Chapter 25: The Wonkamobile
Author's Note: As promised, Chapter 25 of What Could Have Been is finally here! Wait, what's that title...? The Wonkamobile?! Keep on reading, my...dear readers, as Mr. Willy Wonka will take us on a really wild ride! But before he does that, he told me, "Respond to your readers, my dear sir! Then, adventure awaits! But hurry up! We have so much time and so little to do! Wait! Strike that, reverse it!" I'd better follow his advice, eh? ;)
emeraldphan, thank you so much for your reviews! I'm so glad you're liking my novelization so far! However, none of the ideas in this script are my own. All of them (except for the fan-made segment by Turrislucidus in Chapter 23) belong to Roald Dahl, as this is a novelization of his first draft script. As for the characterization of Mr. Wonka, I like this version better than his book counterpart actually, despite how similar they may be. While the book version of Wonka is a happy eccentric, he wasn't really shown as anything besides that. The 1971 version was shown to be a sarcastic eccentric, while the 2005 version was shown to be a socially-awkward eccentric. The reason why I prefer this version over the book version is because this version of Mr. Wonka seems to show more feelings, like when he screamed assertively at Veruca inside the Goose Room, and tried to keep the children under control during the corridor tour. I feel that this version expands Mr. Wonka's personality even more, which I love, and is the reason why I prefer this Wonka over any other version of him. And regarding Mr. Wonka being gleeful over Augustus' exit, that was an event carried over from the book.
ABBAbethTheHamster, I respect your opinion regarding the Goose Room. I'd like to think that the reason the Oompa-Loompa hit Veruca with his knuckles was because he was so caught up in his work that he wasn't paying attention. The squirrels, in my opinion, are one of the few things that the book has going for it compared to this script. While I love the idea of the elephant, I feel that Veruca's exit with the squirrels is much more grand compared to this script and the final 1971 film.
Guest 1, as I said to Beth, although I like this script's exit for Veruca over the final film, I much prefer the squirrel scene in the book and the 2005 film. I'm so happy that you're enjoying this story so far! :)
Guest 2, in this script, Roald Dahl spelled Mike and his family as "Teevee" (like in the 1971 film, as seen in the credits), rather than the book's "Teavee", so I'm using that spelling, even though I prefer the book's spelling myself.
Sonny April, it may interest you to know that, while I was writing the last chapter, I found out that pygmy elephants are actually completely different from baby elephants, like Mr. Wonka said, and actually exist in real life. The one that the filmmakers likely would've used if that scene made it into the final is called the Borneo Elephant, or the Borneo Pygmy Elephant. Now, like you, I'm no elephant expert, but I did find out that this species of elephant is extremely passive and tame, almost like a pet, so training one would've been easy, at least in my opinion. They weren't protected at the time of this script, so obtaining one also would've been easy. The only problem that I can see is the enormous amounts of money that would've been required. So pretty much, what I'm saying is, like your analysis, it's not hard to see why the pygmy elephant was scrapped. XD
And now, with all the reviews responded to, enjoy the original version of the Wonkamobile, everyone! :D
The remaining members of the group- Mr. Wonka, Charlie Bucket, Grandpa Joe, Mike Teevee, and Mrs. Teevee- were in the corridor outside of the Goose Room.
"I've never seen anything like it!" exclaimed Mr. Wonka. "The children are disappearing like rabbits!...But they'll all come out in the wash, won't they, Charlie? Let us move on!"
"Listen, my feet are killing me!" complained Mrs. Teevee. "I'm not walking another step!"
"You don't have to, my dear!" beamed Mr. Wonka. "Onward transportation has already been arranged!"
He swept his arm, then everybody looked around the corridor.
"Behold, the Wonkamobile!" he beamed.
They saw the strangest looking sight. It looked like a car, but the seats on it were situated extremely high, and the hood was down. It looked almost like scrap metal, as if it was about to fall to pieces any second. At the back of the car, there were six Oompa-Loompas awaiting orders. Beside them, there were a dozen crates that contained what looked like bottles of fizzy drinks.
"Holy Mackerel!" Mike cried. "That thing won't go!"
"Fill her up!" Mr. Wonka ordered.
On cue, the six Oompa-Loompas immediately went to work. They put a large funnel into the car's gas tank, then began opening the bottles of fizzy drinks and pouring them into the funnel, roaring with laughter. Now and then, they would take a drink from the bottles themselves.
"What's that they're putting in?" Grandpa Joe asked curiously.
"Coke, Pepsi, Root Beer, and Dr. Pepper in carefully calculated proportions," Mr. Wonka explained.
