Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is back in theaters July 5 through 8. Fathom Events is bringing the 1971 Gene Wilder version for its 55th anniversary, remastered in 4K.
This is not a nostalgia trip for completists. This is the film. The one that defined what a children's movie could do: be genuinely strange, slightly unsettling, and completely unforgettable. Gene Wilder's Wonka is warm and cold at the same time. No version since has matched that.
If your kids know Wonka through the 2023 film, show them this one too. The original is where the character lives.
Watch the 2023 Wonka the night before to give the kids some context. Then take them to see what strange looks like when it is done right.
Gene Wilder invented this character. The rest are footnotes.
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