Pure Imagination: 49 Years of Willy Wonka!

49 years ago, #OTD, June 30, 1971 - US theatergoers received their golden ticket and were introduced to a world of pure imagination, when Mel Stuart’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory debuted from Paramount Pictures. Based on Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and starring Gene Wilder, Peter Ostrum, Denise Nickerson, Paris Themmen, Julie Dawn Cole - The ORIGINAL Veruca Salt, Michael Boellner, Jack Albertson, Diana Sowle, Günter Meisner, Rusty Goffe, Dodo Denney & Aubrey Woods, the film received an Academy Award nomination the following year and, in 2014, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. The film also introduced the song "The Candy Man", which went on to become a popular hit when recorded by Sammy Davis Jr.. #Wonka49