Charlieis a wonderful role model, and he's rewarded for his honesty and positive behavior. He demonstrates empathy and integrity. The other children, who are clearly not good role models, are punished. Willy Wonka is unpredictable and mercurial, but ultimately he has his heart in the right place.
Four of the young leads impetuously leap into situations that at first seem fatal, but ultimately aren't. Charlie and Grandpa Joe are almost decimated by fan blades (they escape the situation in short order). Wonka takes everyone on a creepy pseudo-psychedelic boat ride.
Parents need to know that overall Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is an excellent, imaginative family film. While it doesn't have any content that would be considered inappropriate for kids, author Roald Dahl's signature dark humor is evident. There are a few scary/tense scenes that may disturb younger or more sensitive children. Slugworth is a creepy character (who turns out OK in the end). When Wonka takes the kids on a wild boat ride through a tunnel, some icky images appear and the kids on the boat are terrified. All of the ticket-winning kids end up in some kind of peril (some wind up in more dangerous situations than others), but they all turn out safe and sound in the end. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
In WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, reclusive candy mogul Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) comes out of hiding to announce a contest: five golden tickets will be enclosed in candy bars to be sold throughout the world. Those finding the tickets will receive a lifetime supply of chocolate and a tour of his mysterious factory. Impoverished Charlie (Peter Ostrum) finds the fifth ticket, and visits the factory with his beloved Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson). The four other children, who tour the factory with Charlie, suffer colorful fates when their bratty instincts overcome them. Charlie finds himself as the only child remaining at the end of the tour. At first he's denied the grand prize, but when he passes a final test, Wonka rewards him with the biggest prize of all: the chocolate factory.
Unlike the kind of children's movie that fizzles out, this film actually gets better as it goes along. Unfortunately, scripter Roald Dahl (adapting his book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) devotes nearly the first half of the film to the golden-ticket contest. Though containing a few choice moments (and the hit song "The Candy Man"), this section of the film pales in comparison to the second half, in which Wonka leads us through "a world of pure imagination." The eccentric inventor assumes center stage and the travelers are for the most part creepy, self-centered souls who learn by being punished, not rewarded.
The role of Wonka makes terrific use of Wilder's playfulness and manic energy. Though the film's candy-colored sets may seem a bit primitive when compared to today's computer-generated special effects, it does indeed stand the test of time. Preschoolers will be dazzled by the film's bright color-scheme and broadly-drawn characters but may be frightened by a few scary moments; 5-to 8-year-olds will comprehend the film's message, and respond to the memorable songs and snappy dialogue, but older kids and preteens are this film's ideal audience.
Families can talk about the different kids' choices as they go along on the tour in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. What would you do if you were one of the kids? When has being honest been rewarded for you?
Chocolate or cocoa is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cocoa has been consumed in some form for at least 5,300 years starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador. Later Mesoamerican civilizations also consumed chocolate beverages, and it was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.
The seeds of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) have an intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavor. After fermentation, the seeds are dried, cleaned, and roasted. The shell is removed to produce nibs, which are then ground to cocoa mass, unadulterated chocolate in rough form. Once the cocoa mass is liquefied by heating, it is called chocolate liquor. The liquor may also be cooled and processed into its two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Baking chocolate, also called bitter chocolate, contains cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions without any added sugar. Powdered baking cocoa, which contains more fiber than cocoa butter, can be processed with alkali to produce Dutch cocoa. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter, and added vegetable oils and sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, but no cocoa solids.
Chocolate is one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world, and many foodstuffs involving chocolate exist, particularly desserts, including cakes, pudding, mousse, chocolate brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. Many candies are filled with or coated with sweetened chocolate. Chocolate bars, either made of solid chocolate or other ingredients coated in chocolate, are eaten as snacks. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes (such as eggs, hearts, and coins) are traditional on certain Western holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, and Hanukkah. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, such as chocolate milk and hot chocolate, and in some alcoholic drinks, such as creme de cacao.
Although cocoa originated in the Americas, West African countries, particularly Cte d'Ivoire and Ghana, are the leading producers of cocoa in the 21st century, accounting for some 60% of the world cocoa supply.
