海角大神

What do the story of a young boy who tours a candy factory and a tale about a family who travel by flying car have in common?

Both 鈥淐harlie and the Chocolate Factory鈥� by Roald Dahl and 鈥淐hitty Chitty Bang Bang鈥� by Ian Fleming are celebrating their 50th anniversaries this year. 鈥淐harlie鈥� tells the story of Charlie Bucket, a young boy who finds a Golden Ticket in a Willy Wonka chocolate bar that qualifies him to join a small group that will tour the mysterious Wonka factory (and, unbeknownst to him, become part of the search for an heir for Wonka). Meanwhile, 鈥淐hitty,鈥� whose author Fleming is best known for the 鈥淛ames Bond鈥� novels, follows inventor Caractacus Pott and his children. Caractacus builds a car that soon begins to have powers of its own like the ability to fly.

The two stories followed similar adaptation patterns, with 鈥淐hitty鈥� being turned into a movie starring Dick Van Dyke that was released in 1968 and 鈥淐harlie鈥� being adapted into a movie starring Gene Wilder and Peter Ostrum that came out in 1971. It was filmed again for a 2005 version starring Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore. 鈥淐hitty鈥� was also the basis for a stage musical that opened in 2002 in London and 2005 on Broadway, while a stage musical of 鈥淐harlie鈥� opened in London in 2013. The show is still playing there.

writer David L. Ulin recently looked back at his memories of 鈥淐hitty鈥� in honor of the anniversary, calling it 鈥渁 terrific kid鈥檚 adventure鈥� it is playful yet full of suspense鈥�. [I]llustrations by John Burningham 鈥� alone are worth the price of admission: rough-hewn, slightly outsized, with a vivid and peculiar grace鈥�. [T]he book holds up, 50 years after its original publication, [because of] its sense of the world as an inexplicable but also miraculous place.鈥澛�

Meanwhile, writer Lucy Mangan reminisced about 鈥淐harlie,鈥� noting that it is 鈥渂eloved of generations of children 鈥� and a聽furnisher of images and phrases that聽have entered the cultural lexicon forevermore.鈥