The VERY Messed Up Origins of OOMPA LOOMPAS | Classics Explained

if you haven't heard the news in a few short weeks we are getting a prequel movie to Charlie in the Chocolate Factory it has the bite-sized title of Wonka because Studios have found that the Guppies that make up modern audiences can't remember a title with more than one word in it and tells the origin story of the famous fictional candy Creator who can take a sunrise sprinkle it with Dew and cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two next week I'll be covering the messed up origins of the cherished role doll novel that this iconic character came from so keep an eye out for that but as I put the finishing touches on that script I wanted to spend this week covering the very messed up origins of Oompa loomas because you may not have known this but over the years their appearance has been altered almost as much as the Kardashians chances are when I say Oompa Loompa you either visualize a little orange man with green hair and white overalls or actor Deep Roy in a red jumpsuit depending on which of the films you grew up on well neither of those are even close to how they're described in the book book not in the original version nor in the revised Edition that roal doll himself edited you see the original Oompa loomas I'm talking from the OG 1964 publication were 2ft tall African people who Charlie mistakes as being made from chocolate I wish I was kidding Wonka says there are more than 3,000 Oompa loomas living in his Factory that he smuggled their whole tribe over from Africa himself and they still wear their jungle clothes The Men Sport deer skins women wear leaves and the children run around totally naked he found them in the deepest part of the African jungle where no white man had ever been before and they love cocoa beans so much that they were all willing to move into his Factory and work there in exchange for cocoa beans as their only form of payment seems a little exploitative but I think that D realized that because he made it clear that the Oompa Loompa Chief emphatically agreed to these terms he wasn't coerced in any way but wait because if you weren't uncomfortable already you're about to be Wonka also adds that he smuggled the dark skinned Ooma loomas here and packing cases with holes in them which almost sounds like suitcases but the accompanying illustration shows them in shipping crates like the big wooden boxes you always see in cartoons but never in real life do went on to redesign the Ooma loomas after the 1971 movie went into production there were concerns from the movie makers and the NAACP that portraying these characters on screen would draw unwanted comparisons to slavery and by this point the book had already been drawing criticism and requests to be edited so after a lot of public pressure doll's Publishers strongly advised him to change their look and he obliged curiously though his reimagining of Oompa Loompas is still a far cry from how they're shown in the movie they do keep some details the same like now the helpers are from Loompa land instead of Africa and Wonka is portrayed as their savior from dangerous beasts like horn swaglers snaz wangers and wicked Wang Doodles away from all the Wang doodles and Horn swaglers and snaz wangers and rotten vermicious knids snos wangers vermicious kids what kind of rubbish is that I'm sorry but all questions must be submitted in writing but in terms of their physical appearance the Oompa loomas were changed to have pearly white teeth Rosy white skin and Sport long golden brown hair the one detail that remained from the previous iteration is they opted for the usual jungle attire of deer skins and leaves I have no idea where they're designed for the Wilder adaptation came from I know they're supposed to be fantasy creatures mixed with Factory workers so an unusual appearance along with little overalls make sense but the bright orange skin and green hair haven't a clue it was a good call though because from the first moment you see them you never forget them when you think about it though Burton's version resembles doll's original Vision a lot more despite being made more recently during what you would think is an even more politically correct time for starters we're shown a flashback scene where where Wonka is deep in the jungle Wilderness when he finds the Oompa Loompas and granted he does explain he was in Loompa land which do also described as covered in a thick jungle but there's no denying what this imagery was inspired by not to mention the actor Burton chose for the oal looa role Deep Roy is actually African he was born in Nairobi Kenya so here we have an African man playing a character that was originally African but then had to be changed because that was deemed offensive yet no one's offended by this now just to be clear I am not arguing for the cancellation of Tim Burton or anyone involved in this movie I'm also hoping that me speaking on this doesn't get me cancelled I simply find it to be an interesting situation what makes it even more interesting though is the most recent revisions that were made to the book earlier this year where any physical description of the OA loomus was deemed too offensive and once again I wish I was kidding before we dive into that controversy though I want to thank our sponsor Aura the identity protect C Service you may not have known this but it's disturbing how easily strangers can find all your personal information online just by Googling your name your phone number your home address your email addresses and even a list of your relatives are just sitting on these people finder sites waiting for someone to snatch them up and sign you up for spam and scams you know those frauds who call you about your car's extended warranty we've been trying to reach you concerning your car's extended warranty that's where they get your info I only learn these sites exist a few years ago and was pretty pissed off about it to be honest but at the time I didn't know that an easy solution existed that's where Aura comes in Aura can identify these data Brokers exposing your private info and submit optout requests on your behalf Brokers are legally required to remove that info when you ask them but they make it nearly impossible for regular folks like you and I so Aura will handle it for you Aura also guards you and your family from online threats that you can't see like they'll protect your credit card info and run scans for exposed passwords the best part is it is really simple to set up so you don't have to worry about downloading several different apps to get things like parental controls antivirus vpns password management identity theft Insurance and more with aura you get everything at one affordable price so you can either let people continue to exploit and profit off your private information or you can go to aura.com solo to start your two-e free trial that link is in the description below below so you could get started right away for those who don't know in early 2023 Do's Publishing Company puffing books began publishing revised editions of his works in the UK and at the bottom of the copyright page they added a discreet notice that said this book was written many years ago and so we regularly review the language to ensure that it can continue to be enjoyed by all today what they meant with this statement is that they gave themselves permission to edit the complete compendium of doll's Works however they wanted resulting in hundreds of changes they partnered with an organization called inclusive Minds which has