10 Movies That Created Endless Memes
One does not simply write an article about movie memes.
Many iconic memes doing the rounds on the internet owe their existence to movies. Such is the influence that many of these pieces of media have on the workings of pop culture, that a given meme's popularity and legacy often rivals that of the original movie itself - potentially even outstripping it in some cases.
Nowadays, practically any image or video conceivable can be adapted into a meme of some form. Accordingly, the litany of dramatic visual set pieces and memorable dialogue snippets that can be derived from movies means that they are arguably the most popular forms of meme-based inspiration out there.
Certain films have a uniquely memeable quality about them - be it the over-the-top nature of proceedings or performances being depicted, the unforgettable nature of the picture's catchphrases or the striking visual imagery utilized, loads of movies have had their carcasses picked clean by online creators...
10. Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
It speaks volumes to the legacy of Gene Wilder's condescending Cheshire Grin as the titular character in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that a movie half a century old remains a fixture of internet circles.
Wonka's look of barely concealed delight has been used as a go-to sarcastic or patronizing response - "Oh so you were born in 1999? Tell me how much you miss the 90s" and so on. Appearing from the earliest days of memedom, Condescending Wonka is a legitimate piece of meme history.
The image itself comes from the sequence in which Willy Wonka introduces the factory visitors to his Everlasting Gobstoppers - the sweet that his agent "Slugworth" asks Charlie to steal in order to test his character. The legendary sweet-maker is asked how a mysterious machine operates, prompting one of the more famous smug looks in memory.
It's also worth mentioning that Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory initiated the "Hating Grandpa Joe" movement - a hilarious online theory that seeks to expose Joe as the movie's true villain by highlighting that he miraculously regains the ability to walk the instant he is offered a free trip to a chocolate factory.