Year: 1977
Rating: G
Tagline: "Your golden ticket to imagination and adventure!"
Reasons they need to see it: A little girl named Violet turns into an actual blueberry and a child who loves candy more than any human has before gets sucked up a giant tube in a lake made entirely of melted chocolate — this movie has physical comedy down to a science. Though this film is totally outrageous, there are a ton of great lessons buried within the action — many of which are in the charming, orange Oompa Loompas' songs — such as "if you're not greedy you will go far." It's a movie full of "pure imagination" that every kid needs to witness.
What to look out for: The scene when Gene Wilder is screaming his head off at poor, little Charlie always upset me as a kid (and maybe a little bit now even as an adult), as did the scene when they're on the boat and riding through the tunnel — Mr. Wonka seems a little possessed, no? A topic you may want to bring up given the amazing shift toward being body positive today is the fact that Augustus Gloop, bless his heart, gets a bit body shamed throughout his dominant scenes ("Augustus, sweetheart, save some room for later!" is a classic line, though).
