This blog post explores how the sweet fantasy world of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” brutally exposes human desire and choice, examining its genre significance and message.
An Unforgettable Day at the Sweetly Sinister Chocolate Factory
First encountered in my childhood under the title ‘The Secret of the Chocolate Factory,’ Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” came as quite a shock to me then. My childhood expectation—that it would simply be a ‘mystery novel set in a chocolate factory, uncovering some secret’—was completely off the mark the moment I started reading. This story wasn’t about uncovering secrets; it was a series of bizarre events unfolding for the children touring the chocolate factory. The fact that it was introduced in Korea under the title ‘The Secret of the Chocolate Factory’, despite the original title being ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, likely contributed to this misunderstanding.
I felt a moment of bewilderment at the completely unexpected content, and I couldn’t help but be surprised again by the premise that the children entering the chocolate factory were disappearing one by one in a ‘punishment-like format’. In that sense, the news that this novel—which I had read as a child, and which was both unpleasant and unique—was being released as the movie ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ two years ago was a welcome surprise. Fortunately, this time the title faithfully retained the original. While the film disappointed some fans who loved Tim Burton’s earlier grotesque works, personally, I didn’t perceive the evolving direction of Burton’s film world as entirely negative. In fact, I believe ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ is one of Burton’s works that can appeal relatively broadly to the general public.
In this article, I will approach ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ – the film adaptation of the novel that left such a strong impression on me as a child – from a genre perspective. By analyzing the characters within the work and their significance, I aim to discuss the characteristics and message this film possesses.
The Fantastic Factory
To get straight to the point, this film belongs to the fantasy genre. However, when we hear the word ‘fantasy,’ we often conjure vague images without being able to clearly explain what it precisely means. So, what exactly is fantasy?
The reason it’s difficult to explain what ‘fantasy’ is in words is because the subject matter it deals with is, by its very nature, ‘not real.’ Because it primarily uses events and beings that cannot occur in reality as its subject matter, fantasy has long been denied sufficient recognition as a genre. After modernization, a strong belief in ‘reason’ led literature and art to value ‘realism of content’ as the most important principle. As a result, fantasy literature was regarded as presenting a ‘false picture of life’ and deceiving readers. Within this perception, fantasy literature was treated as an inferior genre to be avoided whenever possible, and children’s fantasy tales, fantasy, and science fiction were all evaluated as unserious literature. Film was not significantly different.
After Georges Méliès’s 1902 film A Trip to the Moon was produced as the first fantasy (SF) film, it took approximately 70 years for the fantasy genre in cinema to be properly evaluated. The fantasy genre originates from the concept of ‘fantasy’. Dictionary definitions describe fantasy as “a vain thought or daydream lacking a realistic basis or possibility.” However, as a genre, fantasy expands this meaning to encompass elements that deviate from the principles of reality or deal with worlds invisible to the human eye. In other words, fantasy serves to visualize things that do not exist in reality, or things that exist within reality but are suppressed and unseen.
When encountering a fantasy text constructed on unrealistic foundations, the reader experiences hesitation, wondering, ‘Could such a thing truly happen in reality?’ Todorov identified this very ‘hesitation’ as the core keyword of fantasy. He defines the fantastic as ‘the hesitation felt by a person who knows only the laws of nature when confronted with a supernatural event.’ This hesitation can arise in the reader or manifest in the characters within the work. Crucially, the judgment of whether something is fantastical is formed individually through the impression the work leaves on the reader and the reader’s experience, rather than by the work’s own definitions. This hesitation produces the effect of making the reader re-examine reality.
From a psychoanalytical perspective, fantasy does not present something entirely unfamiliar. Instead, it re-evokes something already known in a transformed form, prompting a re-examination of reality and serving to overturn existing, erroneous perceptions of reality.
Where exactly is the chocolate factory?
Let’s return to ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. The plot is relatively simple. Willy Wonka, the owner of a world-renowned chocolate company, announces that he will hide ‘golden tickets’ inside chocolate bars. He will invite the five children who find them to his factory and give one of them a special gift. The children who obtain the Golden Tickets and their parents visit the chocolate factory, where they experience bizarre events.
