History Literature / CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory

** Every incarnation of Willy Wonka (whether it be in the book, the movies or stage adaptations) is depicted this way. He and his culinary confections are [[LovedByAll beloved worldwide by many]], to the point where rival companies sent spies to steal his recipes. The inside of his factory is amazing, many of his inventions are mind-blowing along with scientifically impossible and has shown shades of being a BenevolentBoss to the Oompa Loompas.

* BedlamHouse: The saga of Miss Bigelow (see OralFixation below) suggests she wound up in one of these, in that she "spent her life shut up in some/Disgusting sanatorium."

* OralFixation: Violet, with her love of gum chewing. As well, the Oompa-Loompa song that comes on the heels of her undoing is largely devoted to recounting the sad tale of one Miss Bigelow, who had exactly the same fixation, with dreadful results -- see TongueTrauma below.

* TongueTrauma: The sad case of Miss Bigelow (see OralFixation above): She chewed gum (or anything else at hand) so much that eventually, while asleep, her jaws just kept on moving even with nothing to chew...and ultimately ''bit her tongue in two, whereupon she lost the ability to speak and subsequently went insane!''

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* SurpriseCreepy: Starts as a light story about wacky, mostly bratty kids and a whimsical factory...then Augustus Gloop gets sucked into the pipe, the Oompa-Loompas claim he'll be turned into fudge, and Mr. Wonka thinks the whole situation is ''hilarious''. From this point on, the book is firmly in BlackComedy territory.

* SingleChildSyndrome:
** Each of the four brats is a single child which possibly explains their [[SpoiledBrat spoiled nature.]]
** Averted with Charlie Bucket who is kind and selfless.

Perhaps Creator/RoaldDahl's best-known work, this 1964 children's novel has since become AdaptationOverdosed with everything from a non-musical stage play and a BBC radio play to a theme park ride and video games. (This is impressive as it's not yet in the public domain.)

* SurrealHumor[=/=]SurrealHorror: Once inside the factory, a lot of the book's comedy runs on the former -- kids falling into chocolate rivers and getting sucked up pipes, turning into blueberries, getting attacked by walnut-sorting squirrels. This is often in conjunction with BlackComedy, so depending on the reader, the second trope may or may not come into play; the notorious boat ride in the 1971 film adaptation is ''definitely'' this.

* WhipItGood: One of the storerooms along the tunnel the chocolate river flows through is devoted to "Whips — All Shapes And Sizes." When asked about it, Mr. Wonka says that they're for making whipped cream: "Whipped cream isn't whipped cream at all unless it's been whipped with whips." There are several other storerooms in the hallway, each labeled with [[IncrediblyLamePun equally atrocious puns]].

* NotQuiteBackToNormal: Violet is left permanently blue after her transformation into a blueberry is undone.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: The whole way that Wonka operates his factory as a completely closed system, with no one allowed in or out, hinges on this. Health and safety inspections would need to be occasionally conducted, and that's not even getting into [[NoOSHACompliance what said inspectors would find if they ever were to be let in]]. As for the oompa-loompas that enabled the factory to operate without hiring any workers from the outside, bringing a large group of people from a foreign country, having them work in your factory, and paying them entirely in cocoa beans would surely violate numerous immigration, labor, or perhaps even human trafficking laws.

** In 2022, this book and other books by Roald Dahl were [[https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/02/roald-dahls-new-editions-of-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-james-and-the-giant-peach-have-been-edited-for-sensitivity edited for sensitivity]]. The most notable change for this particular book is that Augustus Gloop is no longer described as "fat" but just "enormous." Any reference to the Oompa-Loompas being "tiny" was changed to "small," and they are no longer "men" but "people." Finally, Prince Pondicherry was renamed to Prince Puducherry.[[note]]The real life union territory of Pondicherry was officially renamed to Puducherry in 2006[[/note]]

** Mr. Wonka rattles off one when describing his Supervitamin Candy, which will be used to fatten Mike up after he's been stretched out to his original height, to the Teavees. In brief, it has vitamins A through Z with the exceptions of H and S, plus vitamin Wonka, which makes the user's toes grow out to the same length as their fingers.

