Flights of fancy

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, December 22nd. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Flights of fancy at the movies.

Collin Garbarino takes a closer look at a couple of the family-friendly options currently playing in theaters.

MUSIC: [“Pure Imagination”]

COLLIN GARBARINO: Last weekend, Wonka starring Timotheé Chalamet as candyman magician Willy Wonka debuted in theaters. It serves as a prequel to Gene Wilder’s 1971 classic Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. And just like the original, you know this is going to be a musical adventure right from the opening scene.

MUSIC: [“A Hatful of Dreams”]

The movie begins with a young Willy Wonka arriving in a new city with just a few coins in his pocket and a hatful of dreams. He’s hoping to make a name for himself as a chocolatier, but he quickly runs out of money and runs into some big obstacles.

SLUGWORTH: Mr. Wonka, I’ve been in this business for a very long time. And I can safely say that of all the chocolate I have ever tasted, this is without a doubt the absolute 100 percent… worst.

There’s a chocolate cartel in town, and it’s conspiring to keep Willy from selling his treats. If he’s going to make his dreams come true, he’ll need help from an unlikely group of friends, including Hugh Grant as an orange Oompa Loompa.

WONKA: Oh, I don’t think I want to hear that.

OOMPA LOOMPA: Too late. I’ve started dancing now. Once we’ve started, we can’t stop, you see?

Paul King directed Wonka. He’s the same guy who made the two Paddington movies—which are both excellent—and Wonka has much of the same vibe. Wonka is also a bit of a throwback. We don’t get many movie musicals these days. Fans of those choreographed dance numbers of yesteryear will probably enjoy Wonka with its guileless charm. The film is bold and exuberant, and the songs are actually pretty catchy.

MUSIC: [“Scrub Scrub”]

The movie’s rated PG, and it’s pretty family friendly. We get a glimpse of a couple in silk pajamas, and there’s a brief mention of a child born out of wedlock, but that’s it.

I did notice that the movie trots out some classic complaints against capitalism. In a scene that takes a page right out of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, we learn that there’s a conspiracy among the government, big business, and the church to hoard the world’s chocolate. One member of the conspiracy can’t even mention poor people without gagging.

But it’s hard to take these complaints against capitalism seriously because the movie portrays the solution to the problem of capitalism as more capitalism. In the end, Willy’s entrepreneurial endeavors save the day.

MUSIC: [“The Oompa Loompa to the Rescue”]

My biggest complaint about Wonka is that at 1 hour and 56 minutes, the movie was still too long. The filmmaker should have cut a couple of subplots that were totally extraneous to the story.

Also, it’s hard to imagine how Timotheé Chalamet with all his wide-eyed wonder could one day become the mysterious Gene Wilder with his hint of sinister darkness. But there’s enough visual and musical callbacks to the original to make Wonka a treat for parents and kids alike.

MUSIC: [“Pure Imagination”]

Maybe your family doesn’t like musicals, but you would still like to take a trip to the movies. Don’t despair, there’s another family-friendly option arriving in theaters this weekend: Migration from animation studio Illumination.

Illumination doesn’t yet have the same brand recognition that Disney and Pixar have, but the studio has made some impressive strides recently. Last year, Minions: The Rise of Gru became a social media sensation when teenagers started dressing in formal wear to attend screenings. Earlier this year, The Super Mario Bros. Movie became the biggest animated movie of the year with $1.3 billion worldwide.

MARIO: Wahoo!

Now Illumination hopes its new film about a family of mallard ducks takes off.

Mack is the father of the family, and he continually warns the rest of his family how dangerous it is to wander away from their safe little pond. He believes he’s teaching his family “very valuable fears.” But when a group of migrating ducks on their way to Jamaica drop by the pond, Mack realizes he needs to overcome his fears for the sake of his wife and children.

MACK: Come on. We gotta get ready.

PAM: Mack, ready for what?

MACK: Nothing, just, you know, our big super fun family migration!

But it’s not all blue skies on the way to Jamaica, and Mack’s fears turn out to have been justified. A detour through New York City proves life changing when the family runs afoul of a celebrity chef who specializes in duck a l’orange.

Migration has beautiful, smooth animation with a painterly quality. Autumn foliage has an impressionistic style. And the scenes in which the family weaves through New York’s skyscrapers are pretty impressive.

This movie is also rated PG, due to some mild rude humor.

MACK: What’s happening?

PAM: We have a No. 2 situation.

MACK: Oh!

The action is farcical and reminiscent of old Looney Tunes cartoons. The plot doesn’t break new ground with its narrative. But families will be thankful there’s no political agenda lurking behind the story. I think we’ve all had enough of that in our children’s programming. Instead, the movie sticks to feel-good lessons about overcoming fears and letting youngsters spread their wings. And even though it’s the father who exhibits the most growth throughout the movie, he’s not depicted as a doofus. He’s just a protective dad who must rise to the occasion when necessary.

Neither Wonka nor Migration is a super-duper must-see movie, but both are solid family-friendly options that feel like updated versions of kids’ entertainment from days gone by. So, if you’re a family who likes to take a holiday trip to the cinema, this year you have options.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

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