Original artwork, not a still
Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple.
— Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory · 1971
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is Wonka's mock-scientific shrug: a joke about the sums not adding up, disguised as wisdom about work. The figures are nonsense, and that is the point. Fans quote it as a dry way of saying that most of invention is sweat, and it is the film's neatest example of Wilder's gentle, deadpan Wonka.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryShow the scene
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). In the factory's Inventing Room, Wonka addresses the tour group, the five children and their chaperones, while mixing a drink for himself, and gives his recipe for invention. The percentages add up to 105. Around this moment in the room, Mike Teevee is thrown backwards by a candy meant for enemies, Wonka shows off his Everlasting Gobstopper machine, and offers a piece to each child on the condition that they keep it secret. Violet's turn with the three-course gum comes later in the same room. Gene Wilder plays Wonka.
Sources (2)
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory - Greatest Film Scenes (Filmsite)Inventing Room sequenceReference checked
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory - WikipediaPlot, Cast and MusicReference checked
Context reviewed