"You're off your nut!" Mike exclaimed. "It won't go on those!"
"This is childish!" Mrs. Teevee agreed. "There's no power in a bottle of coke!"
"You don't think so?" Mr. Wonka smiled mischievously.
Wham!
Mrs. Teevee got punched straight in the mouth by a powerful stream of coke. Mr. Wonka was holding a bottle of it in his hand, and he was shaking it by covering his thumb over the top.
"Take me home!" Mrs. Teevee begged.
"Forgive me," apologized Mr. Wonka, drying her off. "I got carried away. Please please please forgive me. All right, now? Of course you are. Come along, everyone! Jump in! We're ready to go!"
"Isn't there any television in this crummy joint?" Mike Teevee complained.
"You want television?" Mr. Wonka asked.
"You bet I want television!" Mike responded eagerly. "I think wandering around here like this is a bit of a drag. Bring on the telly!"
"I'll show you something better than television, my boy!" said Mr. Wonka excitedly.
"What?" asked Mike curiously.
"Wonkavision!" the chocolatier beamed. "The greatest invention of the century! Jump in!"
He turned to Grandpa Joe.
"You sir, d'you mind giving her a crank?" he asked.
"A pleasure," Grandpa Joe answered.
Mr. Wonka got behind the wheel of the car, with Mike Teevee and his mother beside him. Charlie was in the back seat, waiting for his grandfather to join him.
"Contact!" shouted Mr. Wonka.
Right after he said this, Grandpa Joe gave the Wonkamobile a quick crank, and it started. The noise it made when it did so sounded like the popping of a champagne cork, one pop after the other, and the popping noises only kept speeding up as they were travelling. Grandpa Joe jumped in the back, and Mr. Wonka began to rev up the Wonkamobile. The group noticed that white foam began to spray out from the radiator! Pretty soon, the bonnet (hood) of the Wonkamobile became simply a mountain of foam. Off they went down the corridor, with foam spraying in every possible direction. From behind, as the Wonkamobile continued its journey, everyone could see the white foam even coming out of its exhaust pipes! As they continued driving, the exhaust foam left a thick trail in its wake. Mr. Wonka began driving through the corridors of his factory at an extremely alarming speed, laughing all the way, causing foam to go absolutely everywhere. Curving around corners, going uphill, downhill, the chocolatier did it all, completely ignoring the foam mess that he was creating. Suddenly, the group noticed that Mr. Wonka had entered a pitch-black tunnel.
"Lights!" someone shouted, panicking.
"Don't have any!" yelled Mr. Wonka back in response.
Mrs. Teevee began to panic and ask for Mr. Wonka to stop. Mr. Wonka only ignored her, laughing, then continuing the drive. At last, the group emerged in a lighted corridor, with both the car and its occupants covered in the thick, white foam.
"Can you see where you're going, man?!" Mrs. Teevee cried.
"I can't see a thing!" Mr. Wonka laughed.
"Then stop, for pity's sake!" Mrs. Teevee panicked. "Stop!"
Eventually, the Wonkamobile, which now just resembled a ball of giant white foam, pulled up alongside two white double-doors that read, "WONKAVISION- EXTREME DANGER." The five occupants, completely covered in foam, managed to climb down from the car. Five Oompa-Loompas appeared with suction hoses, like the ones in vacuum cleaners, and began sucking up the foam. Since it was light and frothy, it got sucked away in no time.
"Always have to clean up a bit after a trip…" remarked Mr. Wonka. "Now listen carefully. I want you to be very cautious in this room! There is dangerous stuff around and you must not tamper with it!"
The vacuuming was just about finished now.
"Put these on, please, and keep them on," he ordered, handing everyone in the group a pair of dark goggles.
Mr. Wonka, waving around his keyring, opened the door to the Wonkavision Room and led everyone inside.
Author's Note: With that, this was the scene of the original Wonkamobile! Which scene do you all prefer- this version of the Wonkamobile, or the final one? As for me, I prefer this version, by far. The idea of it being a huge joyride around the corridors of the factory, spraying foam wherever they may go, was an idea too good to pass up. In my opinion, it was so much more grand and "Wonka-esque" compared to the straight, linear path in the final film. I also liked the brief tunnel scene, as it seems to be a callback to the boat scene towards the beginning of this script. As usual, feel free to review, and stay tuned for the Wonkavision Room, which will be published in a few days. :D
While I was waiting to publish this chapter, I looked and saw that What Could Have Been has officially passed 10,000 views! Thank you so much, everyone! I really appreciate each and every one of you, and I hope that you're looking forward to the next chapter.
Until then,
Gabe S. :)