Anna Gerlich

1/20/2015
Soundtrack Analysis Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Part I: Basic Details
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was released into theatres on

June 30th, 1971. Ir is a musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart, produced

by Stan Margulies and David L. Wolper, and stars Gene Wilder as the one and

only, Willy Wonka. The music was done by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony

Newley. The movie is actually an adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel, Charlie

and the Chocolate Factory. Of course, the movie was redone yet again in

2005, named Charlie and the Chocolate factory, starring Johnny Depp and

Freddie Highmore. But as for the original adaptation, it raised over $4 million

dollars in the box office with an initial budget of $3 million. It ended up being

nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring Adaptation and Original Song

Score, and also nominated for a Golden Globe for, Best Actor in a Motion

Picture Comedy or Musical. Unfortunately, it did not win either of those.

The movie is about a young boy named Charlie Buckets who

miraculously finds a golden ticket in a Wonka chocolate bar. There were only

five golden tickets distributed around the world. By finding this ticket, he was

one of five lucky children that got to take a tour of the mysterious and

magical chocolate factory. The other winners were obvious snobs and spoiled

brats. Charlie was clearly the only grounded child. His family is extremely

poor, which makes Charlie extremely grateful for everything he has. All the

children, in one way or another, get greedy and get themselves into
situations in which they are no longer able to continue on with the tour. In

the end, Charlie is the only one left, and Willy Wonka actually hands over the

entire factory to Charlie.

Throughout the movie, you can hear wonderful and catchy melodies

that are commonly found in musicals. Between the well thought out sound

effects, and dramatic brass sounds, it also can be described as a comedy.

Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley do a tremendous job of accurately

portraying the setting, tone, and character development through the musical

score. Throughout the score you can find numerous pieces with a majestic

and fantasy like tone. This is portrayed through the use of woodwinds. The

scary and more eerie parts of the movie are elevated with the deep brass

thumps and undertones.