Judging solely by this synopsis, it might be difficult to immediately recognize the fantastical elements in this work. However, the decisive reason this film becomes fantasy lies in the ‘extraordinary chocolate factory’ and the events unfolding within it. The chocolate factory in the film is not a space that exists in reality, and the events that unfold there cannot be explained by the laws of reality.
First, the chocolate factory itself, the film’s primary setting, does not exist in reality. While its exterior resembles a factory we might recognize, its interior is a new world completely disconnected from reality. The Oompa-Loompas working inside the factory are also depicted as a new species that does not exist in reality. While physically resembling humans, they possess attributes that make them difficult to classify as real humans, akin to elves or dwarves. This is confirmed in the scene where Mike Teavee’s father states that ‘Oompa-Loompa Land,’ where Wonka discovered the Oompa-Loompas, is a place that does not exist on Earth.
The events the children experience inside the factory are also unrealistic. Falling into the chocolate river and being sucked into a coffin, chewing gum and swelling up blue all over, trained squirrels throwing people into trash cans, entering a TV screen and teleporting – all these are events that could never happen in reality. Nevertheless, the audience experiences a momentary hesitation, wondering if this factory might exist somewhere in reality. It is precisely at this point that the audience enters the fantasy.
This fantasy is not a space completely separated from reality, but rather one situated somewhere on the boundary between reality and fantasy. This is because the objects appearing in the film—chocolate, gum, candy, and the factory itself—are all things already familiar to the audience. Here, however, their properties are abnormally transformed. The Chocolate Factory can be seen as a space situated in the unnoticed cracks of reality—the very boundary between reality and fantasy.
Furthermore, the process of the children being “eliminated” one by one within the factory functions as a device that goes beyond mere grotesqueness, compelling us to reflect on reality. The four children, excluding Charlie, are exaggerated characters who each fanatically believe in specific values to an extreme degree. Augustus is a child consumed by the desire for food, Veruca is a child who believes money can buy anything, Violet is a child possessed by excessive confidence and arrogance, and Mike Teavee is a child who absolutely trusts the latest technology and knowledge. The reason they are ‘eliminated’ is precisely because they were overly faithful to the values they revered.
This process should be seen less as coercion forcing children into obedience and more as a device revealing flaws in their personalities and attitudes. When exaggerated characters are punished in a special space, the audience finds amusement in the method while simultaneously reflecting on real human nature. Through the children’s actions, the film satirically shows how ridiculous and dangerous blind faith in desires and values can be. By using events that could never happen in reality to act as a mirror reflecting reality, and posing the question to the audience, “Can you truly say you are any different?”, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ faithfully follows the typical attributes of the fantasy genre.
Two Heroes, Two Stories
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory can be broadly divided into two narratives. One is Charlie’s adventure within the chocolate factory, while the other is Willy Wonka’s journey of maturation. Charlie’s story, in particular, bears significant similarities to the mythic adventure structure of heroes repeatedly seen in the fantasy genre.
Charlie’s Story
The hero leaves the comfortable world of the everyday and embarks on a perilous journey into the unknown. Charlie’s journey to the chocolate factory can also be seen as such an ‘adventure,’ as the factory represents a new world separate from reality. Through this adventure, the protagonist experiences a world inaccessible to the reader or audience. In the adventure plot, what matters is not so much the protagonist’s character transformation as the sensations and sequence of events the adventure provides. Consequently, Charlie does not undergo a dramatic character change through the factory tour. Instead, the work focuses on the events Charlie experiences in this new and bizarre space.
In the adventure plot, the protagonist is motivated to travel by someone or something. This corresponds to the ‘Call to Adventure’ stage of the hero’s journey. The film first shows Charlie’s impoverished daily life and, despite this, his character as a good and honest boy. Then, Willy Wonka announces the Golden Ticket, and Charlie, hearing stories about the chocolate factory from his grandfather, develops a desire to visit it.
