There is a strong eugenics theme, for example when the children are in danger of being killed, Willy shows no concern. When Mr. Salt dives down the garbage chute to save Veruca, Willy remarks "There'll be alot of garbage today". Wonka also knows that they will be "completely restored to their normal, terrible old selves" (secret knowledge, power of healing).
A "nut" dreams that the Archangel told him where the Golden Ticket to Willy's "heavenly" factory is. Belief in angels is presented as "crazy".
Willy says "Are the fires of Hell a-glowing? Is the grisly reaper mowing? Yes! The danger must be growing, for the rowers keep on rowing, and they're certainly not showing any signs of slowing!".
He also says "You should never, ever doubt what nobody is sure about", in other words, dreams come true. Or is he saying that "belief in God is foolish"?
Fantasy is presented as better than reality: "Imagination makes you free if you truly wish to be".
Willy says "So shines a good deed in a weary world", a Christian-sounding idiom, written by Shakespeare. The only good deeds come from Charlie and, perhaps. The other nine Wonka tourists are the "weary world".
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men", so "lighten up" (or the Bible is "nonsense"?).
The chocolate waterfall represents Eden, also recalling Hansel and Gretel, who are lured by candy into the witch's furnace. Willy also speaks German. The film was made in Munich, Germany. The picture of the "last" finder of a Golden Ticket is really of Nazi Martin Bormann.
Willy says "The suspense is terrible-I hope it'll last" (Oscar Wilde), showing that he enjoys terrible things.
"If the good Lord had intended us to walk, he wouldn't have invented roller-skates" Willy says, but God didn't invent roller-skates, so He is presented as flawed. Man's inventions are "better than God's" to Wonka.
The group takes a scary boat journey resembling a psychedelic drug trip. Willy is the Boatman, a symbol of Death. One must go through "Hell" (the boat ride) to obtain secret knowledge (the Invention Room), similar to the Babylonian Mysteries. Violet says "Is this some kind of a trip?". "I can't take much more of this" Mr. Salt says. Wonka sings "There's no earthly way of knowing", implying that he is unearthly, or celestial. The centipede on the face recalls "Alice in Wonderland".
Mr. Salt's workers unwrap 19,000 bars an hour, 760,000 in all. In numerology, this is 1+9+0+0+0+7+6+0+0+0+0, which equals the occult number 23.
Charlie breaks Willy's "invisible" rules. Grandpa Joe says "You're an inhuman monster!" to Willy, seeking revenge ("An eye for an eye"). As Willy admonishes them for breaking the unknown rules, there is an "Eye of Horus" half-a-bust in the background with Willy's brown tophat on it. Willy says in Latin "The Torch of Glory kindles the mind", similar to the occult "Fire in the minds of Men".
Willy says "Don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted: He lived happily ever after" (or "possessions lead to happiness").
Willy says "A thing of beauty is a joy forever" referring to a soda-powered Wonkamobile.
Willy speaks of "Vermicious Knids", a combination of "vermin", "vicious", and "kid", with "unkind" mixed in as well.
Wonka has a Golden Goose, a source of endless material wealth.
Veruca Salt and her father fall in the furnace (Hell). Wonka doesn't care. Charlie is desparate to rescue them.
The newscaster implies that there is nothing better in the world than a Golden Ticket, emphasizing the themes of envy, covetousness, and materialism that appear throughout the movie.
Mrs. Curtis is willing to sacrifice her husband's life for a case of Wonka bars (life is cheap, gold is more important than family, friends, or morals, win at all cost, even human sacrifice).
Willy says "Two naughty, nasty little children gone. Three good, sweet little children left", in other words, "children get what they deserve".
Wonka calls Veruca a "bad egg" after she falls down the chute.
Most of the children control their parents (Mike Teevee, Veruca, Violet, Augustus). Only Charlie obeys and respects his elders, as the Ten Commandments tell us to do.
Mike Teevee ironically says that killing is what "life" is all about (culture of death). His mother says he has "never even been to the table". Apart from being extremely rude and disobedient, this recalls the Beggar's Banquet in the Bible, where God invites the elite to a fancy meal and they turn up their noses, so He invites the beggars who are more appreciative.
We learn that Mike Teevee is getting a Colt 45 when he turns twelve (parents are incompetent).
