The assumption that Willy Wonka’s origin story has no biblical themes may be a gross generalization made by someone with a brain the size of an Oompa-Loompa. But I think Paul King’s Wonka I had few such expectations — perhaps it was fatigue in the middle of a monotonous college semester, or perhaps it was the daily grind of young adulthood — but as the theater lights dimmed, I was transported not only to Willy Wonka’s reality, but also to a reality that had once been my own.
As a girl, I loved Roald Dahl’s classics, consuming the pages until they were worn out. Yet Wonka’s youthful imagination remained intact on every page. His courage in turning his childlike creativity into a rewarding career not only enlightened my own childhood imagination, but continues to enlighten my mind well into my twenties. I walked in feeling liberated and free, and left rejuvenated.
When I decided to dive headfirst into the coming-of-age story of one of my childhood’s most beloved chocolatiers, I discovered true holiness that mirrored God’s own redemption story. This colorful film is the golden ticket for dreamers of all ages, allowing you to be perplexed by a strange premonition that something truly wonderful is just around the corner.
Wonka It evokes a cherished hope, a hope that’s inscribed in the hearts of all believers, and if there’s anything I learned from Timothée Chalamet’s charming, wide-eyed portrayal of an eccentric chocolate connoisseur, it’s that the secret to a sweeter life is to open your heart to the unseen.
This article contains spoilers for the following: Wonka.
Sacrificial Love and Childlike Faith: Two Ingredients for a Meaningful Life
Wonka It awakens the cherished hope that is engraved in the heart of every believer.
As opening number “Hatful of Dreams” begins, Willie emerges wide-eyed, having come ashore after a seven-year voyage across the ocean. As he steps into Galerie Gourmet, a world-renowned collection of luxury chocolate shops, he finds his dream of opening his own store coming true. Dancing around bemused onlookers, what Willie may lack in resources or self-awareness he makes up for with a fierce mission to share his mother’s chocolate-making tradition with the world.
But over the song’s four minutes and 26 seconds, Willie realizes that his dreams won’t come true, and they will come at a price. When an expensive first day ends with the misfortune of one of his precious coins slipping down a city drain, the tension that an innocent spirit faces as outside challenges mount is palpable. But this energetic sequence ultimately highlights Willie’s resistance to an uneasy world through his selfless pursuit. At night, Willie generously gives what little money he has left to a mother and child looking for a place to sleep. Luke 16:10 The Bible says, “He who is faithful in a few things is also faithful in much,” suggesting that Willy’s good stewardship is a sign of his future success. However, with no money and no place to sleep, Willy resorts to living on a back-alley bench, making his dreams seem more and more out of reach.
Down on his luck, Willy meets a surly man named Breacher who lures him into a fraudulent boarding house run by Mrs. Sclavitt, where Willy unwittingly signs a deceptive contract that not only puts him in debt, but also forces him to do unfair labor for a disgruntled landlord. There, Willy bonds with Noodle, an orphan girl caught up in Breacher and Sclavitt’s schemes. Early in the story, Willy tells Noodle of his dream to open his own shop. Willy shows off his traveling “traveling factory” suitcase, which he fills with ingredients such as “rays of hope made from condensed thunderclouds” and “liquid sunlight,” encouraging Noodle to remain hopeful in her trying situation.
Willie is living proof that beauty lies next to pain. James 1:2-3His personal testimony shows that maintaining a joyful countenance in the midst of trials is not only possible but valuable: his natural cheerfulness does not belittle his obvious encounters with sadness, but rather amplifies it.
Willy’s mystical eccentricities invigorate the patrons of Gallery Gourmet, and physically, as his special hover chock allows him to soar into the sky. Through miraculous signs and wonders, Willy’s Christ-like nature provides a pleasant interruption to the lives of ordinary people. The audience witnesses this in the film’s climax, when Willy makes a deal with members of the elite chocolate cartel: they will pay off his friends’ debts if Willy leaves town for good. Willy quickly gives up his own coveted dreams so that his friends are free to pursue their own. This is a visual representation of Christ’s sacrifice for us, reminding believers to deny themselves no matter the cost (Luke 9:23–24This truth not only changes the lives of those around him, but also the way he sees himself when he discovers his mother’s final illuminating note. “It’s not the chocolate that matters. It’s who you share it with.”
Willy’s mother’s wisdom leads him to share the last chocolate bar with his friends, symbolizing a fundamental biblical principle that every believer has an innate calling to invite others into the grandeur of Christ’s love. Willy realizes that the magic does not lie in created things, but in the spirit within himself and the precious souls around him.
Built on all these qualities is a foundation of childlike faith. From the chocolate shop’s opening day fiasco to witnessing Noodle’s dream of meeting his mother come true, Willie maintains an unshakeable belief that his long-held dreams will come true. Matthew 18:2-4Jesus focuses on the special, pure quality of children that predisposes them to a spirit of faith. This is the driving force behind Willy’s story, propelling him towards a future where his dreams are not only ultimately realized, but exceed his wildest expectations. Similarly, Noodle’s original dream of one day living with his mother in a house of books is completely eclipsed by the beautiful reality of being held in his mother’s arms on the steps of the city’s largest library.
Gifts are even better when given to others
Before Willy Wonka became known to the world through his luxury factory, he was a magnet that drew people in and inspired them to have greater experiences. His products were not inaccessible hidden behind a store window, but personal to those he came into contact with. Similar to Jesus’ approach to his earthly ministry, Willy transformed people’s lives by offering something authentic.
Wherever he went, even if he wasn’t commercially successful, he shared his mission with people from his heart. 2 Timothy 4:2we are called to be ready at all times to share the good news with any willing listener. Believers are called to live knowing that true victory does not depend on temporal success. No endeavor this side of heaven can come close to the awe-inspiring invitation of Christ, who draws us into his kingdom and enables us to use our gifts along the journey. Willie embraces a similar approach wholeheartedly.
Willy’s competitors may have rejected his proposals, but his influence is undeniable. As the cast sings in “You’ve Never Seen Chocolate Like This,” he fills holes in their profits by filling holes in people’s hearts. Willy’s tenacity motivates him to pursue his calling despite deceitful opposition, and he feels so strongly about his creation that he will push forward to make it known to the world.
Taste and appreciate pure creation
Willy’s pure imagination gave his characters a certain charm, offering gifts people never knew existed in the first place, but once people tasted Wonka chocolates, they could never go back to the way they were before. Their hearts and minds have been liberated to see and understand that what they now have is so much better.
Willy, like his creator, witnessed the power of dreams and used his talents as a means to inspire hope in others — a hope that transcends even Dahl’s perfect narrative expression, a legacy that continues to instill in parts of the soul that don’t necessarily flourish only in youth. Willy’s pure imagination was built to transcend reality, not extinguished by age or opposition. WonkaAt its core, it reminds us that it takes courage to have faith in an oppressed world.
So for Christians, Wonka It’s a powerful reminder to hold fast to the hope within each of us that endures all circumstances. We find freedom when we seek the countless promises God has given us. This 2023 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic is truly the sweetest treat, speaking to the inner child hidden somewhere within us all and pleading with us to “be still and listen” to the simplicity of the gospel that is all too often overlooked.
