History Trivia / Wonka

** The Chief-of-Police is voiced by comedian Shohei Osada.

** With ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRunDawnOfTheNugget''. Both are British comedy films released in the holiday season of 2023 centering around underdog heroes going up against corrupt food businesspeople. However, ''Wonka'' is a live action musical centered around chocolate, whereas ''Chicken Run'' is a claymation spy caper centered around chickens and chicken nuggets.
** With ''WesternAnimation/Wish2023'', a musical fantasy released the previous month that serves as an origin story (in ''Wish'''s case it's the "wishing star" from Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon films) in which an idealistic, quirky protagonist enlists the help of a racially diverse group of friends to stop a powerful, ruthless villain/villains who deceitfully hoards something valuable (chocolate here, wishes there) from the unknowing public who sees no reason to mistrust them, has a sidekick of sorts with a comically deep voice and mannerisms (Lofty the Oompa-Loompa here, Valentino the goat in ''Wish''), and is inspired by the memory of a deceased parent (for Asha, it's her father). Both films also prominently excerpt a famous song from another movie in their underscores ("Pure Imagination" in this film, "When You Wish Upon a Star" in ''Wish'') and have numerous [[CallForward call forwards]] and/or Easter eggs (to ''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'' here, to other Disney Animated Canon works in ''Wish''), both protagonists at one point must swim back to the city to hatch their plan to defeat the villain, and both films end on a visual of [[spoiler: fireworks exploding over a castle]]! In a surprising development, this was a case where the non-Disney project was the more successful one with critics and audiences; even some Disney fans will argue/lament that this was a better Disney-style musical than ''Wish''.

* SleeperHit: One in the footsteps of fellow musical ''Film/TheGreatestShowman''. The film defied early skepticism based on its trailers and premise to end up the biggest hit of the 2023 Christmas season thanks to good reviews and fantastic word-of-mouth against the notable underperformances of ''WesternAnimation/{{Wish|2023}}'' (which was expected to be a breakout as the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon centennial film, and had far more merchandising) and ''Film/AquamanAndTheLostKingdom'' (Creator/WarnerBros seemed to expect and encourage this, given its marketing department did far more for this film than the ''Aquaman'' sequel despite the latter having a far bigger budget to make back). In the end, it grossed over $600 million worldwide, the second biggest of WB in 2023 behind only ''Film/{{Barbie|2023}}'', and the 8th highest-grossing movie overall.

** Creator/TomHolland, Creator/DonaldGlover, Creator/RyanGosling and Creator/EzraMiller were considered for the role of [[Characters/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactoryWillyWonka Willy Wonka]] before the casting of Creator/TimotheeChalamet, though director Paul King has said he felt Chalamet was the only choice after seeing [=YouTube=] recordings of his high school performances (offering him the part without an audition).

** Two scenes where cut from the final script. [[https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Wonka-Read-The-Screenplay-Redacted.pdf You can read it right here]]:
*** Originally, before Noodle would show to Wonka the store they bought, she would take him to the library, where he would finally be able to read while she sings "Pure Imagination".
*** During "Sorry Noodle", she would've sing the song along with Willy Wonka as she tries to call Willy thorught her room, only to get her heart broken as she watches him leave.

** With ''WesternAnimation/Wish2023'', a musical fantasy released the previous month that serves as an origin story (in ''Wish'''s case it's the "wishing star" from Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon films) in which an idealistic, quirky protagonist enlists the help of a racially diverse group of friends to stop a powerful, ruthless villain/villains who deceitfully hoards something valuable (chocolate here, wishes there) from the unknowing public who sees no reason to mistrust them, has a sidekick of sorts with a comically deep voice and mannerisms (Lofty the Oompa-Loompa here, Valentino the goat in ''Wish''), and is inspired by the memory of a deceased parent (for Asha, it's her father). Both films also prominently excerpt a famous song from another movie in their underscores ("Pure Imagination" in this film, "When You Wish Upon a Star" in ''Wish'') and have numerous [[CallForward call forwards]] and/or Easter eggs (to ''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'' here, to other Disney Animated Canon works in ''Wish''), both protagonists at one point must swim back to the city to hatch their plan to defeat the villain, and both films end on a visual of [[spoiler: fireworks exploding over a castle]]! In a surprising development, this was a case where the '''non'''-Disney project was the more successful one with critics and audiences; even some Disney fans will argue/lament that this was a better Disney-style musical than ''Wish''.

