Based on a 1964 novel by Roald Dahl, 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory failed to find much of an audience upon release. However, it eventually turned into a family classic still revered more than 50 years later.

2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory offered another take on Dahl’s work. It did well at the box office, but nearly 20 years later, it doesn’t seem to enjoy the cultural afterlife of its 1971 predecessor.

Rather than formally readapt Dahl’s 1964 novel, 2023’s Wonka goes the prequel route. Though it uses Dahl’s source as inspiration, it doesn’t formally connect to a prior book.

Young Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) arrives in an unnamed European city where he hopes to ply his desired trade as an elite confectioner. However, he immediately faces oppression from the established candy companies, as they use the Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key) to enforce their monopoly.

In addition, landlady Mrs. Scrubitt (Olivia Colman) uses a sneaky lodging contract to essentially obligate Willy to slavery in her personal wash-house, where he gets to know fellow debtors. In the face of these challenges, Willy attempts to both find a way out of this servitude and get his candy business off the ground.

Going into Wonka, I experienced conflicting attitudes. On one hand, I found the 2005 film to offer a spotty and generally unsatisfying take on Dahl, one that did nothing to better the delightful 1971 film.

This left me wary of any additional excursions into the property’s universe, especially because prequels can feel like cheap attempts to milk a franchise. Too many of these seem to exist because those who own the rights can’t think of appropriate to move forward in time, so they go back for cheap and easy explorations of the characters.

The 2005 film explored Wonka’s origins as part of the story, and it did so in an unsatisfying manner. This didn’t leave me optimistic that Wonka would work where Charlie didn’t.

And honestly, I found myself in “who cares?” territory anyway. That often becomes my main complaint related to prequels, as they cover “origin stories” that it seems like no one ever really wanted.

Did Dahl fans crave a deep look into Wonka’s backstory? Maybe, but if so, that sentiment escaped me, as I never sensed a groundswell of desire to find out how our wily Willy came to become the man he was in the first Dahl novel.

Despite these concerns, I entered Wonka with one bright ray of hope: the presence of Paul King in the director’s chair. Both 2014’s Paddington and its 2018 sequel proved shockingly smart, warm and witty.

Given that Wonka opted for similarly “PG” rated family material, I hoped the King charm would turn it into a winner on the same level as those two Paddington movies. Happily, King managed to create a third delightful tale, as Wonka becomes a thorough charmer.

Not that Wonka does everything right. In particular, the songs can feel a bit on the flat side, as audiences seem unlikely to leave screenings with many – or any – of the tunes stuck in their heads.

I don’t intend to imply the numbers flop, as they manage reasonable life. They just fail to really connect.

Also, the decision to make the Police Chief fatter and fatter as the story progresses feels a little out of place in 2023. Granted, his increasing obesity stems from his greed and acts as a cautionary tale ala Augustus Gloop from the source, but “body shaming” can come across as a bit tone deaf these days, even in this tale’s cartoony universe.

Beyond those two modest complaints, though, I find a wholly engaging project here. Chalamet resists temptation to channel his inner Gene Wilder, and I applaud that choice.

Frankly, the younger Willy shouldn’t seem like a clone of Wilder’s older version. The Wonka of the 1971 film has become something of a cynic who needs his faith in humanity restored, whereas this one still maintains his innocence and youthful vigor.

I suspect no one involved wanted to echo Johnny Depp’s oddball take on Wonka from 2005. This film clearly wants to reflect the 1971 version, right down to musical reverberations and other minor connections. If any links to the 2005 flick appear here, I missed them.

Anyway, Chalamet may lack the edgy, unpredictable prankster vibe Wilder featured, but as alluded, that makes sense for the story this one tells. Wonka emphasizes family over the moral lessons of 1971, so it needs a more sentimental tone and not the more cynical tone of the Wilder flick.

Don’t take this reference to family and sentiment to imply Wonka becomes a sappy, cheesy project. Instead, King ensures plenty of wicked wit to undercut the potential cheap pathos.

Wonka remains resolutely “PG”, but it nonetheless comes with dozens of snarky bits and slightly edgy elements. Again, these don’t ever become “family unfriendly”, but they give the movie a lot of tangy humor.

This does a lot to ensure the adults in the audience will enjoy Wonka, and King never talks down to the audience. He provides a take on the tale that respects the intelligence of adults while it still delivers plenty for kids to enjoy.

