The owner of the local candy factory, Willy Wonka, is having a contest and has hidden five golden tickets in his candy bars.  Four of those tickets have been found.

Charlie Bucket, a boy for a very poor family, is having a birthday, and as a treat his family saves up enough money for him to buy a candy bar.  Unfortunately, his candy bar does not have a golden ticket.  On his way home from school one day, Charlie finds a silver dollar with which he purchases some candy bars, eventually finding the last coveted ticket.

The lucky winners show up at the factory with one parent each and enter Wonka's magical world.  They see a chocolate river, Everlasting Gobstoppers, Oompa Loompas, and other fantastical inventions.  One by one each of the children are eliminated from the tour because of their greed and only Charlie is left.  Wonka informs him that he has won not only the candy promised to him but also the factory and everything that goes with it.  Charlie and his family will no longer need to worry about surviving thanks to Wonka.