Mel Stuart

Director of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) -- I love this movie, but let me tell you my two problems with it. One: the Umpalumpas. Do we need the "moral" spelled out in song by orange-faced midgets? We know by watching the story that it's a dig at bad parenting and bratty kids. Two: Charlie and his grandfather broke the rules, just like the other kids did. When Willy Wonka was yelling at Charlie at the end for that very fact, saying "You get nothing!" etc., he was right. Augustus Gloop drinks a little chocolate and he's sucked into a tube, but Charlie fucks with a bubble machine and he's off the hook? No one should have won the game. Just because Charlie is more goody-goody and poor doesn't give him special privileges; if anything, he should know better. There, I said it. Now, again, I love this movie. Gene Wilder is the perfect combination of genius, madman, and sweet guy. You really believe he came up with all this stuff. The factory is great. The songs (minus the Umpalumpa song) are wonderful. Of course the infamous "trips" are nice too, giving little kids their dose of LSD without doing them any real harm. When I first saw the movie in fourth grade, the entire thing certainly blew my mind. A great movie made from a not-so-great book.