Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Blu-ray Movie Review

"Little surprises around every corner, but nothing dangerous."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown October 9, 2011

Gene Wilder's indelible Willy Wonka is back, this time in a tempting 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition box set. Fortunately, it isn't a barebones double dip packed with a shiny golden ticket and a few Wonka-themed trinkets. Yes, it repackages the same BD-25 Feature Film disc many fans already own (originally released in Digibook packaging in 2009 and re-released in a standard Blu-ray case in 2010). And yes, there are a few trinkets tucked in the box that will get little to no use. But a bonus disc of additional special features (among them a new interview with director Mel Stuart and an archive featurette with an interview with author Roald Dahl) and a terrific 144-page book makes this one a more enticing re-issue than most. Enticing enough to justify the box set's higher price point? Read on...

For a review of the film, its 1080p/VC-1 encoded video transfer and its Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track, see Jeffrey Kauffman's review of the 2009 Digibook release.

Wonka's 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition (limited to 100,000 numbered copies) comes packaged in a hefty, oversized purple box (8 h x 11¾ w x 2 d). Inside, a carefully organized three-tier inner box houses the following items, held in place by small, plastic dividers:

• 3-disc DigiPak: The set's discs include a BD-25 with the feature film (1080p/VC-1, Dolby TrueHD 5.1) and previously released special features (detailed in their entirety in the Supplements section of this review), a standard DVD with new extras (also detailed below in the Supplements section), and a standard DVD copy of the film.
• Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory: The creme de la creme of the new box set is this 144-page paperback book (9½ h x 7½ w), an overview of the production by director Mel Stuart (with collaborator Josh Young). In it, Stuart elaborates on the origins of the movie, adapting Dahl's original book, casting, preproduction, the film's music, shooting the movie, editing, Wonka's legacy and more. Better still, the book is brimming behind-the-scenes images, candid photos, and tidbits and information that will be new to most fans. Honestly, I would have dropped twenty dollars on the book alone. My lone complaint? I would have preferred a hardcover version.
• Replica Production Correspondence: A heavy paper envelope (7 w x 10 h) contains 14 pieces of replica production correspondence including a cast list, a letter from producer Stan Margulies to Pia Arnold (about the Oompa-Loompas' coloring), a handwritten letter from Wilder to Stuart (in which he expresses concerns about his initial costume design), a note from producer David L. Wolper to Stuart, a letter from Margulies to Stuart (about the Wonkavator), a two-page memo from Wolper to Stuart, and congratulatory letters from Margulies to Wilder, Peter Ostrum and Jack Alberton.
• Wonka Bar Tin: This retro candy bar-sized tin (3¾ w x 7¾ h x ¾ d) holds four multi-colored scratch-n-sniff pencils (scratching a pencil is harder than you might think) and a scented chocolate eraser.
• Golden Ticket: What could have been a fantastic little treat -- a replica of a Wonka golden ticket -- comes close. Oh so close. Rather than a word-for-word replica, though, the set's golden ticket is a pseudo-replica with an online code that will nab 45 lucky winners a prize.

All in all, the "Pure Imagination" book and the production correspondence make the 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition as tasty as it is. Of course, not every filmfan is going to pore over a 144-page book, and it's clearly the driving force behind the box set's price point. Don't get me wrong, the additional extras are welcome, but "Pure Imagination" is the one element that should dictate how high the 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition set should be on your Wish List.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

From Jeffrey Kauffman's 2009 review: There's no getting around it, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has always been a spectacularly ugly film. It was when it was originally released, something that has continued unabated in its successively "upgraded" home video releases. Full of garish colors, with rather odd looking Technicolor (reds verging on oranges a lot of the time), and an almost videotaped look to what may have been very cheap film stock considering the film's rather paltry budget, my sense is there has never been a lot to work with in Willy's source elements. This new Blu-ray release, encoded via VC-1, does offer some spectacular sharpness, a sharpness that is (no pun intended) a two edged sword. The superior clarity makes the weird patterned black and white room Willy first leads his charges into on their tour of the chocolate factory superbly detailed for the first time, for example, with no hint of moire patterns or aliasing. On the other hand some of the opticals look pretty shoddy, notably the close up of Mrs. Teevee behind her newly shrunk son, as well as the closing green screen shots of Willy's magical elevator (the right side of the elevator virtually disappears in the final shot of it floating into the sky). Color is as odd as it has always looked in this film, with flesh tones all over the map (and that's not including the Oompa Loompas), but saturation is quite pleasing in this transfer. This is certainly the best Willy Wonka has ever looked in any home video format, but it's still not very good. A cheap looking film somehow only looks cheaper in 1080p, sadly.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