A 2020 report estimated that more than 1.5 million children are involved in the farming of cocoa in Cte d'Ivoire and Ghana.[1] Child slavery and trafficking associated with the cocoa trade remain major concerns. A 2018 report argued that international attempts to improve conditions for children were doomed to failure because of persistent poverty, the absence of schools, increasing world cocoa demand, more intensive farming of cocoa, and continued exploitation of child labor.
Cocoa is a variant of cacao, likely due to confusion with the word coco.[2] It is ultimately derived from kakaw(a), but whether that word originates in Nahuatl or a Mixe-Zoquean language is the subject of substantial linguistic debate.[2][3] Chocolate is a Spanish loanword, first recorded in English in 1604,[4] and first recorded in Spanish in 1579.[5] The word for chocolate drink in early Nahuatl texts is cacahuatl meaning "cacao water", which chocolate does not immediately derive from.[6]
Despite theories that chocolate is derived from xocoatl meaning "bitter drink" or chocolatl meaning "hot water"[7][8] and uncertainty around the Nahuatl origin, there is a consensus that it likely derives from chicolatl.[9] Whether chicolatl means "cacao beater", however, is contested, due to difficulty knowing what chico means.[10]
The cocoa bean originated in the upper Amazon region. Evidence of its domestication dates back to 3300 BCE in southeast Ecuador by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture, and it was later introduced to Mesoamerica.[12] The earliest archeological evidence of use in Mesoamerica appears on the Pacific coast of Chiapas, Mexico at a Mokaya archaeological site, which contains evidence of cocoa beverages dating as early as 1900 BCE.[13] Evidence that chocolate was consumed as far North as Utah around 800 CE is controversial.[14] Cocoa beverages were not always made with seeds; evidence from 1100 BCE Honduras shows alcoholic drinks made by fermenting the sweet pulp around the seeds.[15]
Documents in Maya hieroglyphs stated that chocolate was used for ceremonial purposes in addition to everyday life.[16] The Maya grew cacao trees in their backyards[17] and used the cocoa seeds the trees produced to make a frothy, bitter drink.[18]
By the 15th century, the Aztecs had gained control of a large part of Mesoamerica and had adopted cocoa into their culture. They associated chocolate with Quetzalcoatl, who, according to one legend, was cast away by the other gods for sharing chocolate with humans,[19] and identified its extrication from the pod with the removal of the human heart in sacrifice.[20] In contrast to the Maya, who liked their chocolate warm, the Aztecs drank it cold, seasoning it with a broad variety of additives, including the petals of the Cymbopetalum penduliflorum tree, chili pepper, allspice, vanilla, and honey.
The Aztecs were unable to grow cocoa themselves, as their home in the Mexican highlands was unsuitable for it, so chocolate was a luxury imported into the empire.[19] Those who lived in areas ruled by the Aztecs were required to offer cocoa seeds in payment of the tax they deemed "tribute".[19] Cocoa beans were often used as currency.[21] For example, the Aztecs used a system in which one turkey cost 100 cocoa beans[22] and one fresh avocado was worth three beans.[23]
The Maya and Aztecs associated cocoa with human sacrifice, and chocolate drinks specifically with sacrificial human blood.[24][25]The Spanish royal chronicler Gonzalo Fernndez de Oviedo y Valds described a chocolate drink he had seen in Nicaragua in 1528, mixed with achiote: "because those people are fond of drinking human blood, to make this beverage seem like blood, they add a little achiote, so that it then turns red. ... and part of that foam is left on the lips and around the mouth, and when it is red for having achiote, it seems a horrific thing, because it seems like blood itself."[25]
Until the 16th century, no European had ever heard of the popular drink from the Central American peoples.[19] Christopher Columbus and his son Ferdinand encountered the cocoa bean on Columbus's fourth mission to the Americas on 15 August 1502, when he and his crew stole a large native canoe that proved to contain cocoa beans among other goods for trade.[26] Spanish conquistador Hernn Corts may have been the first European to encounter it, as the frothy drink was part of the after-dinner routine of Montezuma.[citation needed][27] Jos de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the later 16th century, wrote of its growing influence on the Spaniards:
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