To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1971 release of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the family classic that holds a special place in the hearts of so many is now available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (with previously released special features). Directed by Mel Stuart, the film explores what happens when the reclusive Candy Man Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) opens his chocolate factory to five lucky kids who enter thinking that they’ll be given a tour and shown all of the secrets, but who actually end up learning life lessons that they’ll never forget.
During this recent virtual interview with Collider, which you can both watch and read, co-stars Peter Ostrum (“Charlie Bucket”), Julie Dawn Cole (“Veruca Salt”), Paris Themmen (“Mike Teevee”) and Michael Bollner (“Augustus Gloop”) talked about what it’s like to have their childhood forever immortalized, whether they actually had access to candy on the set, the memories that most stand out to them from working with Wilder, and what it’s like to see how much the film has inspired other aspects of entertainment since its release.
Collider: What’s it like to have this aspect of your childhood forever immortalized? Can you enjoy going back and watching it, or does it just get too strange to watch it?
PETER OSTRUM: I don’t watch it that often. Every couple years, it’s fun to go back and relive this event. It’s like watching a home movie. We were all 12, turned 13, during the film, so you remember. I can remember almost every day on the set, what was happening when we were filming. It brings back a lot of memories, but for the most part, they’re all positive, really good memories.
JULIE DAWN COLE: For me, it was 12 weeks of my life that is now out there forever, for everybody to see. I remember the little tiffs that we might’ve had amongst each other, or who was feeling a little bit grumpy that day. I can see that little smirk on my face. I know what was going on. That’s not acting. It’s just funny. It’s funny to see that home movie, hear my voice, and see how I was. I’ve got kids now. That’s extraordinary. It’s a legacy for them as well, to see mommy growing up. When my daughter was the same age, it was like, “Oh, my goodness, she looks like me.” And now, I have a granddaughter. It’s an extraordinary chain that goes on.
PARIS THEMMEN: The thing about it as a home film is that it has all of the advantages of a production. Of course, now everybody’s taking pictures of everybody, so we’ve all got a lot of photos of each other. But at the time, unless your dad happened to be a super 8 dude, you probably wouldn’t have a movie in the first place. And if you did, it certainly wouldn’t be on huge soundstages that were well-lit and well-directed, with full costuming and all of the production elements. In that sense, it’s an advantage. Now having said that, speaking for Julie and Michael and I, we weren’t necessarily putting our best personality forward, but it still nice to have it all preserved fo posterity.
MICHAEL BOLLNER: I run a little tax office in Munich, and we spend every Christmas together with my employees. Every two or three years, I show the Wonka movie. The film is not famous in Germany and my new employees have to know what a star their boss is.
COLE: Hey Michael, I didn’t know you did that. When are we coming to you for Christmas?
BOLLNER: Yeah, come. We’ll drink champagne and you’ll get very good food.
Obviously, the most important question is, did you guys actually have access to candy on the set? I know that the chocolate river was water, but was there a set full of candy otherwise, or was there a surprising lack of candy on this set?
BOLLNER: The German donuts were real. The donuts were fantastic, but the sauerkraut, not so much.
OSTRUM: I would say there was a surprising lack of candy, but pretty much everything that we ate was real. Everything else, like the gummy bear, the ear was edible, but the entire gummy bear was not. There was not as much edible food on the set as you might think.
THEMMEN: It was also surprising because we were in Germany, right next to Switzerland and Holland, where they make gorgeous chocolate. And yet, they shipped Hershey bars, Almond Joys and Mounds to us from America, so that was a bit of a crime against chocolate and humanity that they did that. There were definitely things for us to eat, dummy leaves and some marzipan things. I liked the gum, which wasn’t gum. It was actually taffy. It was the three-course gum, which wasn’t gum. It was taffy, but it was very yummy. I liked that one.
COLE: It’s really interesting because in your memory, as a child, you think of us going in this factory and eating everything. If you take the movie apart as an adult and look at it, frame by frame or scene by scene, we don’t eat anything because we’re not supposed to. The only time we were invited to try everything was in the chocolate room. That was one week of, “Eat what you like,” but then you only were able to eat what the props man gave you and what they decided. There was a little bit of competition to sweet talk the props man, to give you the thing that you liked. Paris got the gumballs from the tree, Denise [Nickerson] got the gummy bear, and I got that chocolate watermelon.
What are the memories that most stand out for you guys, from working with gene Wilder and being around him on set? Is there a moment that you shared with him during filming that most stands out?
OSTRUM: My final scene with Gene, when Charlie gives back the Everlasting Gobstopper, is a scene that I’ll remember. That was the most intimate scene between Charlie and Willy Wonka. Going back in my mind, that was a special day, working with Gene. It’s the conclusion of the film. It brings the message home, when Charlie gives back the Everlasting Gobstopper.
THEMMEN: I enjoyed being his foil. I don’t know which of us would have been the straight man. We had a lot of encounters in the film where he was playing off of me, things like when he took the hair out of my head at the bottom of the stairs in the chocolate room. There were too many takes. Let’s get that joke made. Or there was the time of, “But Easter’s over,” and he slaps his hand across my mouth. There were several things that he used me for, as a way to express his character. It was fun to play against a master.
COLE: He was such a kind man. Obviously, my big moment was my song, singing, “I Want It Now.” In my mind, I can remember the pressure. The only other song that we’d seen or had been a part of was Gene’s song, “Pure Imagination.” And then, we’d had the Oompa Loompa songs. I wasn’t there when “The Candy Man” was done. Suddenly, it was like, “Oh, my gosh, this is my moment,” and how nice Gene was, at that time. It was my 13th birthday. He was really sweet. I just remember him being really reassuring. I do remember him saying to me, “Are you okay now? Is everything okay for you?” It’s a big deal to do a solo number in a movie when you’re 12, and following Gene. I just remember that. I’ve got some pictures that actually just only surfaced recently, of him just standing back and watching. That was quite nice that he just went, “Over to you.” It was very generous.
BOLLNER: I just remember Gene was sitting on a staircase and he didn’t speak German, and I didn’t speak English. It was really funny. He was very gentle to me. He made the best out of the situation. He was very kind.
What’s it like for you guys to see not only that there was a remake done a few years back with Johnny Depp in the role, and now there’s going to be a new movie that focuses on a young Willy Wonka when he met the Oompa Loompas. What is that like for you, knowing it’s still all connected to something that you guys were a part of and that it’s lasted this long?
COLE: I think it’s extraordinary and it’s great that there’s room for all of us. It keeps the interest going. What I like and that nobody can take away is that we were the first.
THEMMEN: And it’s not just those specific things. There was a Broadway show. Peter mentioned that there was an opera of Willy Wonka, and I didn’t know that. There’s always side door stuff. American Idol has got golden tickets, or you’ll see a Simpsons thing or a Family Guy thing. You’re Collider, you’re pop culture people, so you know what I’m talking about. It’s constant. There’s an ad campaign now that’s using “Candy Man.” There’s always something happening, and that’s a good thing. We all have very positive associations with the film, so we welcome more and more. (Producer) David Heyman is of Harry Potter ilk and Timothée Chalamet is a class act, so I’m hopeful about the next one.
It’s always lovely when art inspires art because then it means it affected people in some way.
COLE: Exactly!
To celebrate the 50th anniversary, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.