Dahl's Inferno: Willy Wonka and the Pits of Hell


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We've all seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It's a right of passage for every child born after 1971. From the Oompa Loompas to the chocolate river, we all remember almost ever inch of that factory. Gene Wilder, one of my favorite actors of all time, absolutely creates one of the most memorable portrayals of his career, only rivaled by his turn in Young Frankenstein. But, even though this film is a staple of childhood, there's always been a dark undercurrent to it.

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This was fantastically written and well supported. It never seemed like you were grasping at straws, everything you referenced is there in the source material. Having read Dante's Inferno less than a year ago I can actually kind of see the parallels.

I do remember that Dahl hated the film adaptation which would be strange if something so intricate and discrete was translated so well. Then again he did write the screenplay.

In any case, great work!

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This was fantastically written and well supported. It never seemed like you were grasping at straws, everything you referenced is there in the source material. Having read Dante's Inferno less than a year ago I can actually kind of see the parallels.

I do remember that Dahl hated the film adaptation which would be strange if something so intricate and discrete could be translated so well. Then again he did write the screenplay.

In any case, great work!

Dahl hating the film adaptation is up to interpretation. I've read a few things that said that without a pile of support, whereas a bunch of interviews point out that he loved his set visits and attended the premier.

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Funny review. The ferry ride of nightmares is one of my earliest memories, so this interpretation may not be too far off.

I knew the nephew of the original Charlie Buckett, all throughout high school he had the nickname "Chuck Bucket" and everyone thought he was a great performer. When he became a first generation college student he studied game design. The last I heard about him he was working around 80 hours a week with work and graduate school. I am happy that he is working on what he loves but a part of me wonders if he let his talent as a performer go to waste.

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Bravo sir! If you can somehow acquire the rights and line up Rob Zombie to direct, I think you might have stumbled across the truest realisations of Dahl's work on celluloid!

The thing I love about Dahl as an author is that, even though he wrote his books from a child's POV, all of his works had a degree of darkness to them. As your piece explored, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory is, potentially, one of the darkest in that 5 children enter this abandoned confectionary building and only 1 is seen leaving, and even then, he is tasked/cursed with keeping it going as its new master. And Wonka can absolutely be seen as a malevolent force. I think both the Wilder and Depp incarnations realised that to varying extents, but the narratives stopped them pushing the boat out with that idea (in part because Dahl himself didn't go there).

Somewhere in Buckinghamshire is the Roald Dahl Storytelling centre, based in the town in which Dahl lived, and it's been on my museum hit-list forever. Once I visit & add it to my journal, I'd quite happily report back on it.

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