Wonka

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Wonka
• a review of Wonka completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 18 December 2023.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet) has spent the last seven years travelling to the most remote and unique places on earth to obtain the very best ingredients and recipes to make the world’s most wonderful chocolate. He arrives at the Gallerie Gourmet, with the dream of setting up a shop alongside legendary chocolatiers Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas) and Ficklegruber (Matthew Baynton), but Willy’s inherent trust and optimism are no match for this greedy city, and he soon finds himself penniless and enslaved by the evil laundress Mrs Scrubbit (Olivia Colman). With nothing more than his chocolate-making ingredients, the memories of his mother and the help of his newfound friends/co-enslaved laundry workers – young orphan Noodle (Calah Lane), former accountant Mr Abacus Crunch (Jim Carter), comedian Larry Chucklesworth (Rich Fulcher), telephone operator Lottie Bell (Rakhee Thakrar) and Piper Benz – Willy devises a plan that will allow them all to pay off their debts, bring joy to the citizens of the city, and help them each to pursue their dreams. The only problem is that Slugworth, and his chocolate cartel, will stop at nothing to prevent Willy from succeeding. With his shop in ruins, his dream in tatters and his hope for success fading fast, Willy makes a deal with Slugworth and in the process makes an incredible discovery that will turn all their fortunes around – provided he can survive long enough to find an alternative ledger and expose Slugworth for the villain he is.

Bullying; Corruption; Greed; Abuse of power: Purposefully addicting consumers to certain products; Corporate sabotage; Death of a loved one and a child separated from parents.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• A character is about to bash Willy over the head with a baton.
• Mrs. Scrubbit grabs Noodle roughly by the shoulders and shoves her into a dirty bird coop.
• Slugworth and the chocolate cartel tell a police chief to kill Willy Wonka.
• A police chief slams Willy’s head twice through the ice of a frozen fountain, holding him under the frigid water before bashing him on the head. He then threatens him that if he ever attempts to sell chocolate in the town again that he will get more than just a bonk on the head.
• Abacus discloses to Willy that he saw a ledger that proves the chocolate cartel has bribed, blackmailed and bludgeoned the competition and that they are responsible for a number of unsolved murders.
• A character smashes Willy in the head after accusing him of stealing his cocoa beans. The character then makes off with a jar of Willy’s chocolate.
• Customers throw chocolates and items at Willy, his staff and all the chocolate merchandise, breaking, smashing, and destroying the shop in the process. The shop is then set on fire. As Willy sits in the smouldering remains, he learns that Slugworth poisoned the chocolates with Yeti sweat, causing all the consumers to grow great masses of colourful hair.
• Willy Wonka is bullied into sailing away on a boat. He soon discovers it is rigged with dynamite and set to explode. He manages to jump overboard just moments before a huge explosion rips the boat apart.
• Ms. Scrubbit throws Noodle roughly into a bird enclosure for helping Willy Wonka.
• Slugworth points a gun at Willy and Noodle.
• Noodle learns that Slugworth threw her down a laundry chute after telling her mother that she had died as a baby.
• A character throws a heavy jar at a priest.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Some terrified customers, including children, begin to grow strange and colourful hair after consuming Wonka chocolates. Parents and children begin to panic as the hair continues to grow, until violence breaks out in the shop and people run fleeing into the streets as flames begin to engulf the store.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Mrs. Scrubbit treats Noodle very poorly. She often belittles, pushes, shoves or threatens Noodle, and Noodle is clearly very scared of her.
• Noodle learns how her mother took her to her uncle Slugworth as a baby, begging for help after her father had died. Slugworth promised to help but then took Noodle, threw her down a laundry chute and returned to Noodle’s mother, telling her that her baby had died. Noodle’s mother collapsed on the floor, sobbing for the daughter she would not know. Some children may be upset by the story, especially the baby being “disposed of”.
• Slugworth and the chocolate cartel attempt to drown Willy and Noodle in their surplus chocolate storage tank. They flood a dome with chocolate, while Willy and Noodle bang on the top, gasping for air. They eventually run out of space and disappear beneath the chocolate. They are saved, just in the nick of time, by a character who drains the tank. Some children may be upset by the thought that Willy and Noodle have been drowned, or by the sense of danger that pervades Slugworth’s interactions with Willy and Noodle.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Wonka brand chocolate.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• A character asks, “Have you got the hots for chocs?”

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• A male character does lunges in short lederhosen in an effort to seduce Mrs. Scrubbit. He bends over and waggles his behind at her as she sighs and gapes at him. She rolls towards him on a ladder and falls into his arms. They kiss while she sits on his lap. They are later shown in short, silky robes.
• Other pairs of characters kiss passionately on occasion.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Mrs. Scrubbit offers Willy Wonka a drink of gin, which he accepts.
• Willy gives a champagne chocolate to a couple of characters throughout the film, describing the layers of alcohol within the chocolate (red wine, white wine, whiskey fudge and old port) as the consumers become more and more inebriated, until they pass out.
• Chocolate is vaguely referenced as a drug. Several characters are addicted to it and repeatedly mention that they don’t receive the same “hit” as they do from other chocolates.
• A character mixes and consumes a nightcap in a martini glass.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Brat
• Bookworm (spat as an insult)
• Jeez
• Damn
• Stupid, old hag
• Crude humour includes telling the chocolate cartel that they will fart the flying bugs out of their rear ends.
• There are also a couple of fat-phobic comments in relation to a character who cannot control his consumption of chocolate.

In a nutshell

Wonka is an origin story going back to tell the tale of how Willy became Wonka. The film is well cast and, while the plot is predictable, it features musical interludes and some creative special effects. This is not a film for younger children but is one that is likely to be enjoyed by families with older kids, and by those who like to root for the underdog and watch them accomplish their dreams in a most fantastical way.

The main messages from this movie are that every good thing in the world began as somebody’s dream; that it is not the chocolate that matters but rather the people you share it with; and that if you persist and follow your passion, you have the power to change the world.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Ingenuity
• Persistence
• Teamwork
• Loyalty
• Courage
• Trust.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• The notion that, “the greedy will always beat the needy”.
• Scamming and/or enslaving others.
• Choosing addictive behaviours and neglecting to exercise self-control.
• Corporate corruption, greed and sabotage.
• Similarities between the chocolate and drug cartels.