When Mel Stuart, director of the 1971 classic, offered Gene the title role in the film, he presented Stuart with an interesting stipulation. It went something like this:

Wilder: Well, I like the script – except when the audience sees Willy Wonka for the first time, I want to come out of a door, with a cane, and limp my way to the crowd. And they’re all ‘Oh, Willy Wonka he’s incredible oh my God crippled I never knew [hubbub hubbub],’ and they quiet down, quiet down, quiet down, and then Willy Wonka’s cane gets stuck in a brick, and he starts to fall forward, and he does a forward somersault then jumps up, and the crowd cheers and applauds.

Stuart: Whaddaya wanna do that for??

Wilder: Because from that time on, no one will know whether I’m lying or telling the truth.

Stuart: You mean, if I say ‘No’ you won’t do the picture?

Wilder: I’m afraid that’s the truth.

I’m sure he told that story hundreds of times in his life, so who knows if it really happened that way, but the idea of utilizing that vague, quiet deception was his- and he couldn’t have been more right. Think about it: If Willy Wonka isn’t kind, and gentle, and captivating, and yet completely mysterious and untrustworthy, the entire story wouldn’t matter.

Images Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

Wonka needed to find one child, just one, to remain honest and do the right thing in spite of what everyone else was doing, even in the presence his ill-behaved icon – but if said icon is just silly, flippant, apathetic, and predictable (:cough: Johnny Depp, ahem :cough cough:) then what the hell is the point? If Wonka behaves in a way that suggests he’s not enamored with the world he’s created, if he doesn’t seem to CARE, why should Charlie? The other kids already don’t, Grandpa Joe is all high on Celebrex or something, and Charlie is confused AF. So, aside from being poor and needing some cash, why should he really care?

Images Photo Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty

Willy Wonka, that’s why. His passion for life, his legacy, and the children of the world, which is expertly disguised with a well-planned and deceptive facade in order to lure the perfect unicorn out of a magical forest, is what made that movie so special. Wilder’s Wonka was many things, but it was absolutely not a caricature designed to visually entertain children while barely penetrating their skulls. He knew this entirely (which is one of the reasons he didn’t care for the film’s remake), and he gave that gift to us. He gave it to me as a child, I still have it as an adult, and now he gives it to my child (whose name is Charlie, btw). It’s all there, black and white, clear as crystal, and I can’t thank him enough for that.

#2. Championing the Children

I initially wanted to write this article to tell you a couple of wonderful things regarding his death, but I realized I needed to preface them with that last bit of information for reasons you will soon understand. OK, let’s move on then. We have so much time and so little to do. Wait a minute – strike that. Reverse it.