not one but two donation Links at the top of their website and allowed their sensitivity readers to alter add replace or even delete any words or phrases that could be deemed insensitive no not slurs or anything serious like that do wrote these books for kids after all instead they resorted to cutting out any descriptions relating to almost every character's age weight mental health and gender rendering R's Wacky World of creative colorful characters a dull shade of gray Augustus Gloop is no longer Fat Mike TV doesn't carry around toy pistols and Charlie doesn't wear pants he wears trousers I really don't get that last one out of everyone I think the Oompa loomus took the most damage from these revisions though because when they're introduced the only descriptor that we get is when they're called the little people it's extremely vague and doesn't give the children reading the book any clue of how to visualize them because apparently getting more specific would be offensive let's play a game I'm going to read a few other Oompa Loompa descriptors to you and I want you to guess which ones had to be removed or changed so the story could continue to be enjoyed today aren't they fantastic no higher than my knee look at their funny long hair the Oompa Loompa spent every moment of their days climbing through the Treetops poor little Oompa Loompas the poor little fellow looking thin and starved was sitting there the Oompa Loompa bowed and smiled showing beautiful white teeth his skin was Rosy white his hair was golden brown and the top of his head came just above the height of Mr Wonka's knee he wore the usual deer skin slung over his shoulder I'll give you a few moments to reflect on [Music] these if you guessed all of them you'd be correct every single one of these was removed and only one was replaced which one would that be the poor little fellow looking thin and starved was sitting there so would they replace it with drum roll please the fellow was sitting there and to be honest I'm appalled they would use a gendered word like fellow seriously though what were the sensitivity readers concerned about with these statements who would be offended by them did they really think that a child reading these would have their feelings hurt somehow and why are these things anything to be offended by because I'm telling you right now I was a short skinny little kid from kindergarten through sophomore year high school my head was the size of a bowling ball and my body was as thin as a toothpick I basically was an Oompa Loompa and I doubt I would have interpreted the descriptions of them starving to death as shaming my body type and if one of these sensitivity readers told me hey we removed this from the book because we didn't want to hurt your feelings I would ask them why why would that hurt my feelings are you implying there's something wrong with being skinny because I can run really fast maybe it was bigotry they were worried about the last thing you want is kids becoming prejudiced against fantasy creatures now before you call me a hypocrite because I didn't have a problem with the original changes do made to the Oompa loomas that's a very different situation first off those edits were made by doll himself at the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement so the end result was still his vision there's also no denying that the original descriptions were racially charged and more based in reality with the Oompa Loompas being packed up and shipped out of Africa even though the story says this was voluntary it resembles history a little too much and when it was written slavery had only been abolished in America for a century that's less than two lifetimes the point is even children could make the connection between what Wonka did and the crimes committed against the African people as long as they had been taught about it in school so do had to make it clear that Ooma loomas were fantasy creatures that don't exist in reality compare that to the changes sensitivity readers made where any description of the Ooma looma appearance or gender was removed and replaced with nothing so kids reading the book can't visualize these one-of-a-kind characters that's like if you went to the dentist for a routine checkup and he pulled out half your teeth sure you might have gotten some cavities eventually but there's no evidence you had any and now you can't chew but if you ask the dentist he'll claim he's a hero because he stopped the cavities before they could even start you know what you're right doctor why did I even ask I'm going to go eat some yogurt and meat paste the last thing I'll say about this is that do himself insisted that no changes be made to his books after his death he's on record saying in a conversation with his friend the painter Francis Bacon I've warned my Publishers that if they later on so much as change a single comma in one of my books that they will never see another word from me I just hope to God that will never never happened to any of my writings as I am lying comfortably in my Viking grave puff and books in the Ral doll story company were willing to go against the wishes of a dead man in order to distance themselves from him but were also happy to profit off of his life's work for decades and then sell the rights to Netflix for $686 million they sent out these sensitivity readers to plant their flag in the moral High Ground so everyone can see their virtue from far and wide and then misled the public about the severity of the changes when discussing the revisions a spokesman for the Royal doll story company said our guiding principle throughout is been to maintain the storylines characters and the irreverence and sharp edged Spirit of the original text any changes made have been small and carefully considered that is one big pile of and just so everyone's clear I am not telling you what to read your kids if doll's original Works don't sit well with you then my advice would be to simply not read his books but for some reason the offended always forget they have the option to not partake so if you want to buy a revised Edition that's your prerogative fortunately no matter what end of the sensitivity Spectrum you're on your needs can be met because after the UK Publishers received a ton of backlash doll's Publishers in the United States France Spain and the Netherlands all agreed they would not be incorporating these changes so you can still read the works as intended but what are your thoughts on this censorship debacle if you do think that revisions like the ones I discussed today are a good thing I would love to hear your thoughts on why because in my opinion this doesn't actually protect children in any meaningful way and it sets a dangerous precedent for how Publishers can treat classic literature let me know your thoughts in a comment then remember to like And subscribe for more deep dives into classic stories like Charlie fairy tales myths nursery rhymes and probably more every single week also remember to check out today's sponsor or a because it really is a great service and if it weren't for them videos on sensitive subjects like we discussed today wouldn't be possible I'll see you all next week when we dive into the full Charlie and the Chocolate Factory story and compare it with both of its big screen adaptations until then my name is John solo and remember John shot [Music] first [Music]

Channel: Jon Solo

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Id: 9PKu3kziX64

Length: 14min 34sec (874 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 24 2023