Screen Junkies’ “Honest Trailers” video series is always good for a few laughs — particularly when they’re deconstructing the trailer for a polarizing or altogether bad film — but every now and then the episodes try something new with the formula, and the results can be, well …
Have you ever imagined Michael Bolton singing about 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? That’s exactly what happens in the latest Honest Trailers, and it is truly something to behold (with your eyes and ears).
Currently in the midst of promoting his new album Songs of Cinema, Bolton made a guest appearance on Honest Trailers to offer up his own musical reminder of the weird, wonderful magic of Mel Stuart’s live-action adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s story.
Along with crooning his way through a warning about the film’s “creepy” candy man who gives kids candy in exchange for hugs, Bolton sheds some light on the plight of Willy Wonka’s indentured servants and the cornucopia of safety violations to be found in the eccentric chocolatier’s factory. And as always, the Grammy-winning singer does it with his signature, silky-smooth vocals and in his own, inimitable style.
As the Honest Trailers team points out, having Bolton sing about the film — which cast actor Gene Wilder in one of his most memorable roles — only adds another layer of weirdness to a movie that often walked the line between being an innocent fairy tale and a disturbing glimpse at a man with unlimited resources gone quite mad. The movie’s musical score was nominated for an Academy Award, while Wilder was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his performance in the film.
A remake of the film released in 2005 was directed by Tim Burton and starred Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka.
