Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. News

In honor of Gene Wilder: Here are five great covers of 'Pure Imagination'

By

5 best covers of pure imagination gene wilder gthmb wonka jpg
Performers in the comedy, music, and acting worlds have been pouring out praise for actor Gene Wilder, who died Monday, in celebration of the life’s work of one of Hollywood’s brightest stars.

In honor of the late actor, many bands have started performing live covers of his most famous musical work, the song Pure Imagination from the movie Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, which Wilder famously sung as Wonka while wearing a bright purple jacket.

Recommended Videos

We’ve picked our five favorite versions of Pure Imagination from the large pop-culture pile asa small eulogy to one of the finest entertainers to ever live.

Here are the top five covers of Pure Imagination:

Mariah Carey and Kayzie Bone

I Still Believe / Pure Imagination (Damizza Reemix)

The most interesting take on the song we could find is a remix from Bone Thugs N’ Harmony’s Krayzie Bone that features a chorus from none other than Mariah Carey. An R&B single with smooth Carey-driven hooks, this version features rap choruses, harmonized vocals, and more.

Coldplay

Coldplay offered a brief cover of Pure Imagination to fans on their current tour, following the first news of Wilder’s passing. As star-shaped confetti flies, the band uses the lyrics and melody to finish off a song. It’s a touching tribute, which, although short, is extremely uplifting.

Fiona Apple

The Scarecrow

A creepy-crawly version of the classic Willy Wonka single that was manufactured by famed indie songstress Apple for Chipotle as part of an ad campaign, this take on Pure Imagination was designed to showcase the bad side of industrialized food culture. The song’s happy words are finally met with a cathartic change at the end of the video, in which — surprise, surprise — the corporation behind the ad makes everything happy again.

Glee

Glee - Pure Imagination (HIGH QUALITY)

The cast of Glee provides a wonderfully layered version of the famed song, starting with an a capella introduction before the full group vocals fade in. It’s a take on the song that is well  harmonized and executed — and much less corny than many of the pop songs the group has covered over the years.

Josh Groban

Josh Groban - Pure Imagination [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

Groban’s classic Broadway-tinged voice finds itself perfectly suited to the gentle story-like elements of the single. He crafts a slow-tempo version of the single that is powerful and uniquely his own.

Topics
Parker Hall
Parker Hall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…
The best animated movies on Netflix right now
A cat points a bat at another cat in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

While Nimona has been the big Netflix original animated film of the summer, it's far from the only addition to the lineup. Netflix is making sure that animation fans are well served in August with the first two Despicable Me movies, Bee Movie, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2. However, Netflix's biggest recent addition is one of 2022's biggest animated hits: DreamWorks' Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Netflix's deals with Sony Pictures Animation, DreamWorks Animation, and Universal Pictures have given it a powerhouse library of animated films. And that's before we even get into Netflix's impressive originals like The Sea Beast. To help you keep track of what's new and what you can stream right now, we've updated our list of the best animated movies on Netflix.

Read more
From Barbarella to Howard the Duck: the 7 cheesiest sci-fi movies ever
Howard the Duck in "Howard the Duck."

The science-fiction genre has a vast smorgasbord of cheesy films stretching way back to the early days of cinema. Such pictures are known for their weird stories, unrealistic dialogue, low-budget productions, and exaggerated acting.

While many of these films have been panned by critics and audiences alike, some of them have garnered success for being "so bad, they're good." Whether or not they have been held up by a dedicated fan base, these seven movies stand out as the cream of the cheesy sci-fi crop.
Flash Gordon (1980)

Read more
10 best Batman stories ever, ranked
Batman Year One cover

Bounding from rooftop to rooftop, the Dark Knight never misses his mark. He operates like a well-oiled machine tracking bad guys, beating them to a bloody pulp, and throwing them in the slammer - or Arkham Asylum should they be anyone of Gotham's notable supervillains. As the brainchild of Bob Kane and Bill Finger, an artist and writer duo, Batman has been pounding the pavement of Gotham ever since his debut in Detective Comics in 1939. He's undergone a number of changes since his original conception ultimately becoming the brooding powerhouse we know today.

Most understand the basic tenants of Batman these days. His parents were murdered before his young eyes leading him down this path of personal vindication and pursuit of justice. Batman, in most iterations, never resorts to killing -- the one crime that separates his outlaw vigilante operations from the real criminals. Of course, it wasn't always that way. In Batman's earliest days, he had no qualms about ending the lives of baddies on the streets. Even now, some stories and films like Tim Burton's gothic take on the character depict him looking on with cold and uncaring glares as criminals meet their end. Regardless, Batman is mostly a well-established hero simply seeking justice and there are countless stories of the Caped Crusader. Let's take a look at the best among them.
10. Hush

Read more