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Pop Culture

How Gene Wilder came up with Willy Wonka's iconic entrance

He brought so much thought and heart to the character.

gene wilder, willy wonka, wonka,
upload.wikimedia.org Credit: Warner Bros

Gene Wilder was one of the best.

The late, great Gene Wilder brought us so much magic through his delightfully quirky, timelessly charming, endlessly memorable roles, not least of which is the mysterious, top-hat-wearing chocolate factory owner, Willy Wonka, for the hit film “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

From Wonka’s first entrance, pitifully limping towards Charlie and the other confused golden ticket bearers…all before thrusting himself into an impressive somersault…you knew you really were about to be taken on a fantastical ride of pure imagination.

According to Historic Vids on X, formerly known as Twitter, that beginning moment was entirely by Wilder’s ingenious design.

“One of the key reasons Gene Wilder introduced the limp…was to make it difficult for the audience to tell if he was lying or not," Historic Vids wrote, saying that Wilder felt it would keep the “audience guessing” as to the character’s true intention.

Therefore, the limp was much more of a psychological quirk than a physical one, adding on a delightful piece of nuance and complexity.

Watch below, with that context in mind:

One commenter added the fun fact that Wonka only agreed to take on the role if he could do a limp-somersault-bit, knowing the kind of mercurial effect it would have.

Some actors really do seem to be born for the roles they play. Gene Wilder as Wonka is certainly one of them. Yes, the role has been reincarnated by Johnny Depp and is soon to be once again by Timothée Chalamet, each with their own unique interpretations. But there’s no denying that Wilder left behind a little bit of his wondrous soul in his version, and we are so lucky to have it.

Health

Psychologist explains why everyone feels exhausted right now and it makes so much sense

Psychologist Naomi Holdt beautifully explained what's behind the overarching exhaustion people are feeling and it makes perfect sense.

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

It seems like most people are feeling wiped out these days. There's a reason for that.

We're about to wrap up year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's been a weird ride, to say the least. These years have been hard, frustrating, confusing and tragic, and yet we keep on keeping on.

Except the keeping on part isn't quite as simple as it sounds. Despite the fact that COVID-19 is still wreaking havoc, we've sort of collectively decided to move on, come what may. This year has been an experiment in normalcy, but one without a testable hypothesis or clear design. And it's taken a toll. So many people are feeling tired, exhausted, worn thin ("like butter scraped over too much bread," as Bilbo Baggins put it) these days.

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Silly doggo.

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One saving grace during the pandemic was getting to spend lots of time with our pets and witnessing all of their silly, quirky antics all day long. How many times have you wished you could hear what was going through your cat or dog's brain as they do things that defy logic. The cat who likes to chew on people's hair while they sleep—why? The dog who spins around in a circle ten times before relieving themselves—why?

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Family

Single mom's advice for anyone with sons on Thanksgiving is a must read

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Canva

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Last year, single mom Emily Taylor made some sound Thanksgiving advice that is still great food for thought.

As Taylor shared with Today.com, she had been talking with another parent, one who had two adult sons, when they argued that “boys can't stay in the kitchen all day like girls can when helping with Thanksgiving stuff.”

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Internet

The interesting reason British and Australian people sing in North American accents

It happens to other English speaking people from other countries too.

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Some of the biggest singers in America didn't grow up in the United States and yet when they sing, they do so with an American accent. Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran, Adele and Harry Styles to name a few, are all from England with the exception of Capaldi, who hails from Scotland. They're some of the most popular singers in the world but their speaking accents are drastically different than their singing accents. But why is that?

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Woman fed up with wasteful holiday 'giving' proposes a new way to celebrate the season

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A woman buying gifts for her nephews.

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“I’m over buying gifts to be thrown away or donated,” she started her post. “I decided I’m done.”

The Redditor explained she usually visits her family a few weeks before the holidays for a joint Thanksgiving and “Early Christmas” celebration, and this year, she took a different approach to gift-giving.

“I made a visit to my sister with my 3 amazing nieces. … The kids have everything they can need or want: toys and clothing-wise—and it’s all so overwhelming. The kids don’t even play with most of it. It’s just piled up everywhere,” she wrote.

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via Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston

President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy greet attendees of a dinner held by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) at the Rice Hotel in Houston, Texas. Master of Ceremonies, John J. Herrera, stands at far right; Mariachi musicians play at left.

November 22, 2023, will mark the 60th anniversary of one of the most horrific moments in American history, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The anniversary has been greeted by a host of new documentaries and renewed interest in the conspiracies surrounding the assassination.

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