** With ''WesternAnimation/Wish2023'', a musical fantasy released the previous month that serves as an origin story (in ''Wish'''s case it's the "wishing star" from Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon films) in which an idealistic, quirky protagonist enlists the help of a racially diverse group of friends to stop a powerful, ruthless villain/villains who deceitfully hoards something valuable (chocolate here, wishes there) from the unknowing public who sees no reason to mistrust them, has a sidekick of sorts with a comically deep voice and mannerisms (Lofty the Oompa-Loompa here, Valentino the goat in ''Wish''), and is inspired by the memory of a deceased parent (for Asha, it's her father). Both films also prominently excerpt a famous song from another movie in their underscores ("Pure Imagination" in this film, "When You Wish Upon a Star" in ''Wish'') and have numerous [[CallForward call forwards]] and/or Easter eggs (to ''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'' here, to other Disney Animated Canon works in ''Wish''), and both protagonists at one point must swim back to the city to hatch their plan to defeat the villain! (In a surprising development, this was a case where the non-Disney project was the more successful one with critics and audiences, with even some Disney fans arguing/lamenting that this was a better Disney-style musical than ''Wish''.)

* ProductionPosse: Reunites director Creator/PaulKing with his ''Film/{{Paddington}}'' and ''Film/Paddington2'' producer David Heyman and ''Paddington 2'' co-writer Simon Farnaby. Several members of the cast - Tom Davis, Tim [=FitzHigham=], Creator/HughGrant, Creator/SallyHawkins, and Matt Lucas - also appeared in one or both ''Paddington'' films.

** With ''WesternAnimation/Wish2023'', a musical fantasy released the previous month that serves as an origin story (in ''Wish'''s case it's the "wishing star" from Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon films) in which an idealistic, quirky protagonist enlists the help of a racially diverse group of friends to stop a powerful, ruthless villain/villains who deceitfully hoards something valuable (chocolate here, wishes there) from the unknowing public who sees no reason to mistrust them, has a sidekick of sorts with a comically deep voice and mannerisms (Lofty the Oompa-Loompa here, Valentino the goat in ''Wish''), and is inspired by the memory of a deceased parent (for Asha, it's her father). Both films also prominently excerpt a famous song from another movie in their underscores ("Pure Imagination" in this film, "When You Wish Upon a Star" in ''Wish'') and have numerous [[CallForward call forwards]] and/or Easter eggs (to ''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'' here, to other Disney Animated Canon works in ''Wish''), and both protagonists at one point must swim back to the city to hatch their plan to defeat the villain!

* SleeperHit: One in the footsteps of fellow musical ''Film/TheGreatestShowman''. The film defied early skepticism based on its trailers and premise to end up the biggest hit of the 2023 Christmas season thanks to good reviews and fantastic word-of-mouth against the notable underperformances of ''WesternAnimation/{{Wish|2023}}'' (which opened the previous month but had been expected to be a breakout as the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon centennial film, and had far more merchandising) and ''Film/AquamanAndTheLostKingdom'' (Creator/WarnerBros seemed to expect and encourage this, given its marketing department devoted far more resources to this film than to the ''Aquaman'' sequel despite the latter having a far bigger budget to make back). In the end, it grossed over $600 million worldwide, the second biggest of WB in 2023 behind only ''Film/{{Barbie|2023}}''.

* SleeperHit: Defied early skepticism based on its trailers and premise to end up the biggest hit of the 2023 Christmas season thanks to good reviews and fantastic word-of-mouth against the notable underperformances of ''WesternAnimation/{{Wish|2023}}'' (which opened the previous month but had been expected to be a breakout as the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon centennial film, and had far more merchandising) and ''Film/AquamanAndTheLostKingdom'' (Creator/WarnerBros seemed to expect and encourage this, given its marketing department devoted far more resources to this film than to the ''Aquaman'' sequel despite the latter having a far bigger budget to make back).

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/TomHolland, Creator/DonaldGlover, Creator/RyanGosling and Creator/EzraMiller were considered for the role of [[Characters/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactoryWillyWonka Willy Wonka]] before the casting of Creator/TimotheeChalamet, though director Paul King has said he felt Chalamet was the only choice after seeing [=YouTube=] recordings of his high school performances (offering him the part without an audition).

* SleeperHit: Defied early skepticism based on its trailers to end up the biggest hit of the 2023 Christmas season thanks to good reviews and fantastic word-of-mouth against the notable underperformances of ''WesternAnimation/Wish2023'' (which opened the previous month but had been expected to be a breakout as the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon centennial film, and had far more merchandising) and ''Film/AquamanAndTheLostKingdom''. (Warner Bros. seemed to expect and encourage this, given its marketing department devoted far more resources to this film than to the ''Aquaman'' sequel despite the latter having a far bigger budget to make back.)

* SleeperHit: Defied early skepticism based on its trailers to end up the biggest hit of the 2023 Christmas season, against the notable underperformances of ''Film/AquamanAndTheLostKingdom'' and ''WesternAnimation/Wish2023''.

* SleeperHit: Ended up the biggest hit of the 2023 Christmas season, against a notable underperformance of ''Film/AquamanAndTheLostKingdom''.

** Also, Jim Carter and Rowan Atkinson both appeared in ''Film/TheWitches1990'', another Roald Dahl-derived film, as members of the hotel staff (the Head Chef and the hotel's owner, respectively).