* CloudCuckooLand: The titular factory -- home to a huge population of mischevious, singing-and-dancing Oompa-Loompas, and created and run by a brilliant eccentric. The further into it one ventures, the stranger things get. Incidentally, the theme park ride adaptation of this book at Ride/AltonTowers is located in the area known as...wait for it...Cloud Cuckoo Land!

** In 2023, this book and other books by Roald Dahl were [[https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/02/roald-dahls-new-editions-of-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-james-and-the-giant-peach-have-been-edited-for-sensitivity edited for sensitivity]]. The most notable change for this particular book is that Augustus Gloop is no longer described as "fat" but just "enormous." Any reference to the Oompa-Loompas being "tiny" was changed to "small," and they are no longer "men" but "people." Finally, Prince Pondicherry was renamed to Prince Puducherry.[[note]]The real life union territory of Pondicherry was officially renamed to Puducherry in 2006[[/note]]

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender:
** Veruca's and Violet's punishments are just as over-the-top as Augustus's and Mike's.
** When Grandpa Joe first jumps out of bed, his bowl of cabbage soup lands on Grandma Josephine's head.

** In 2023, this book and other books by Roald Dahl were [[https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/02/roald-dahls-new-editions-of-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-james-and-the-giant-peach-have-been-edited-for-sensitivity edited for sensitivity]]. The most notable change for this particular book is that Augustus Gloop is no longer described as "fat" but just "enormous." Any reference to the Oompa-Loompas being "tiny" was changed to "small." Also, Prince Pondicherry was renamed to Prince Puducherry.[[note]]The real life union territory of Pondicherry was officially renamed to Puducherry in 2006[[/note]]

* {{Bowdlerise}} / OrwellianRetcon: The original Oompa-Loompas were black and specifically mentioned to be from DarkestAfrica. After numerous people pointed out that Willy Wonka was a slave owner, later printings changed them to be white and somewhat hippie-ish inhabitants of Loompaland to make the concept less overtly racist. (While the first film adaptation predated the retcon, the very different look of its Oompa-Loompas was specifically thought up to avoid the unfortunate implications of the original premise.) Additionally, regarding the latter trope, the character of Veruca Salt was originally known as Veruca Cruz.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: The whole way that Wonka operates his factory as a completely closed system, with no one allowed in or out, hinges on this. Health and safety inspections would need to be occasionally conducted, and that's not even getting into [[NoOSHACompliance what said inspectors would find if they ever were to be let in]]. As for the oompa-loompas that enabled the factory to operate without hiring any workers from the outside, bringing a large group of people from a foreign country, having them work in your factory, and paying them entirely in cocoa beans would surely violate numerous immigration and labor laws.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: The whole way that Wonka operates his factory as a completely closed system, with no one allowed in or out, hinges on this. Health and safety inspectors would need to be occasionally conducted, and that's not even getting into [[NoOSHACompliance what said inspectors would find if they ever were to be let in]]. As for the oompa-loompas that enabled the factory to operate without hiring any workers from the outside, bringing a large group of people from a foreign country, having them work in your factory, and paying them entirely in cocoa beans would surely violate numerous immigration and labor laws.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Many would find the bit about Mr. Wonka closing down due to industrial espionage to be over the top. Many would also be surprised to learn [[CrapsaccharineWorld what a cutthroat industry candymaking]] [[RealityIsUnrealistic really is.]]

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Mr. Wonka has invented, in no particular order, a hair-growing toffee that could help cancer and alopecia areata (severe hair loss) patients, a teleportation device that shrinks its test subjects, a gum that is essentially a [[FoodPills FoodPill]] that could feed starving people once he gets the recipe right, and in the sequel a FountainOfYouth pill as well as a RapidAging medicine. This gets lampshaded in the 2005 film by Mike Teavee who is astounded at Wonka's AchievementsInIgnorance.

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Mr. Wonka has invented, in no particular order, a hair-growing toffee that could help cancer and alopecia areata (severe hair loss) patients, a teleportation device that shrinks its test subjects, a gum that is essentially a FoodPill that could feed starving people once he gets the recipe right, and in the sequel a FountainOfYouth pill as well as a RapidAging medicine. This gets lampshaded in the 2005 film by Mike Teavee who is astounded at Wonka's AchievementsInIgnorance.