're right that the Oompa-Loompas are sinister. They were also so racist in their original incarnation that the publisher of the American edition had the book edited to tone it down. (This from someone who worked at the publisher at the time and who wrote the inside jacket copy for the book -- Jane Yolen).

There is a darkness and cruelty throughout Dahl's work for children, and the movies made from them ("James and the Giant Peach," "The Witches," and "Matilda," for instance).

[SwimmingRiddles]

Racist in what way? Color me interested.

Yea, those Oompaloompas freaked me out. Even more terrifying is the fact that the last time we had it playing in the video store I work at, a couple of frat boys were discussing thier Halloween costumes. They went as Oompaloompas. ::shiver:: A more terrifing combination I cannot imagine.

I DO love that movie, though. "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream." Wonderful. And Gene Wilder is one of a small number of people I want to be my uncle.

[Lsura]

*sniff* I knew I couldn't be the only one around. Yes, it was the Oompa-Loompas and their evil little songs that tormented me as a child. That, and the scene where they are floating towards the fan in the ceiling. *shudder* And I sat here, and watched the whole thing tonight. I must be a glutton for punishment.

Originally posted by Mamapotomus
I totally blame Willy Wonka and his demon minions for the evil in my heart.

ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!

and slackergirl, yes, it's the one with the girl who blows up into a blueberry.

[Jekeira]

I was absolutely terrified of that movie. The Oompa-Loompas made me a little edgy, but the nightmare really began in the scene in which the boy and his grandfather almost got sucked into the giant fan.

I will never, ever have a ceiling fan in my bedroom.

I was also frightened of the television series "H.R. Puff-n-Stuff." I was fine with the witch, but for some reason the talking flute freaked me out.

[DigitalMuse]

I was so scared when I watched it in first grade that it made me cry.

I will never watch it ever again. It gave me bad nightmares.

[zenith]

I absolutely love Willy Wonka, but I neverthought it was a good childrens movie, far too dark.

[applsmak]

The movie never bothered me, to be honest. Well, except for the part when they were all on the paddle boat, going through that horrific tunnel. Other than that, I actually like the movie!
And by the way, Ad Noctum, the Oompa Loompas didn't have purple faces...they were orange.
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams." (What a great line!)

[Ad Noctum]

I stand corrected.... either way though, it's bad :P

[Guinastasia]

"Lamb to the Slaughter"...is that the one where the wife kills her husband by clubbing him with a frozen leg of lamb when he tells her he wants a divorce, and then she cooks and feeds the lamb to the police to get rid of the evidence?

I watched it tonight...I LOVE that movie...the music is kewl, the kids are brats, and I would LOVE to run around in a factory like that...who wouldn't?
Besides, it has one of THE BEST quotes in movie history:

Violet (picking her nose: Spitting is a dirty habit!
Wonka: I know a worse one.

[Unauthorized Cinnamon]

I was also traumatized by this film. A babysitter tried to make me watch it on TV, and I totally freaked out - I'm sure she was very surprised.

I actually wrote a horror poem in college featuring the soda room scene.

[MikeG]

[proud daddy]
my kids love WW, and they laughed uproariously at the new Grinch... I've taught them well!
[/proud daddy]

BTW this movie has some great lines
i.e. Grinch: {looking at calendar)
"4:00: wallow in self pity,
4:30 stare into the abyss,
5:00 solve world hunger,

...tell {b]no[/b] one

I have to go see it w/o the kids just to write down the good ones- there's sigs a plenty just waiting...

[Nanook of the North Shore]

Originally posted by SwimmingRiddles
Racist in what way? Color me interested.

In the book the Oompa Loompas were basically African Pygmies. The illustrations of them looked nothing like the depiction they got in the movie.

[mnemosyne]

I never liked Willy Wonka either. I always thought it was a bit disturbing. But the movie that really freaked me out: "Operation Beurre de Peanut" ("The Peanut Butter Solution") directed by Roch Demers. I have never been able to watch the whole thing without being totally freaked out!

[Catrandom]

I can't express how much I hate this movie.

Gene Wilder, whom I ordinarily like, is about as badly miscast as he could possibly be; the Oompahs are extremely objectionable, even granting that retaining the original conception would have been impossible; and, of course, there is the minor problem that the screenwriters utterly distorted the moral point of the book for no reason at all.

(Sorry, there are some movies one just takes personally....)

