Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

Directed by Tim Burton, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is based on the 1964 book of the same name by author Ronald Dahl. Released in 2005, it is not to be confused with the 1971 release of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory which followed a similar plot. The main character of the movie is Charlie Bucket, a kind, loving boy who lives in poverty with his mother, father, and four bedridden grandparents. His mother is unemployed, and his father works in a toothpaste factory. Down the street is Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, which recently reopened after the owner was forced in to seclusion, and had to fire all his employees due to industrial espionage. Charlie’s Grandpa Joe had previously worked for Wonka and was laid off when the closure occurred. One day Wonka announced a contest in which the child that found one of five Golden Tickets wrapped in an ordinary Wonka candy bar would be given a full tour of the factory as well as the chance to win an unknown grand prize. Four children quickly claim their prize, with rumors of the fifth ticket having been found in Russia. The ticket turned out to be a fake and Charlie just happens to be the lucky one to have found the fifth ticket. On tour day, the children and their chaperones arrive to meet Wonka, a strange, lonely individual that acts odd at the mention of the word “family.” During the tour the four other children succumb to temptation, ending up in worse shape than when they started to tour. Charlie is the last remaining child, and winner of the grand prize, becoming heir to the Wonka factory, but he is forbidden to bring his family along with him. After working to reunite Wonka and his father, Charlie is then allowed to let his family move into the factory, allowing all to live happily ever after.