| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Gene Wilder | ... | Willy Wonka | |
| Jack Albertson | ... | Grandpa Joe | |
| Peter Ostrum | ... | Charlie | |
| Roy Kinnear | ... | Mr. Salt | |
| Julie Dawn Cole | ... | Veruca Salt | |
| Leonard Stone | ... | Mr. Beauregarde | |
| Denise Nickerson | ... | Violet Beauregarde | |
| Nora Denney | ... | Mrs. Teevee (as Dodo Denney) | |
| Paris Themmen | ... | Mike Teevee | |
| Ursula Reit | ... | Mrs. Gloop | |
| Michael Bollner | ... | Augustus Gloop | |
| Diana Sowle | ... | Mrs. Bucket | |
|
|
Aubrey Woods | ... | Bill |
| David Battley | ... | Mr. Turkentine | |
| Günter Meisner | ... | Mr. Slugworth (as Gunter Meisner) | |
The world is astounded when Willy Wonka, for years a recluse in his factory, announces that five lucky people will be given a tour of the factory, shown all the secrets of his amazing candy, and one will win a lifetime supply of Wonka chocolate. Nobody wants the prize more than young Charlie, but as his family is so poor that buying even one bar of chocolate is a treat, buying enough bars to find one of the five golden tickets is unlikely in the extreme. But in movieland, magic can happen. Charlie, along with four somewhat odious other children, get the chance of a lifetime and a tour of the factory. Along the way, mild disasters befall each of the odious children, but can Charlie beat the odds and grab the brass ring? Written by Rick Munoz <rick.munoz@his.com>
All the ideas that Rould Dahl puts into his book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" are here in an imaginative visual form appropriate to the time it was made. A lot of attention was paid to the sets and visual effects, clever special effects such as a trap door and miniturization testify to the care that the producers put into making this movie. The theme of the movie is difficult for adults. There are bad children in the world. They come from bad parents, they're not created by emulation, but rather the parents "produce them", much like chocolate is produced in a factory. The factory is populated by miniature people named oomphaloopas that remind the listener at intervals of Dahl's moral points: Too much TV is bad for children, books should be read instead, and children need to adhere to an ethical code of some sort in order to grow up strong. And who knew Gene Wilder had such a beautiful singing voice! The music is some of the best show music of it's time, including "The Candy Man".