Roald Dahl Hated the Idea of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka

While the term “family entertainment” can often be taken as a slight, the truth is that crafting a film that appeals to multiple generations of viewers is far more challenging than it may seem. Although it may not be hard to make a film that appeals to children’s sensibilities, crafting a story that respects them as audience members and gives them valuable life lessons is no easy feat. This is perhaps why the work of author Roald Dahl continues to spark so much interest from filmmakers. Adaptations of Dahl’s work have been able to flirt with the darker implications of his stories, allowing children to cope with serious issues in an entertaining way. Although the 1971 classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is often cited as one of the best adaptations, Dahl was vehemently opposed to the casting of Gene Wilder as Wonka.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

A poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka’s mysterious chocolate factory.

Release Date

June 30, 1971

Director

Mel Stuart

Cast

gene wilder , Jack Albertson , Peter Ostrum , Roy Kinnear , Julie Dawn Cole , Leonard Stone

Runtime

100 minutes

Gene Wilder Was an Unusual Casting Choice for ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’

Dahl was a very prolific author of children’s novels and had a career that spanned over five decades. Although early projects like James and the Giant Peach and Gremlins showed his wondrous imagination and keen ability to create memorable characters, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a more mature and scary work for Dahl. While it was squarely aimed at children with its idiosyncratic sense of humor and youthful characters, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory addresses serious themes about greed, power, and guilt. A monster hit that became an instant best-seller, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory quickly drew the interest of Hollywood filmmakers. Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to what was sure to be a successful adaptation of the popular children’s book.

Although director Mel Stuart was considered to be a “safe choice” to helm the film based on his past experiences directing musicals, the casting of Willy Wonka was the most important decision the film had to make. Dahl had written a character who was both charming and malevolent. Although Wonka ultimately has a reason for creating such a rigorous test for his factory’s guests, he often comes off as aggressive and mean-spirited. It was important for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to retain the edge of the character, while still making a film that appealed to younger viewers. After producers met his demands about the stunts performed in the film, Wilder agreed to play the titular role.

Although the role would become one of the greatest of his career, Wilder was an unusual casting choice to play Wonka. Before signing on, Wilder had been best known for appearing in the Mel Brooks film classic satire The Producers and the crime thriller Bonnie & Clyde, neither of which suggested he would be appealing to younger viewers. However, casting an actor of Wilder’s eccentricity proved to be a masterstroke. Wilder never felt the need to “tone down” his sensibilities to play Wonka, and perfectly conveyed the defiant attitude of a bored genius. The inventive mix of sarcasm and sincerity that Wilder brought to the role is one of the many reasons why Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory continues to be regarded as a classic so many years later.

Why Dahl Hated ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’

Although his casting proved to be brilliant in hindsight, Wilder was not Dahl’s first choice to play Wonka. The author had been enthusiastic about casting the British comedian Spike Milligan, whose brand of surrealist humor he felt was most appropriate for the role. Although Dahl’s lifelong friend Donald Sturrock revealed that “Milligan was really up for doing it” and “even shaved his beard off to do a screen test,” Paramount Pictures considered him to be “too weird” to play the role. Dahl also expressed interest in seeing Peter Sellers in the role, as “he felt Wonka was a very British eccentric.”

In addition to having his first two choices turned down, Dahl hated the idea of Wilder as Wonka. According to Sturrock, Dahl thought that “Wilder was rather too soft and didn’t have a sufficient edge.” Although Dahl has imagined Wonka as a slightly more sinister, reclusive character, he stated that Wilder’s “voice is very light and he’s got that rather cherubic, sweet face.” Although Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is hardly the only adaptation of a popular novel that significantly changed the source material, Dahl “felt there was something wrong with Wonka’s soul in the movie,” and that Wilder’s delivery simply wasn’t “how he imagined the lines being spoken.”

Although he passed away in 1990, Dahl’s family has continued to speak out against the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. Dahl’s wife, Felicity, found herself confused that Hollywood producers “always want to change a book’s storyline,” and didn’t think that “children want the endings changed for a film, when they accept it in a book.” Nonetheless, this hasn’t deterred other filmmakers from looking to Dahl as a source of inspiration. Most recently, Wes Anderson won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for his adaptation of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.

Wilder Is the Definitive Version of Wonka

Despite Dahl’s misgivings about the adaptation, Wilder’s performance in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory stands as the definitive version of the character. It’s somewhat ironic that Dahl felt that Wilder was too silly for the role, as the acerbic wit that he brought to the role is one of the main reasons the film has such longevity. Comparatively, Tim Burton’s 2005 version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp felt far too saccharine and silly.

Although it’s vastly different from the original 1971 classic, the prequel film Wonka does a great job of fleshing out the character’s inherent kindness. The performance by Timothée Chalamet, while being far more earnest, does capture some of the magic that feels directly inspired by what Wilder did.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.

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