#19 WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971)
WHAT IS THIS...A FREAKOUT?
A while
ago, Saturday Night Live did a sketch parodying the 20th Anniversary
release DVD of Willie Wonka. While showing a bogus outtake from the
famous boat scene, the actor portraying Wonka breaks character and
exclaims, "This is supposed to be a kid's movie, RIGHT?"
As
Wonka brings the kids and their parents on a boat ride, he begins
shouting insane poetry (CLICK
HERE to hear it) while nightmarish imagery is projected on the
walls. While just moments before the characters were delighted with
giant lollipops and rivers made of chocolate, they know see such
wholesome goodness as chickens getting their heads cut off, and
enough psychotic LSD induced visions to bring Jerry Garcia back to
life. Many versions of the film were edited to remove the chicken
head cutting scene, while when FOX Family Channel aired the film, the
entire boat sequence was removed.
Needless to say, it still holds up. When my kids were watching this
for the first time with me last year, my 3 year old son thought it
got too scary at this part and left the room.
And let
me just take a minute to praise the work of Gene Wilder. Such a
great understated comic genius, and from interviews I've seen, he
seems like a genuinely kind and great man.