[Jester]

This is extremely disturbing. Just this afternoon, I had a discussion with my girlfriend about how disturbing Willy Wonka is. She loves it, it creeps me out.

But hey, "Silence of the Lambs" is her all-time favorite movie, so that says something about Wonka-lovers.

Although, I do have to admit that Gene Wilder is excellent in it. Creepy, but excellent.

[Chef Troy]

Originally posted by Nanook of the North Shore

In the book the Oompa Loompas were basically African Pygmies. The illustrations of them looked nothing like the depiction they got in the movie.

I had a copy of the book when I was a kid, and I well remember the illustrations that showed the Oompa Loompas as black. Not long ago I picked up a recent edition of the book, and to my horror someone had gone in and changed THE ILLUSTRATIONS to make them all look like hippies! WTF?!? they had been redrawn to have long flowing hair and straight beards. I'm sorry, this kind of revisionism is just ridiculous. I won't buy another copy until I can find an OLD one in a used bookstore.

[Little Nemo]

Oompa loompa oompity ooo
I've got another riddle for you

Willy Wonka is a great movie. I even put it on my recent list of favorites. I can't wait for the DVD release.

And speaking of live action Dr Seuss movies (aka The Grinch) has anyone else seen The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T? Now that was a strange kid's movie.

[Lux Fiat]

Man, was that movie bad. Didn't like Wilder in it at all. I was confounded by the Oompa-Loompas, and is there anything more lame than the electric kool-aid lyric displays when they sang? Loved the book, though.

[delphica]

My parents, usually not cruel people, took me to see this in the theater when I was 5. They then had to pick up their hysterically screaming child and exit from the theater after the girl turned into a blueberry.

I didn't see it again until my college roommate turned out to be some sort of Willy Wonka addict (she had other good qualities that compensated for this). Ugh, it was still a freakshow after all these years.

A freaky thing not mentioned yet is all those grandparents who seemingly can't get out of bed. The same bed. No wonder Charlie wanted to go to the Chocolate Factory, his home was essentially one giant bedsore.

Mamapotomus, your comment about smacking the wee person was the highlight of my week.

[Doug Bowe]

WW is a dark movie, not for everyone.
Somebody has mentioned "The Grinch."
Is anyone aware of the terror now at Universal?
It turns out that Dr. Suess, with his nonsense rhymes and nonsense words, is almost impossible to translate.
So after spending $117 million on their film, Universal discovers that "The Grinch That Stole Christmas" is recognized by people in North America and little where else.
International market, anyone?

[GuanoLad]

The only thing that creeps me out about this movie is when Augustus Gloop gets jammed in that pipe in the chocolate river. It is partially the source of my minor claustrophobic fears.

[Anake]

Willy Wonka is a great movie. I even put it on my recent list of favorites. I can't wait for the DVD release.

Actually, WW is on DVD. It's your "standard" DVD with no neat extras.

From,

Anake

PS: And as for the Grinch, I thought that was a wonderful movie! In reference to other Carrey characters, I thought Carrey's Grinch was a cross between Ace Ventura, The Riddler, and Tony Clifton (although Clifton was an Andy Kaufman creation).

[Cumber]

It never would have occurred to me that WW could freak anyone out!

[ThisYearsGirl]

That's so strange; I was talking with my roommate today about how I hadn't seen the movie or read the book in so long, and I was wondering how I'd react to it now. I hope it won't scare me. . .

[Freudian Slit]

No!! this is the best movie. I watched this movie so many times when I was a child.

If I watched it for the first time now (as an older person), I'd probably be freaked out. But I was seven or eight or so, when I watched it a lot. God, I love that movie. I saw it on TNT last night...yes, it was a bit disturbing. That boat ride. Ahh...

I always thought it was funny when Willy Wonka didn't really care what happened to the kids. They were such brats. The part when he starts screaming at Charlie is also kind of freaky though.

[Tamex]

Originally posted by Doug Bowe
WW is a dark movie, not for everyone.
Somebody has mentioned "The Grinch."
Is anyone aware of the terror now at Universal?
It turns out that Dr. Suess, with his nonsense rhymes and nonsense words, is almost impossible to translate.
So after spending $117 million on their film, Universal discovers that "The Grinch That Stole Christmas" is recognized by people in North America and little where else.
International market, anyone?

They could show it at the Vatican. There is a Latin translation of the book.

[jb_farley]

for good treatment of the wonka myth