Last summer I was talking with my brother about the movie Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. We were discussing how Gene Wilder’s amazing performance and how bizarrely fun the whole film is. I had receive an email about a week later from a collector about a possible commission. The idea? A large painting inspired by Willy Wonka but with animals. I about fell over in my painter’s stool. What in the serendipity?!
Pure Imagination is the song and scene where Wonka introduces the lucky kids to the chocolate room and all of the kids go crazy eating all of the candy and confections. Willy Wonka is the collector’s favorite movie and this scene is his favorite. He thought it would be fun to add a twist to capturing the scene with everyone as animals, including Wonka.We did some back and forth brainstorming on what animals make the most sense for each character. Immediately I thought of Wonka as a sly raccoon or a clever fox, Charlie as a honest goat, Veruca Salt as a spoiled cat, and so on. It was a super fun project working out these challenges. I watched the scene over and over and grabbed about 50 stills from the film to come up with the composition and for reference!
Do you have a favorite movie or scene? I would love to know!
