A Scrumdiddlyumptious Night on the Pier

By Mark McGuigan
Staff Writer

August 18 -- Step right up folks, no need to push and please don’t sit on the Oompa-Loompas. The non-pollutionary, anti-institutionary, pro-confectionery factory of fun is open to everyone on the Santa Monica Pier Tuesday night as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory comes to the summer film festival above the waves.

Starring Gene Wilder as the reclusive and eccentric Willy Wonka, the tour of the magical chocolate factory begins at sunset (approximately 8pm). The movie follows the adventures of five lucky children and their chaperones as they accompany the genius confectioner around his magical kingdom of candy where not everything is as it first appears.

The third in a series of four classic movies being shown every Tuesday night in August, this magical family movie, based on the Roald Dahl children’s book of the same name, is part of the Santa Monica Film Festival held in conjunction with the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation. The series hopes to recapture the nostalgia of the classic American drive-in.

While patrons are invited to bring their own blankets and chairs, seating will be available for $5 courtesy of the non-profit organization Deep Ellum Film, Music, Art and Noise (DEFMAN).

The DEFMAN organization works to “promote the art of filmmaking and the entertainment industry while raising funds to help improve the quality of life for individuals fighting cancer.”

Part of the proceeds, including the sale of hats and tee shirts, will directly benefit “The Cancer Relief Fund” that works to provide financial assistance to victims of the disease by making mortgage, rent and car payments on their behalf.

Tickets to the outdoor screenings are free and are available at Santa Monica Convention and Visitor's Bureau locations at 203 Santa Monica Place Mall, 2nd Floor (310-393-7593 10AM-6PM daily) and at 1400 Ocean Avenue between Broadway and Arizona (310-393-7593 10AM-5PM daily).

Advance tickets can also be picked up at the Twilight Dance Series each Thursday night at the Santa Monica Pier. Holders of advance tickets will be eligible for the draw to win a “Coffee Bean” gift basket among other prizes and $5 raffle tickets can be purchased for a chance to win a Vespa.

Festival organizers also invite patrons without tickets to show up, as plenty of seating should be available. It's scrumdiddlyumptious.

For more information on the Santa Monica Film Festival visit their Web site at www.smff.com. Sponsors for the event include Lantana Hines, Adelphia, KLOS 95.5, Lightning Entertainment, Netflix, DEFMAN, Vespa and Warner Bros.

Trivia on Willy Wonka

• Willy Wonka's line, "The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last" is a quote from Oscar Wilde's play, "The Importance of Being Earnest."
  
• Ostrum, Peter, who plays Charlie Bucket, made no other films. He later became a veterinarian.
  
• The lines to the song "Sweet lovers love the spring time..." are from Shakespeare's play As You Like It.
  
• After the company finished filming in Munich, Germany, the studio and locations were then taken over by the "Cabaret" people.
  
• As the movie was filmed in Munich, Germany, many of the people cast as Oompaloompas were native to Germany or other European countries and therefore did not speak English fluently, if at all. This is why some appear to not know the words to songs during the musical numbers.
  
• In the scene where Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) drinks from a flower-shaped cup and then eats the cup, the cup itself was made of wax. Wilder had to chew the wax pieces until the end of the take, at which point he spat them out.
  
• The reactions of the actors in some scenes are spontaneous. For example, when the children first enter the main factory and see the gardens, their reactions are real, it was really their first view of that particular set.
  
• A number of the objects and plants in the main factory really were edible, including the giant lollipops.
  
• Fred Astaire wanted to play the part of Willy Wonka, but the producers felt he was "too old."