Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Mr. Bucket Loses His Job

Charlie asks his father why he isn't at work, and he says that the toothpaste factory gave him some time off. In reality, he was laid off because the factory modernized, and a robot took his job. Despite this misfortune, Mrs. Bucket is optimistic that the family's luck will change for the better.

This clip is an excellent example of structural unemployment in macroeconomics. Technological changes in the toothpaste factory made Mr. Bucket's job obsolete, and thus he was no longer needed. The new robot was able to perform his job more cheaply and efficiently.

Have you used this clip in one of your classes? Let us know in the comments below!

[chrismaxwell]

Imagine how he’ll react when he finds out his wife killed a house elf.

[Staplegun]

My favorite part is that later he becomes an automation technician..

[severalcakes]

“We were barely making ends meet as it was.”
You live in a shoebox.

[xtrydelta]

His wife staying optimistic and support her husband staying by his side. That's what you call a wife

[the_gonzo_wanderer]

Toothpaste is called "Smilex"

See what you did there, Burton.

[ThomasFisher-jrbn]

This scene feels way more relevant today with the rise of AI.

[sirorliktheironclad]

Charlie’s dad is a good man. He’s loving and supportive despite him and his family being poor. It’s sad that the pay is terrible and he got laid off. I’m glad he’s present in this version of Willy Wonka unlike the original where he’s dead.

[f.ff.y]

Those people actually look like his parents

[unorthodoxromance]

I keep using this as a good, fictional, and realistic example of automation. If you watched the film until the end, Mr. Bucket gets a new job - maintaining the robot. It shows that automation often changes roles and responsibilities rather than completely destroy them.

Publix, for instance, still needs cashiers to check customers' faces and ID when they buy beer. A computer can't easily scan someone's facial characteristics to determine their age. Even if Publix and Harris-Teeter installed slots in self-checkout machines for customers to insert ID when they buy alcohol, what's to stop someone from taking someone else's driver's license and sticking it in there? Roles change, but technology does not always totally eliminate them.

[petercdowney]

Indeed, Mr Bucket's luck did change.

It almost didn't. But it did, purely because his own son was not only a decent human being, but also helped Willy Wonka to see the value of family.

[kingofpoliwhirls]

There's just something so aesthetically pleasing about this movie

[IsaiahEFisher]

Poor Mr. Bucket. At least things worked out in the end.

[ryanc]

Later Charlie’s dad decides to make extra money by cutting off the hand of the king slayer.

[mathewmartinez]

Can we talk about how supportive his wife is!!

[Hafris]

And that is when Mrs Bucket turn to Dark Lord for his financial assistance.

[Alex_FRD]

The most fantastical part of this movie is that a toothpaste tube capper becomes a mechanical engineer in less than a year.

[RickyGExtra_TX]

Automation at its finest and this is so true for any hard working employee.

[ykgvswq]

He then went to work for Roose Bolton...

[modrenwarefare]

Funny thing is that machine is hella slower than Mr. Bucket at putting those caps on the toothpaste. But when you can modernize machine comes before good work.

[girl]

Charlie knows his father is a good, hard-working man trying to protect him from the harsh reality of their situation. It's why Charlie can sympathize with Wilbur Wonka rather then with Willy. It's heavily implied Willy never even tried to see what his father had to face with every patient who came to him for help with their teeth. Charlie is actively eavesdropping on his parents rather then taking their word for it. Sometimes just glancing into their parents' lives helps children understand why their parents are the way they are.