A terrific cast helps. In addition to Chalamet and Key, we find Oscar-winner Olivia Colman as well as nominee Sally Hawkins and folks like Rowan Atkinson, Matt Lucas and Hugh Grant. They all add charge to the project and contribute to the film’s steadfast refusal to turn into kiddie cheese.

Grant dumped on his Wonka experiences, but given his notorious grumpiness, don’t listen to him. This turns into an utterly delightful family film that more than lives up to the legacy of the 1971 classic.

Footnote: a postscript scene pops up at the start of the end credits.

Wonka appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. A native 4K product, the Dolby Vision image looked great.

Sharpness worked well. Nary a sliver of softness crept into the presentation, so we found a tight, distinctive picture.

Wonka lacked shimmering or jaggies, and it also came with no edge haloes. Print flaws failed to mar the movie.

Despite the nature of the story, Wonka often stuck with a semi-subdued sense of the usual orange and teal. We got some purples, reds and other hues as well, though I admit I expected a more dynamic palette.

Nonetheless, the colors worked fine and came across as the filmmakers desired. HDR added oomph to the tones as well.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows showed appealing smoothness. HDR gave whites and contrast extra power. This wound up as a top-notch presentation.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack also worked well, mainly via the expansion of music. With a lot of songs along with score, music turned into an engaging facet of the soundfield.

Effects came with less to do, though they kicked to life at times, primarily during a few action-related sequences. These didn’t manage to turn the soundscape into a rollicking affair, but it meant the track created a solid setting for the story.

Audio quality satisfied, with speech that seemed concise and crisp. Effects showed nice range and clarity as well.

Arguably the most important factor, music came across as warm and lush. Though the track lacked the activity level to turn into something truly memorable, the mix still suited the tale well.

As we move to extras, we find five featurettes. Unwrapping Wonka spans 12 minutes, 28 seconds and brings notes from producers Alexandra Derbyshire and David Heyman, writer/director Paul King, propmaker Keith Ferris, and actors Matt Lucas, Jim Carter, Keegan-Michael Key, Timothée Chalamet, Mathew Baynton, Tom Davis, Rich Fulcher, and Rahkee Thakrar.

“Unwrapping” looks at King’s approach to the material and aspects of his work plus cast, characters and performances.. While we get a few insights, a lot of the program just praises the filmmaker and others.

I do like that King pins down the film’s era as 1948, though based on the age of actors, it should be 1961, as King wants to show us the appropriate precursor to the 1971 character. Chalamet is 10 years younger now than Gene Wilder was in 1971, so either we’re supposed to see this Wonka as younger than the actor’s age, the Wilder Wonka as older than the actor’s age – or both.

The Whimsical Music of Wonka runs six minutes, one second. It features King, Derbyshire, Chalamet, Carter, Key, Baynton, songwriter Neil Hannon, music supervisor James A. Taylor, composer Joby Talbot, choreographer Christopher Gattelli, and actor Natasha Rothwell.

Unsurprisingly, this piece covers the movie’s songs and score. We get a fairly positive summary.

Next comes Welcome to Wonka Land. The 10-minute, 51-second reel offers info from King, Derbyshire, Heyman, Key, Lucas, Davis, Thakrar, Rothwell, Carter, set decorator Lee Sandales, production designer Nathan Crowley, and actors Calah Lane and Paterson Joseph.

We examine sets, props and visual design. Expect a mix of useful material and happy talk.

Hats Off to Wonka lasts six minutes, 46 seconds. With it we hear from King, Derbyshire, Chalamet, Heyman, Joseph, Baynton, Lucas, Key, Lane, and costume designer Lindy Hemming.

“Hats” discusses costumes. It becomes another combination and facts and fluff.

Finally, Wonka’s Chocolatier fills eight minutes, 51 seconds. It boasts remarks from chocolatier Gabriella Cugno.

She takes us on a tour of her candy creations for the film. She offers a fun look at the work put into these elaborate confections.

Musical Moments delivers a form of chapter search, as it allows viewers to leap to any of the film’s 13 song performances or watch them all in one big 30-minute, 40-second package via “Play All”. I don’t care for this option, but others may enjoy it.

As a prequel to the 1971 classic, Wonka more than holds its own. Indeed, it brings a vibrant, funny, charming and borderline magical look at the young Willy that tuns into a delight. The 4K UHD offers excellent picture, very good audio and a mediocre selection of bonus features. I expect this to become a family film that endures like its 1971 predecessor.