T-shirt #3: Wonka Bar

I remember wearing this shirt to a program I was teaching at and some “concerned” clinician wanted to know if it was a reference to the movie or to a drinking establishment. I think I said something like, “Yeah, the Wonka Bar, they just opened it in Faneuil Hall.” Anyway, here are some things you might not know about the movie (some from imdb.com):

- It was nominated for The Oscars in 1972 for Best Music, Scoring Adaptation and Original Song Score

- Also in 1972, Gene Wilder was nominated for a Golden Globe, Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy

- Spoofed in one of the best Family Guy Episodes, “Wasted Talent”

- The reactions of the actors in some scenes are spontaneous. For example, when the children first enter the main factory and see the gardens, their reactions are real, it was really their first view of that particular set.


- The opening credits sequence was filmed at a real chocolate factory in Switzerland.

- The final Oompa Loompa song took a total of 50 takes.

- After reading the script, Gene Wilder said he would make the film under one condition: that he would be allowed to do a somersault in the scene when he first meets the children. When asked why, Gene Wilder replied that having Willy Wonka start out limping and end up somersaulting would set the tone for that character. He wanted to portray him as someone whose actions were completely unpredictable. His request to do the somersault was granted.

- The musical code for entering the Chocolate Factory played by Wonka is the introduction of Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro". Mrs. Teevee mistakes it for "Rachmaninoff."

- Luckily, for dorks like me: Since this was before the days of CGI, one of the visual effects that was needed to be accomplished was Violet turning blue. At the time, the development of color layering was in process. According to the book, Violet's face and hair turns blue. The director worked with it but was only able to turn her face blue. Further development of the color layering was perfected by the time the first Star Wars (1977) was released and was ready for use to make the light-saber concept look good.

- I do, in fact, want an Oompa Loompa…now!!!