Part II: The Music and Artists

1. Golden Ticket/Pure Imagination (Main Title Theme) Music by Leslie
Bricusse and Anthony Newley
a. This is a nice little intro song to the movie. It basically introduces
what is coming. There is a hint of Pure Imagination, to
foreshadow one of the main songs of the movie. On the screen,
they show a bunch of different candies being made. During this
the music can be labeled as wondrous. It is soft and sweet with
no words. The intro then closes out with a trumpet line.
2. The Candy Man, Music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
a. In this scene the candy shop worker is talking about Willy
Wonkas abilities and mysterious ways of making candy. There is
a lead male vocal that follows a strong and dynamic melody.
There are heavy strings and woodwinds (flute/clarinet/oboe).
Another interesting aspect of this song is there is a subtle rhythm
underneath the initial melody when they are switching up
different candies.
3. Charlies Paper Run, Music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
a. During this song, Charlie is on his paper run. In the first few
seconds, he is running happily through town. This is expressed
 through a light and happy woodwind piece. The tone of the song
quickly changes to a dark and mysterious with a brass
undertone. This is when he walks by the seeminly dead
chocolate factory. There is a mystical element of chimes added in
after a few seconds to give the emotion of wonder. Soon after the
chimes kick in, there is a male vocal. It is a mysterious and eerie
tone to his singing with a suspended note.
4. Cheer Up Charlie, Music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
a. In this scene, Charlie is leaving his moms work. She starts
singing as he leaves. He is depressed because the last golden
ticket was supposedly found. His mood is portrayed in the music
with a sad string instrumental. However there is a hidden flute
undertone that provides a more bright feeling. This could be
foreshadowing the fact that he does actually find the last golden
ticket. It is kind of a bittersweet song.
5. Lucky Charlie, Music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
a. This song plays when Charlie buys a candy bar, opens it,
discovers the golden ticket and runs home. The song starts out
with a woodwind/saxophone light and quick rhythm. As he opens
the chocolate bar, there is a long suspended note. As soon as he
discovers the golden ticket the music turns into a grand
orchestra feel. There is a high element of brass when he is
running home. Overall, the song portrays a victorious triumph.
6. (Ive Got A) Golden Ticket, Music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony
Newley
a. This song takes place after Charlie comes home to tell his family
that he found the last golden ticket. His grandfather is the most
excited and starts singing. The tempo is very quick with a
percussion beat. This is accentuated when his grandfather starts
skipping around the room. There is also a think timbre with brass
and woodwinds in addition to the percussion. Overall, this song
expresses lots of excitement.
7. Pure Imagination, Music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
a. Willy Wonka begins singing this song as he and the children and
their guardians walk into the ginormous candy room. At the
beginning, the tone could be labeled as mysterious because this
is a magical and mysterious new place that Wonka is showing
them. Wonka also dances at the beginning right along with the
quick tempo. The instrumental tone is a very thick orchestral
sound. In between versus there is a xylophone/percussion solo.
Overall, this song portrays a very creative and magical feeling.
8. Oompa Loompa, Music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
a. This song is a unique song in the movie. After each of the
children disappear from the tour, a new version of this song is
 sung by the oompa loompas. The biggest change is through the
lyrics. However, in each version there is heavy brass and
percussion that keep up the tempo. The sound is also very deep
and bellowing. This one happens when Augustus drowns in the
chocolate pool. (This is most likely because he is a bigger kid.)
Even with a catchy melody, the overall tone of the song is quite
dooming.
9. The Wondrous Boat Ride, Music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony
Newley
a. This song takes place on a mysterious boat. Wonka leads
everyone onto the boat, not telling them where they are going.
When everyone starts freaking out, he starts to sing in a
mysterious and deep tone. They end up going through a dark
tunnel with spooky sound effects thrown in to set the setting. The
song is very suspenseful with the different elements of
percussion and strong brass thumps. The sound effects really
add to the tone of the song with the screams from the
passengers and the laser-like noises to give it a jumpy feeling.
Overall, this song is very dark and mysterious because of the
unknown destination and route of the boat.
10. Everlasting Gobstoppers/Oompa Loompa, Music by Leslie
Bricusse and Anthony Newley
a. This song is very similar to song number 4 on the track listing. In
addition to those elements, you can add a synthesized pulsing
when Violet is about to be rolled to the juicer. It gets more
dramatic as she grows in size.
11. The Bubble Machine, Music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony
Newley
a. This song occurs when Charlie and his grandfather test out the
mysterious drink that makes you float. It starts with the sound of
bubbles and then crescendos into a strong brass line which leads
to woodwinds and a light percussion/triangle noise. It is very light
and happy because they are excited and having fun floating in
the air. You sense danger when the dynamics start to increase,
and then there is a dramatic pause. Tension is sensed throughout
this portion with suspenseful notes and their desperate dialogue.
12. I Want It Now/Oompa Loompa, Music by Leslie Bricusse and
Anthony Newley
a. Again, this oompa loompa song has the same elements as the
last two versions. She is singing the song herself and is a very
strong and determined young girl. This comes through the music.
It has a quick tempo and loud dynamics. There is also a loud,
strong, and violent brass noise when she shakes her fists and
 gets angry. Overall, this piece sets the tone of being angry and
determined. That is the persona of this little girl and it comes
over well in this song.
13. Wonkamobile, Wonkavision/Oompa Loompa, Music by Leslie
Bricusse and Anthony Newley
a. This version has the same elements as the original. Except
because Mike is very into television, there is more of a futuristic
tone to this song. It starts with a techy sound probably created
electronically. The chorus isnt too strong when it comes to
timbre. There is a strong trumpet with a softer woodwind sound
underneath. There are very strong dynamics towards the end
when Mike is finally sent off.
14. Wonkavator/End Title (Pure Imagination), Music by Leslie
Bricusse and Anthony Newley
a. This song is when they finally escape the factory in the magical
elevator. You hear the sound of the elevator escalating up
through the roof. Their melody of Pure Imagination, is much
smoother and has a more resolved sound. There is a very audible
and accentuated harp/string element added to this part. Towards
the end a male vocal choir is added. There are strong dynamics,
and it is an excellent closure to the movie.
Part III: Critical Review
While watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory, I was amazed