Upon seeing a shrunken Wonka bar, they remark "Unbelievable! Miracle! It could change the World!". Is a shrunken chocolate worthy of such high praise? Perhaps it symbolizes a transubstantiated wafer.
Mrs. Gloop gets squashed. Willy says "Is it my soul that calls upon my name?" (another Shakespeare quote), in other words, he doesn't care.
The Oompa Loompas sing "The parents are to blame when their children are brats". Charlie is the only non-brat and the only child without parents, so parents are presented as unnecessary, even a liability.
Charlie and Grandpa Joe are punished for flying too high, recalling the Flight of Icarus, drugs, heaven, angels, and demons all at once.
Charlie shows concern for Augustus and Veruca. The other children and parents and Willy do not. Compassion for others is rare.
Charlie inherits "The most wonderful place in the World" (Eden/heaven/Paradise).
The Oompa Loompas continue their wise advice: "Don't be fat and greedy" (like Augustus Gloop and Veruca), "Don't chew gum all day" (like Violet), and "Books are better than TV, TV is for fools" (for Mike Teevee).
When Mrs. Gloop says "You boiled (Augustus) up", Willy responds "Across the desert lies the Promised Land". He is more concerned with the path to his Promised Land than with the ones who fall by the wayside due to their disobedience.
Charlie pushes the secret button (Third Eye) of the Wonkavator for the first time ever. The Wonkavator now goes wherever he wants (astral travel).
The children ignore Wonka's advice and then pay for it. They are not used to wise advice from elders nor to consequences for their actions. Grandpa Joe wants to discipline the children with corporal punishment, recalling the adage "Spare the rod and spoil the child".
The psychiatrist says that "Believing in your dreams is a sign of insanity", in other words, if you are not realistic and negative like him, you are insane. He implies that believing in the Bible is insane as well. However, he is a hypocrite who admonishes his client for his silly dream and then demands to know where the Angel has told him to find the Golden Ticket.
Grandpa Joe says a loaf of bread "looks like a banquet" (more Beggar's Banquet imagery).
The musical lock plays Mozart, who was a freemason. The key that unlocks the door symbolizes the occult key to hidden knowledge.
We learn that Wonka has replaced his paid staff with slave labour. (In the book, they are politically-incorrect pygmies).
Mr. Salt asks where Veruca is going. Wonka replies "Where all bad eggs go, down the garbage chute...to the furnace (Hell)". Symbolic of abortion/the fallopian tube/human sacrifice/justice.
Wonka reveals a fondness for booze when he says "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker" (Ogden Nash).
Wonka wants a child to take over his factory because good children obey better than adults. An adult stranger named "Willy" alone with a young boy seems creepy, especially in a "chocolate factory".
Wonka gives Charlie his "candy-making secrets" (secret knowledge, possibly something sexual?).
The chidren and parents have "sold their souls" by signing Wonka's demonic contract without reading the fine print. Willy is like satan when he deceives them all with his contract.
Each of the children and parents is punished by Willy for his or her "sins". Similarly to the Bible, "There are none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). Even the combination to the first door is only 99 and 44/100ths % pure (like Ivory Soap). Only Charlie redeems himself and escapes the contract with his soul intact, by returning the stolen gobstopper. Only Charlie shows any concern for Wonka. At the end, Charlie inherits the Eden-like Wonka "kingdom".
The characters in the movie are all focused on material goods and the physical pleasures of candy, eating, gum, and TV. They are "buying a Stairway to Heaven", which is impossible. Charlie, who has the least, appreciates everything the most (Beggar's Banquet). There is no spirituality at all in the movie, except for Wonka's demonic "secret knowledge".
Ironically, in real life, the girl who played Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole) also broke the Wonka rules by keeping a Golden Ticket, an Everlasting Gobstopper, and a Willy Wonka candy wrapper.
Gene Wilder requested to do the somersault scene, to make Willy unpredictable. His cane was stuck in a styrofoam brick.
The "Wonka Wash" caused a puffy rash to the actors, which took several days to heal.
Mike Teevee's demise resembles later TV interaction movies such as Poltergeist and Videodrome.
The Johnny Depp version produced by Timothy Burton is more explicitly perverted, with sexual innuendo and cannibal jokes. Here are a few: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy7CEGAGB9Q
Anyway, here's some good quotes from the superior Gene Wilder version:
The bottom half is a John Keats quote.
Shakespeare quote.
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