From Jeffrey Kauffman's 2009 review: I make no bones about loving Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley's song score for Willy Wonka. Who could have foreseen Sammy Davis would have a completely unexpected Top 10 hit with "Candy Man" at a time when his career was pretty much Vegas camp? The rest of the score is similarly imaginative and melodic, and it's therefore a shame that the Dolby True HD 5.1 mix reveals some damage in the mid to low range which is especially egregious in the sung moments. You'll hear something akin to low level distortion in these frequencies, more obvious in "Candy Man" than "Pure Imagination," for example, but noticeable nonetheless throughout the sung segments. I almost wonder if the vocal stems were archived separately from the orchestral, because the orchestral music per se sounds excellent, with the True HD track revealing lots of color I hadn't heard before in Walter Scharf's fun orchestrations. Fun little things like the glockenspiel in the opening credits sequence pop now with a clarity that they simply didn't have in previous home video incarnations. The rest of the 5.1 mix has several fun immersive moments, mostly in the over the top sound effects that accompany Willy's crazy contraptions. Directionality in dialogue is not especially overwhelming, but is subtly present. If you're in the mood for some unusual fun, toggle through the foreign language soundtracks (and there are several). I was surprised to hear that some of them kept the original English language singing, but others had the songs in their respective languages.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Four down, one to go, and somewhere out there a lucky person is moving closer and closer to the most sought after prize in history. Though we cannot help but envy whoever he is, and we may feel bitter, we must remember there are more important things. Many more important things. Though offhand I cannot think of what they are. But I'm sure there must be something!

Unfortunately, the box set's exclusive bonus content amounts to a pair of special features that clock in at less than thirty minutes: a newly produced interview with Mel Stuart (and other surprise guests) and a rediscovered archival featurette. The bulk of the extras -- a cast audio commentary, a production documentary, four sing-along songs and a vintage featurette from 1971 -- already appeared on the 2009 Blu-ray release and its 2010 re-issue. The only other disappointment worth noting? All of the supplements are presented in standard definition. Obviously, those who don't own a Blu-ray copy of Willy Wonka will have far more to explore than those who purchased one of the previous single-disc editions, while those who do own a copy may find the 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition box set doesn't boast enough new content to justify the cost of admission. Again, it really comes down to how much you're willing to pay for the set's 144-page book; the one addition that will make this box set delectable to diehard Willy Wonka fans.

• Audio Commentary (Disc 1): The rosy cheeked Wonka kids -- 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 -- waltz down memory lane for a largely anecdotal retrospective commentary and deliver a charming, funny and reasonably informative chat. To their great credit, they don't get lost in never-ending tangents and stay fairly focused on the film, its production and the surreal realities of starring in a childhood classic. They do get caught up in the film, though. More than once, actually. And silence falls whenever their attention hangs in the balance. Still, it's an entertaining, even endearing commentary; one most listeners will thoroughly enjoy.
• Pure Imagination: The Story of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (Disc 1, SD, 30 minutes): Director Mel Stuart, producer David Wolper, actor Gene Wilder and the Wonka kids are front and center in this extensive documentary comprised of behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and other materials. In it, they discuss financing the film (thanks to a Quaker Oats marketing gimmick), casting Willy Wonka and the various Golden Ticket winners, developing the story and characters (before and during the shoot), creating the world of Wonka's factory and the Oompa-Loompas, the film's music and more.
• Sing-Along Songs (Disc 1, SD, 9 minutes): Four karaoke-style sing-along videos are available: "I've Got a Golden Ticket," "Pure Imagination," "I Want It Now" and "Oompa-Loompa-Doompa-De-Do."
• Original Featurette (Disc 1, SD, 4 minutes): This vintage featurette hails from 1971 and will no doubt delight those looking for every last Willy Wonka morsel the box set has to offer.
• Theatrical Trailer (Disc 1, SD, 3 minutes): Willy Wonka's 1971 theatrical trailer rounds out the first disc.
• Mel Stuart's Wonkavision (Disc 2, SD, 14 minutes): This recently produced featurette finds Stuart candidly reminiscing about the film, its tone, timeless qualities, arguments that sprung up during the production (Stuart initially didn't want any songs), the fantasy-steeped-in-reality mantra he brought to the table, the infamous boat ride and its place in the nightmares of kids the world over, directing the young actors (even his own children in cameo roles), and his favorite scenes and sequences. It's a bit short at fourteen minutes, but it's well worth watching.
• A World of Pure Imagination (Disc 2, SD, 13 minutes): The only other extra found on the second disc is the recently rediscovered "A World of Pure Imagination," a vintage featurette notable only for its interview with author Roald Dahl.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A box set's pricepoint is crucial. Whether or not the 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition release of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory justifies consideration comes down to just one question: how much is an excellent 144-page production book, the previous Blu-ray release of the film, a bonus DVD with two exclusive featurettes, and several other pack-ins worth in your mind? If you're a diehard Wonka zealot with disposable income to spare, the choice will be simple. If, however, you have affection for the film but don't really care about a book, a few box set goodies and two featurettes you won't find anywhere else, you'd be better served by the 2009 Digibook release or the 2010 standard-case re-issue. Ultimately, those armed with appropriate expectations will enjoy everything Warner's box set has in store.