Original London Cast of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Pure Imagination
(Charlie is the only child left. Grandpa Joe is anxious but Willy has one last room he wants to show them, the Imagining Room. In it Willy keeps a notebook, full of all the ideas he’s ever had, and some of the ones he’s never had as well. Charlie is keen to look at the notebook but Willy refuses angrily. It’s time for them to go home. When Joe asks about their lifetime supply of confectionery Willy casually dismisses them: ‘you got your Gobstopper didn’t you?’ Joe is angry but Charlie defuses the situation – ‘An Everlasting Gobstopper is still an amazing present.’ Willy tells Charlie to wait while he and Joe sort out legal details. He must not touch anything. Alone in the imagining room, Charlie can’t resist peeking at Willy’s notebook. The book is full of drawings and inventions. When he comes to the blank pages at the back Charlie draws some inventions of his own, sketching ‘fizzy lifting juice’ and ‘hot ice cream for cold days.’ But his reverie is interrupted by Willy, who has quietly returned. Charlie is scared, has he done something wrong? ‘No, Charlie,’ says Willy, ‘strike that and reverse it. You’ve done something right. You’ve won.’ He invites Charlie into his Great Glass Elevator so that he can show him his prize.)

[WILLY WONKA, spoken]
Hold your breath…
Make a wish…
Count to three…
(sung)
Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see into your imagination
(spoken)
Welcome aboard my Great Glass Elevator.​

[CHARLIE, spoken]
Wow!

[WILLY WONKA, spoken]
Push that button.​

[CHARLIE, spoken]
The one marked "don't push"?

[WILLY WONKA, spoken]
That's the one.​

[CHARLIE, spoken]
Something crazy is going to happen now, isn't it?
[WILLY WONKA, spoken]
How did you guess?
(sung)
We'll begin with a spin
Traveling in the world of my creation
What we'll see will defy explanation

[CHARLIE, spoken]
Where are we going?

[WILLY WONKA, spoken]
Up, up, up!
(sung)
If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world?
There's nothing to it
(spoken)
Time to open your eyes and take a look around!
(sung)
There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free, if you truly wish to be
(spoken)
Look, Charlie. Down there, my factory, do you see?
[CHARLIE, spoken]
Yes, Mr. Wonka.​

[WILLY WONKA, spoken]
I love my chocolate factory, Charlie.​
I love it more than anything else in the world.​

[CHARLIE, spoken]
So do I, Mr. Wonka. So do I.​

[WILLY WONKA, spoken]
Well, I'm very glad you said that. I'm very glad indeed.​
Do you want to know why?

[CHARLIE, spoken]
Why?

[WILLY WONKA, spoken]
Because my chocolate factory is your special prize.​

[CHARLIE, spoken]
But Mr. Wonka, why would you want to give away your factory?

[WILLY WONKA, spoken]
Oh, I'm an old man, Charlie.​
I'm a lot older than you think.​
I can't keep running my factory forever…
I've got to give it to someone new…
And that someone, Charlie, is you.​
(sung)
If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world?
There's nothing to it
[WILLY WONKA & CHARLIE]
There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination

[WILLY WONKA]
Living there you'll be free
If you truly wish to be