Movie Reviews

‘Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory’ 4K UHD Blu-Ray Review – Beloved Family Classic Gets A Wondrous Upgrade

By Dillon Gonzales
June 27, 2021
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The movie critique portion of this review was written by my colleague Michele Arbir.

Roger Ebert once said: “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is probably the best film of its sort since The Wizard of Oz. It is everything that family movies usually claim to be, but aren’t: Delightful, funny, scary, exciting, and, most of all, a genuine work of imagination.” I can’t disagree. This is my second very favorite movie of all time. The film is a timeless classic. So many good memories watching this as a child with my grandparents and anytime it was on television.

The last of five coveted “golden tickets” falls into the hands of a sweet but very poor boy Charlie Bucket. He and his Grandpa Joe then get a tour of the strangest chocolate factory in the world. The owner leads five young winners on a thrilling and often dangerous tour of his factory.

If you haven’t watched this before you are missing a huge part of movie history. Released in 1971 and directed by Mel Stuart, the film is based on the novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl, who also wrote the screenplay. Dahl was credited with writing the film’s screenplay; however, David Seltzer, who went uncredited in the film, was brought in to rework the screenplay against Dahl’s wishes. In making major changes to the ending and adding musical numbers, along with other decisions made by the director, Dahl went on to disown the film.

It is sad that Dahl felt that way, although I understand. Authors are not always open to changes. Not too often does a book to film movie work so well with so many changes. Gene Wilder is just fantastic as Willy Wonka. In 1972, the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score, and Wilder was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. How he didn’t win, I will never understand.

If you watch the documentary on this movie, the creator and director say that they didn’t actually make this movie for kids. They made this movie for adults knowing that the kids would still be fascinated by the amazing sets and colors and candy. However, they wanted to do a sort of kids movie for adults and when you watch it you will get it. The film also introduced the song “The Candy Man”, which went on to become a popular hit when recorded by Sammy Davis Jr.

One of the great childhood classics. Nostalgic and horrifying all at once, but it didn’t seem to bother my grandson who has Autism. He now wants to go to the chocolate factory and wants a golden ticket. We are still singing “Oompa-Loompa-Doompa-Dee-Do. I’ve got a perfect puzzle for you. Oompa-Loompa-Doompa-Dee-Dee. If you are wise you’ll listen to me”. So if you haven’t watched this one yet, you really should. I cannot tell you how much it brightened my day watching with my Grandson.

Video Quality

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory offers a substantial uptick in quality over the ancient, deeply flawed Blu-Ray from the early days of the format. One of the biggest talking points of this release is how the 4K UHD corrects a framing mistake that plagued the previous Blu-ray. This new presentation is presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio that is believed to most closely capture the theatrical experience (it was shot in 1.66:1) rather than the previous 1.78:1 Blu-Ray release which shifted the framing somewhat and showed too much information on the left-hand side. This release also corrects the windowboxed opening credit sequence that had black bars on all four sides. Not only that, but the original (very brief) Paramount logo has been restored at the top of the film. The credits have never been treated better!

The greatest gain of this 4K restoration is in the employment of the color spectrum. While those used to the previous Blu-Ray may find this disc a bit too dark at first, in actuality this disc has much more natural colors that line up with how the film is supposed to appear. The previous Blu-Ray was artificially boosted with garish contrast and saturation levels. The HDR really harnesses the visual wonder that this world has to offer and features it to its full potential. One only has to look as far as the first peak into the Wonka factory to experience visual brilliance. Colors are more rich, natural and accurate to what was intended by the creative team. Even the more drab colors such as the locales prior to the factory offer a glorious stability. The highlights in the film are more defined with whites more pure and balanced with no instances of blooming to be found. The black levels are especially awe-inspiring in this presentation, staying deep and inky with great detail.

This transfer sports a picture that has a much more natural film grain that resolves well without being clumpy or unnatural. There has been no major digital tinkering on this transfer, so this disc is free of unsightly DNR, compression artifacts and other encode issues. Skin tones appear way more natural with healthy doses of fine detail apparent on faces such as pores. The production design that is a signature of the narrative is presented with immense depth and perfect clarity. Take a look around any given room to see a wide array of minute details that are visible for the first time ever on disc. The costumes and textural output of the scenery is simply marvelous to behold with everything rendering without any issues. This is a very natural looking transfer that offers up a much-improved presentation that should please fans of the film.

Audio Quality

This 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc comes with a pleasing but not perfect DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that gives an impressive amount of life to the adventure. The movie is dialogue heavy and clarity is mostly not an issue. Some of the young actors get a little bit mush-mouthy or lispy in their line readings, which may make you have to turn on the subtitles. The track makes good use of the surround speakers with environmental flourishes and sound effects adding a lot of subtle activity. They are mostly engaged by the fleshing out of the musical moments of which there are plenty. The blissful score really fills the room throughout the movie. The iconic songs in the film sound pretty wonderful with only a few instances of what seems like age-related distortion during the music. The track does not engage the low end in a significant way, but it is active enough to remind you it exists. The most irritating aspect of the audio on this disc is the lack of the original mono score as a secondary option. While many people are trying to utilize every speaker they own, purists would like the chance to view the film as it was originally conceived. This audio track represents the film well, but there is still room for improvement.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: A lively track with the “Wonka Kids” including Peter Ostrum (Charlie Bucket), Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt), Paris Themmen (Mike Teevee), Michael Bollner (Augustus Gloop) and Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregarde), all grown up. In this track the “kids” have a blast reminiscing about their experiences on set and excitedly pointing out different small parts of the movie that outsiders might not pick up on at first. There are moments where they get a bit too lost in the film and silence prevails, but for the most part this is a fun track that fans will love.

Pure Imagination – The Story of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: A nearly 31-minute featurette which delves into the development of the film with Quaker Oats, the casting of Gene Wilder and his stipulation for the character, finding each of the children, creating the factory, developing the music in the film, landing on an eding and more. This piece puts director Mel Stuart, producer David Wolper, actor Gene Wilder and the Wonka kids at the forefront.

Vintage 1971 Featurette: A four-minute featurette that touches on the key players of this story and the general fantastical concept. Nothing too in-depth, but it makes for a fun inclusion.

Sing-Along Songs: Karaoke-style videos are provided for “I’ve Got A Golden Ticket”, “Pure Imagination”, “I Want It Now” and “Oompa-Loompa-Doompa-Dee-Do.”

Trailers: The three-minute theatrical trailer is provided here which does a good job of getting you excited for the film.

Final Thoughts

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a classic tale that has a joyously dark edge to complement the treacly-sweet setting. Gene Wilder made this oddball character an icon who has no qualms with getting rid of a few bad eggs. Honestly, who cannot relate? There is something magical about this story that Hollywood rarely captures – it is something you really must admire. No matter how many times you have watched this one, there is always something new to discover and appreciate. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has finally given this beloved tale the home entertainment presentation it deserves with this new 4K UHD Blu-Ray. The A/V presentation is excellent and the legacy extras that are carried over are really entertaining. If you are a fan of the film, you owe it to yourself to pick up this new package. Highly Recommended

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory will be available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray and Digital on June 29, 2021.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.