- The famous somersault scene with Gene Wilder. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory it was his own idea, not the original script.
- The backflip scene plays an important role in introducing Willy Wonka’s character as a trickster and adds coherence to the story.
- Without the backflip scene, the revelation of Wonka’s brutality would have come as a shock and disrupted the narrative.
Gene WilderThis is Willy Wonka from Mel Stewart’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factoryis definitely one of the most memorable characters ever to hit the silver screen. Of course, some actors have tried and still try to live up to his legacy, but so far no one has even come close to the performance that Wilder showed back in 1971. best screening in cinemas, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory took on new life when it appeared on television and soon became as iconic as the classic children’s book on which it is based. Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. However, few fans of the film know how close we have come to not having this strange children’s movie in our lives, at least not in the form in which we know it. The film could have been played by someone completely different than Gene Wilder, and it could have been missing one of its most important scenes.
That’s because Wilder only agreed to play Willy Wonka if he was allowed to do one thing that wasn’t included in the film’s original script. While reading the script he received from Stewart, he had an idea for one of the film’s most wonderful scenes, and he was lucky to be able to bring it to life on set. And thank God he did, because without Wilder’s little addition to the story, we would have made a very different film.
Gene Wilder came up with the idea for the backflip scene with Willy Wonka
The scene we’re talking about is Willy Wonka’s big exit when he comes to greet the kids who have won Golden Tickets to visit his chocolate factory. In this scene, Wonka limps towards the gate, barely supporting her own weight with a cane. He looks downtrodden, serious and sickly, and children and adults are disappointed, seeing that this is exactly the person they have been waiting for so long to meet. The crowd, which has been cheering loudly up to this point, immediately falls silent as they watch the reclusive Mr. Wonka silently march down the red carpet that leads from the entrance to the factory itself. Then, suddenly, Wonka’s cane gets stuck in one of the bricks that make up the floor. Without his help, the owner of the chocolate factory looks like he’s about to fall on his face to the ground. But just as he is about to hit the floor, his fall turns into something else and he tumbles towards the gate, cheering the victorious kids and the rest of the crowd with a smile. The cane and the limp were nothing more than part of an elaborate act.
In an interview with Robert Osborne At 92nd Y Street in New York City, Wilder reveals that the flip trick was his whole idea. The actor recalls telling director Mel Stewart that he thought the script would Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory it was very good, but something was missing. “If I play this role,” he recalls, “I want to go out with a cane and there’s something wrong with my leg and slowly go down the stairs and then have the cane stick into one of the bricks that are down there, and then they get up, start to fall, then they ride, and then everyone laughs and applauds.
It was a wild idea, mistakenly thought by many to be improvised, and one that Stewart didn’t quite understand the moment Wilder suggested it to her. However, the actor stood his ground, stating that in his version of the story “from now on, no one will know if I’m lying or telling the truth.” Stewart then agreed to try something Wilder, and the producers loved it. Gene then asked Stewart what would happen if they hated it, and the director stated that they would have used the same shot they did, without the cane and somersault. “I said, ‘Well, this is business. Film business. I never should have said I would do it once without it,” Wilder recalls.
The somersault scene from the movie “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” is important for characterizing the protagonist
Frankly, Wilder is absolutely right when he remarks that he should not have taken the throw without somersaults. After all, thinking about it seems like absolute madness. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory without this scene. Can you imagine what kind of film we would have had without him? Perhaps it would have been just as good - unknown, but it would definitely have been something completely different. And that’s because the artificial limp followed by a brief acrobatic display is important to Wonka’s characterization, as Wilder himself says when he talks about the audience not knowing whether he’s lying or telling the truth.
Premise Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory lies in the fact that a reclusive millionaire hides in his chocolate bars golden tickets that will allow five children and their parents to enter his mysterious and magical chocolate factory. The idea, though we don’t know it at first, is to find the perfect heir to Mr. Wonka’s sweet empire. Thus, while the children walk around the factory, they are subjected to temptations that should test their honesty, and when they fall prey to these traps, Willy Wonka shows complete indifference to them. In a way, Wonka is sort of a villain in his own movie. The good guy is, of course, little Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), a poor boy who ends up becoming Mr. Wonka’s chosen heir, not without first showing him the fallacy of his ways.
So the limp followed by the somersault helps establish, right at the moment we first see Willy Wonka, that he’s an unreliable figure. While the kids waiting at the gates of the chocolate factory are amazed at his quirkiness and physical ability, we viewers wonder why anyone would need such a stunt. Does he find any pleasure in deceiving others? Or is he just playing? It’s established from the outset that Willy Wonka is a trickster spirit of sorts: funny - no doubt a testament to Wilder’s comedic ability - but perhaps more than just a little mean. This is the conclusion audiences would ultimately have come to without the help of the somersault scene, as Willy Wonka shows himself somewhat wicked in moments of ecstasy in fear and humiliation of the spoiled children who visit his factory. However, without the scene in question, the revelation of Wonka’s brutality would have come as a shock, disrupting the narrative flow of the story. No one would have foreseen this, and it would have looked like a betrayal. The flip scene makes everything more cohesive and prepares the audience for what is to come. And that’s not to mention that it’s a damn impressive stunt.
Source: Collider
I have worked as a journalist for over 7 years and have written for many different publications. I currently work as an author at Daily News Hack, where I mostly cover entertainment news. I have a great deal of experience in the industry and am always looking to learn more. I am a highly motivated individual who is always looking to improve my skills. I am also a very friendly and personable person, which makes me easy to work with.
