Willy Wonka Willy Wonka Willy Wonka is a fictional character who appears in Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and its sequel "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator". In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wonka has hidden five Golden Tickets inside chocolate bars, with the finders being rewarded with a tour of his factory and a promise of a lifetimes supply of chocolate, throughout the tour four of the children, with Charlie Bucket being left as the winner. At this point Wonka reveals that the real prize is the factory, as Wonka needs someone to take over the
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory humorous scenes related to the Wonka Bar hysteria. When interviewed for the 30th anniversary special edition, Gene Wilder stated that he enjoyed working with most of the child actors, but said that he and the crew had some problems with Paris Themmen, claiming that he was "a handful". Before its release, the film received advance publicity though TV commercials offering a "Willy Wonka candy factory kit" for sending $1.00 and two seals from boxes of Quaker cereals such as King Vitaman, Life and any of the Cap'n Crunch brands. "Willy Wonka" was released on June 30, 1971. The film was