WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

(THE SAMMY DAVIS JR. TRIBUTE EDITION!)

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A childhood favorite that never gets old. But as I got older I learned more about the production. It struck me that for such a good film, it was odd that so much of it was filmed in a bubble as the new 70s golden age of Hollywood erupted around it. It was almost square to a fault, which was a shame, as it could've gone even farther with the experimentation and rock & rock passion driving the other movies of the time. Yet, it's still sublime. You could argue that Wilder's one man tour de force show WAS that aforementioned spirit. As the film becomes this wonderful post 60s acid-trip Wizard of Oz of sorts. And then there was the cinema crime of not casting Sammy Davis Jr. as the candyman, despite him petitioning hard for the role. So, what's a fan editor to do?

+++PITCH+++
An edit that replaces the opening Candy man song with the Sammy Davis Jr. number, by repurposing the opening credits into that sequence. That was my first step to righting that wrong (mentioned above) and in doing so the movie has a more modern opening that feels more bold and creative, in line with other golden age 70s films.
But I decided not to stop there. The movie itself is a bit too traditional of a musical in a mildly cringey sense. Not that a classic musical is necessary a bad thing. But since the first half (before we get to the factory) is just wonderfully dry and witty, like a good British comedy, I got to thinking... why not reframe the movie a bit so it has a move pleasing structure like other movies of the time? The Candy factory part is so trippy and different from anything we say before, that it plays like a great short film in the middle of the movie. So I decided to go with that, a move the other musical numbers from the first half and into the second. That results in a nice comedy in the first act playing it straight (with NO musical numbers). But then when we get into the candy factory, the second half of the film now plays like this great surprise fantasy musical we didn't ask for. And that really makes the rest of the movie come to life.
Also, for fun, given that one of the greatest sequences of the movie is that horrific tunnel ride (a great WTF scene that was definitely brave and bold in the spirit of the 70s golden age of cinema) I decided to have fun tweaking that a bit. With a little assist from Dario Argento, we get (maybe) ;) an additional shot or two of something horrific happening as well in the acid trip boat tunnel ride.

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