Golden ticket for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

A cult classic, this book is a favourite among the kids. They love it for Dahl’s imaginative brilliance and the story’s mouth-watering prospect. It may be a children’s book nonetheless it attracted readers from all age groups. Tim Burton’s film adaptation (2005) is said to be much closer to the novel than the 1971 film of the same name.

Charlie Bucket is a young child who is obsessed with Willy Wonka’s chocolates and a million other kids share the same sentiment. When an opportunity to visit the Chocolate factory  in the form of a golden ticket comes his way, he grabs it with both hands in spite of people making lucrative offers to make him think otherwise ( Please note Charlie is ridiculously poor and money in exchange for the golden ticket would have gone a long way!). The film also follows the same theme. The story ends with Willy Wonka offering the factory to Charlie on one condition only: he must renounce his family relations and work continuously. Charlie declines his proposal with a smile and invites him over for dinner. It is then that Willy Wonka sees Charlie’s true wealth: his family. Cue happy ending.

The book is very popular and features on the best children’s book list. J.K. Rowling remarks it to be one of her favourites as a child. However many prominent individuals have openly
criticised the book with some even calling it “fantasy of an almost literally nauseating kind”. Readers shouldn’t pay heed to such words; CATCF is a visual masterpiece and Dahl’s imagination renders the reader speechless. His work is brilliant and absolutely creative. A world so beautiful and so happy. Burton’s film is pretty exceptional too. Jonny Depp is particularly lovable has the nervous Willy Wonka (who it seems suffers from OCD). The sets and VFX are breath-taking. The movie delves a little further into Willy Wonka’s personal life (Story borrowed from CATCF’s sequel: Charlie and the glass elevator). Though a sequel hasn’t been made yet, the solo film makes up for almost everything!

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Written by

Vaibhav Sharma