The 1971 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book is a family classic, but have you ever wondered if Willy Wonka is really Charlie’s father? That’s what a popular new fan theory claims of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Reddit user KillKrites argues that Wonka saved the last ticket for his own estranged son, ensuring Charlie would inherit his chocolate factory – which is similar to another theory. The theorist points out how similar the two are physically and points to all kinds of clues throughout the movie.
The fan wrote: “The only mention of Charlie’s father in the film is that he died years before, which conveniently means Charlie has never seen his father and has no memory of him (at least he thinks – his obsession with Willy Wonka is his own family inheritance and makes sense when you consider it’s his own father he’s idolising).”
Listing their “concrete evidence”, they continued: “Wonka set up the contest as a show, to bring various children he pre-selected into his factory so as not to draw suspicion that he already had an heir.“Slugworth is crucial – as Wonka’s secret employee, he likely identified Charlie’s location to Wonka and is the one who ensured that Charlie got the ticket when the time was right (by dropping the money into the drain that Charlie happens to pick up…), he also did this for the other ticket holders.
“The Candyman, also working for Wonka, is the reason Charlie gets the ticket. If you watch the scene, you’ll notice Charlie doesn’t ask for a specific type of chocolate, the Candyman grabs a specific one for him and carefully watches him as he leaves the store. Nothing was left to chance – Wonka didn’t want 5 randos in his factory, he did this just for Charlie.”
They added: “The selection of the other bratty children is also a fatherly gesture – Wonka teaches all of the kids specific lessons, and takes pleasure in doing so.
“He lures them into traps, designs the rooms specifically for their vices, and clearly planned for each of them to drop off when they did.
‘He and the Oompa Loompas are teaching fatherly lessons to the kids, but significantly not Charlie himself – notice that Wonka doesn’t like tricking Charlie, he tells him at the end of the film ‘I’m sorry for putting you through all this’ and when Charlie fails his test in the bubble room Wonka isn’t there, almost like he couldn’t bear to watch it.
“A lot of Wonka’s odd interactions make more sense under this theory as well.”
They concluded: “In his first scene meeting the parents as they enter the chocolate factory, he seems to be fairly humorous and witty with each of the child/parent groups until he reaches Charlie and Grandpa Joe.
“He is much more reserved and asks ‘Who is this gentleman,’ to which Charlie responds Grandpa Joe – notice Wonka immediately seems to cram up and get in a hurry – he had time for all the others but hardly any for these two. Because Charlie is his son and Grandpa Joe is the father of his estranged lover.”
Meanwhile, another fan theory claims that Willy Wonka is a serial killer who murdered all the children except for Charlie.