Fortunately, Charlie finds a Golden Ticket, but he agonizes over whether to sell it due to his family’s poverty. This represents the hero hesitating to make a decision. However, following his grandfather’s advice, Charlie resolves to go to the factory. He passes through the gates of the chocolate factory, which no one had entered for years, and enters a new world. There, Charlie meets four other children and their parents, and the real tour begins as they venture deep into the factory.
After Augustus falls into the chocolate river, Charlie and the remaining children travel by boat through the factory’s interior, facing a series of trials. Ultimately, the children who repeatedly behave improperly are eliminated one by one, and Charlie remains until the end, becoming the winner. They later return to the everyday world via elevator, but when Willy Wonka states Charlie must abandon his family to inherit the factory, Charlie resolutely refuses. Charlie chooses his love for family, and through this choice, he actually changes Wonka’s values, ultimately gaining both his family and the factory.
Charlie’s story doesn’t perfectly follow the hero’s journey structure, but it unfolds in a similar sequence. However, Charlie is closer to a ‘survivor’ who endured by resisting temptation rather than an active competitor who wins. This connects to other fantasy works where excessive assertiveness in a new world invites danger. Charlie’s passive stance is not weakness but prudence, and ultimately, he establishes himself as a hero by choosing not to abandon the values he wishes to protect. Interestingly, after his adventure, Charlie shifts into the role of mentor, offering advice to Wonker and becoming a figure who aids Wonker’s maturation.
Wonker’s story
Willy Wonka’s story, told through childhood flashbacks, explains why he became obsessed with chocolate and why he carries trauma from his parents. Wonker closely resembles the archetype of the ‘deficient character’ frequently appearing in Tim Burton films. He is a figure wounded in his family relationships, particularly with his father, who has preserved his self-worth by severing these ties. Though socially successful, he remains in a state of immature personality.
In this sense, Wonker’s story can be seen as a variation of a coming-of-age plot. His transformation begins the moment Charlie declares he won’t inherit the factory. Wonker, who has always prioritized his dreams over family, struggles to understand Charlie’s choice and experiences conflict. However, he later realizes he isn’t truly happy. With Charlie’s help, he reunites with his father and rediscovers the value of family.
Crucially, Wonker’s acceptance of family does not mean he abandons his dreams or creativity. He continues to run the chocolate factory and lives alongside Charlie’s family after their reconciliation. The film rejects the dichotomy that one must choose between dreams and family, demonstrating that different values can coexist. This attitude feels like a clear shift compared to Tim Burton’s previous works.
Beyond genre ― Does this film force unbearable ‘goodness’?
In the fantasy genre, the conflict between good and evil is often starkly depicted. However, in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, the children who are punished are not portrayed as absolute villains, and the film does not force a lesson upon them. The children’s departure from the factory clearly illustrates this. Even after punishment, the children’s personalities remain fundamentally unchanged; they leave the factory maintaining their previous attitudes. This shows that change isn’t forced from the outside but depends on personal choice.
The film’s ending, too, can be interpreted less as a simple celebration of family values and more as a scene suggesting the possibility of coexisting different values. These choices made within the space of the chocolate factory ultimately leave room for the audience to reflect on their own choices.
A Delightful Day at the Chocolate Factory
Finally, why specifically a ‘chocolate factory’? For children, chocolate symbolizes an irresistible temptation. From the moment they grasp the golden ticket, the children’s trials have already begun. The factory’s interior, garishly bright and childishly cheerful, starkly contrasts with its gray exterior, visually revealing chocolate’s dual nature.
The scene where the joyful welcome song flowing from the factory entrance ends with burning dolls simultaneously shows this space’s sweetness and cruelty. Against this backdrop, the children’s ‘elimination’ feels eerie yet strangely delightful. The primary, bright colors and the Oompa-Loompas’ cheerful songs ironically emphasize the tragic situation.
‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ draws audiences into its fantasy in this eerily delightful way, making them re-examine reality after watching the film. In this respect, the work can be considered a film that faithfully embodies the virtues of the fantasy genre.
