Original artwork, not a still
Wonka! Butterscotch? Buttergin? You running something on the side here?
— Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory · 1971
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Salt is the film's blunt, brash industrialist, and the joke is that he assumes anything sweet must hide a racket. Wonka's answer, 'Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker', is the quotable part, and fans take it as a hint of how knowing the chocolatier is. The exchange is a sidelong gag in an early scene before the trip turns dark.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryShow the scene
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), in the Inventing Room, where Wonka has taken the five golden-ticket winners and their guests. Wonka has just promised that his inventions are secret and shown off bubbling vats, with a speech about invention being a matter of perspiration, electricity and butterscotch ripple. Veruca Salt's father, Henry Salt, reads the labels on the vats and suspects there is more than candy going on. Wonka waves it away with a joke he borrowed from the poet Ogden Nash. He then shows them the machine for Everlasting Gobstoppers.
Sources (3)
- Wikiquote: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factoryexchange after the lickable wallpaper sceneReference checked
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, fan transcript (Springfield! Springfield!)Inventing Room sceneReference checked
- Wikipedia: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryleadReference checked
Context reviewed