at how well Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley were able to portray and

emotion and setting with their musical score. When Charlie was feeling

down, so was I. When he found the winning ticket, I wanted to jump up and

down right along with him. Being able to do this, as a film composer, is your

number one goal. The tone of the music was very magical, creative, and

imaginative. Being a movie about a mysterious chocolate factory with very

unrealistic scenarios, it works out perfectly. One thing I really loved about the

score was the reoccurring oompa loompa song. For each of the characters

that got booted off the tour, there was a slight variation to the song. For

Augustus, there were strong brass and percussion sounds that express the
fact that he is a bigger kid. The other version that was very creative was

Veruca Salts version. She is a very bratty and opinionated child. During the

song she gets very angry. So during her part of oompa loompa, she is yelling

so the tone is more light and snappy than the others.

By listening critically to the movie, I was able to pick out the different

styles of music within the film. Different styles can be differentiated by the

different genres of film this movie can be categorized as. The two genres

that stuck out to me were comedy and musical. The comedy aspect came

out in the different songs that had light and snappy music. There were often

stops and starts and overdramatic dynamics. This is a dead giveaway. Along

with the fact that I let out a few giggles throughout the film. Elements of a

musical genre are seen through the different catchy melodies of the songs,

characters singing the songs, and theme music for the different characters.

When determining whether or not the music was diegetic or non-

diegetic, the easiest giveaway was that the characters were singing the

songs themselves. During the scene when they are on the boat, one of the

characters questions why Wonka was singing in the first place. This was an

obvious cue that they were able to hear the music associated with the

movie. The singing usually happened right before, after, or during a big

event. For example, Pure Imagination is right before/while the they are

discovering the chocolate room, the Oompa Loompa songs are always as

the children are being taken away, and The Wondrous Boat Ride/The Rowing

Song, was while they were all on the terrifying boat ride. Bricusse and
Newley were able to successfully incorporate the diegetic music so that it

wasnt uncomfortable, and it fit into the scene perfectly.

Both composers were also able incorporate all five elements of music

into the film perfectly. When it came to misleading the audience, the greatest

example was in the scenes at the beginning with Mr. Slugworth. Whenever

he came on screen, dark and mysterious music was played, leading us to

believe he was a bad man. It wasnt until the end of the movie, that we

discovered that Mr. Slugworth wasnt even a bad guy. He was just testing the

kids morals. Establishing the character was accomplished through the

different oompa loompa songs, as I discussed earlier. Expressing the emotion

was executed perfectly during the scene where Charlie and his grandfather

are dancing in the house because Charlie found the golden ticket. His

grandpa has been bedridden for a long time, and now he was up and

skipping around the house. The music followed right along with light and

happy music. During the The Candy Man Can scene, Bricusse and Newley

were able to perfectly establish the tone and setting. The kids were

overjoyed and this was portrayed through the music. It told a story and

explained why the chocolate factory was such a magical place and Willy

Wonka was such a magical man. Finally, an example of advancing the story

was during the scene when Charlie was running home after he found the last

golden ticket. The music was very triumphant and grand. This led us to

believe that more was to come for Charlie and things were finally going in

the right direction for this poor child who had nothing.
 Overall, after going through all the different pieces in the soundtrack, I

came to the conclusion that the music for this movie was very authentic and

done very well. The music was magical and orchestral, which fit the setting

and time period that the film was in. The score was all original music, and it

was creative and imaginative. These are all elements to a successful and

authentic film score given this genre and theme. Both composers have done

a lot of film scores that have similarities to this one. Leslie does a lot of

musicals that are able to successfully capture the emotion and setting, just

like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Anthony Newly is in the same

boat. He was always very successful when it came to portraying emotions

and setting in his music. So after reviewing the entire soundtrack. I would

most definitely give this score a 5/5. I thought it did an excellent job of

incorporating all the elements of music. This is what makes a movie

successful. Given its success over the years, and how many times the songs

have popped up in television shows even recently, I feel safe saying that this

score was a good one.