Based on the origin story of Willy Wonka, a character in the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, the film stars Timothée Chalamet in the lead role, with an ensemble cast.

[9][10][11] King, who appreciated Chalamet's singing voice, called it reminiscent of Bing Crosby;[12][13] in an interview in The Hollywood Reporter, he said, "There's quite a range because it does go from a couple of bigger, showstopper-y sort of things, to moments of real, pure emotion, and he can do it all...

"[19] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter called Neil Hannon's musical numbers being "serviceable" but "there’s little of the sophisticated lyrical wit of the Northern Irish orchestral pop band's best work" with the catchiest being "A World of Your Own"; he reviewed Talbot's score as "playful" and "smoothly integrated with the songs".

[20] Tim Grierson of Screen International wrote that Talbot's "wistful score cannily weaves in trace elements of" the track "Pure Imagination" from the 1971 film connecting the prequel.

[22] Julian Roman of MovieWeb wrote "Kudos to composer Joby Talbot (Sing franchise) and songwriter Neil Hannon, from Irish band The Divine Comedy, for a swinging soundtrack [...] The music wisely hearkens back to the styling of Mel Stuart's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.