Most will have a hard time recalling any version other than Gene Wilder’s in the 1971 movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, but The Hound+The Fox, along with their friends, perform “Pure Imagination” in their own lovely, dreamy way.
“Pure Imagination” was written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newly for the soundtrack of the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, which was based on Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And, to confuse matters, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the 2005 reboot film based on the same book and starring Johnny Depp; however, the song was never sung in Johnny’s movie.
In this stunning rendering of the song, The Hound+The Fox invites their fellow Oregonians and good friends to join them.
The Hound+The Fox are husband and wife, Reilly and McKenzie Zamber. The crazy talented couple began making videos about ten years ago, and they have performed with and/or produced videos for a variety of talented artists, including Pentatonix, Home Free, Tim Foust, and others.
In this video, they are joined by Peter and Evynne Hollens. The Hollens’ have plenty of musical irons in the fire as well, and if you aren’t certain and want to know exactly who is who, Peter and Evynne appear in the video side-by-side at 1:10.
Listen to their exquisite voices—sweet, but without any tooth decay! McKenzie sings solo first, standing against a candied Christmas backdrop. Her voice is pure and perfect, and she is beautiful. In fact, all four of the singers are quite attractive, and the close-up shots make it hard not to notice that the ladies have deep, dark brown eyes; their husband's eyes are kind and blue-green in color.
Their performance is calming and ethereal, and the video matches that mood wonderfully. And, while the original version was in a movie for kids, their rendering is on a full-length album primarily for babies; it’s entitled Star Songs: Lullabies for the Whole Family.
If this song takes you back to the 1971 classic movie, you’re in luck. Timothée Chalamet stars as Willy Wonka in the upcoming movie Wonka, scheduled for release on December 15.
If you want a real gift for Christmas, check out another The Hound+The Fox performance as they sing Mary, Did You Know in this stirring video.
“And so, my children, listen to me, for all who follow my ways are joyful. Proverbs 8:32