Line #59 Trivia/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory


1	Enough trivia and what-could-have-beens surround this novel and its myriad of adaptations that they've warranted whole books of their own: ''Spotty Powder and Other Splendiferous Secrets'', ''Pure Imagination'' (1971 film-specific), and the 50th anniversary MilestoneCelebration ''Inside Charlie's Chocolate Factory''. Consider the information below a highlight reel.
2
3	!!The [[Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory novel]]
4	* AdaptationOverdosed: In order of release, there's...
5	** ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' (1971 film)
6	** A non-musical stage play by Richard George that's extremely faithful to the book; Dahl approved of it
7	** A BBC Radio 4 adaptation in TheEighties (Note: One troper ''was'' an Oompa-Loompa in the radio adaptation, and has spent years trying to track down a recording)
8	** A musical stage adaptation by Jeremy Raison and Christopher Reason that toured the U.K. and elsewhere in TheEighties
9	** A 1985 video game for the Platform/ZXSpectrum
10	** ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' (2005 film)
11	** ''Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka'', a 2005 U.S. stage musical created for the touring children's theatre circuit that uses the 1971 film's songs and adds new numbers by Leslie Bricusse, the film's lyricist, but the script is significantly different to the point that it isn't promoted as the loose ScreenToStageAdaptation it is. Notable for existing in ''four'' [[ReCut different versions]], ranging from a half-hour "Kids" version suitable for a grade-school assembly to a full-length version that can use child and adult actors
12	** The 2005 film had several tie-in video games.
13	** A 2006 Disney-style combination boat/simulator ride at the U.K. theme park Ride/AltonTowers, which lasted until 2015.
14	** ''Theatre/TheGoldenTicket'' (2010 opera)
15	** In 2013, WMS Gaming introduced ''video slot machines'' based on the 1971 film!
16	** ''Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' (2013 West End stage musical, {{Retool}}ed for Broadway in 2017)
17	** The online game VideoGame/{{Poptropica}} has an island themed after the novel.
18	** ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryWillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' (2017 DirectToVideo animated feature)
19	** ''Film/{{Wonka}}'' (2023 prequel)
20	** ''Theatre/{{WillysChocolateExperience}}'' An unofficial event based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2024.
21	* CashCowFranchise: Qualifies as this for Creator/RoaldDahl's estate, if only because it's AdaptationOverdosed.
22	* CreatorBacklash: Roald Dahl didn't much care for Joseph Schindelman's illustration work in the initial U.S. release of the book, and ensured that a different illustrator, Faith Jacques handled the UK release (though Schindelman was still hired to illustrate the first U.S. edition of ''Literature/CharlieAndTheGreatGlassElevator''). Later on, both the U.S. and UK releases were re-illustrated by Michael Foreman, and then it was re-done a third time by Quentin Blake a few years after Dahl's death.
23	* CowboyBeBopAtHisComputer: There is a widespread belief that the unused chapter of Marvin Prune, called ''The Children-Delight's Room'', is a piece of lost media that Roald Dahl never found back after its manuscript was sent out for a review. For a very long time, [[{{Website/Wikipedia}} the Other Wiki]] article for ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' described this chapter as completely lost. In truth, it was never lost: the chapter is stored by and available at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Center, also known as the Roald Dahl Archive. As for its content, it is merely a GenderFlip version of Miranda Mary Piker's story, aka the removed ''Spotty Powder'' chapter.
24	* {{Defictionalization}}: The first film adaptation was largely MerchandiseDriven. Quaker Oats gave a ton of money to the production and then changed the name of an upcoming candy line to Wonka, which is also one reason for its title change. That line initially flopped, but the brand was subsequently retooled and relaunched -- it is currently owned by Nestlé. Ironically, the Wonka brand is best-known for ''non''-chocolate products ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerds_(candy) Nerds]] are their most famous original creation, and their Everlasting Gobstoppers don't last forever, unfortunately), and is more popular in the U.S. than the U.K. But they do have several varieties of chocolate bars in the U.K., and Nestlé even supplied all of the edible prop candy for the 2005 film.
25	* MilestoneCelebration: The 50th anniversary in 2014 ("50 Whipple-Scrumptious Years", as the official logo put it) was marked with a variety of events and offerings and specifically kicked off on January 31st, since that's the day Charlie finds his Golden Ticket.
26	** Penguin Books added the novel to their adult-oriented Penguin Modern Classics line, which went awry due to its cover. It had several kid-friendlier anniversary editions too, including deluxe reissues of both the Joseph Schindelman ''and'' Quentin Blake-illustrated editions (the latter in full-color for the first time).
27	** The retrospective book ''Inside Charlie's Chocolate Factory'' was released.
28	** Other events included contests in the U.S. and U.K., and the annual Puffin Virtually Live school webcast that marks Creator/RoaldDahl's birthday was centered on the book. While the [[Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory 2013 West End stage musical]] was not specifically mounted to tie in to this anniversary, it was incorporated into many of the U.K.-based events, such as the webcast and an Easter-season window display at the Piccadilly Circus Waterstone's bookstore that recreated its sets in miniature with chocolate biscuits. The show's director Creator/SamMendes also wrote the introduction to the aforementioned Modern Classics edition of the novel.
29	* ReferencedBy: In ''Franchise/{{D4DJ}}'', one of the songs by Lyrical Lily is called "Barkley and the Chocolate Factory". (In general, a lot of their songs are titled after classical literature.)
30	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' went through numerous drafts, resulting in an abundant amount of unused chapters and ideas: a different ending, additional naughty children that would encounter their demise during the tour, different conditions and results for the Golden Ticket contest, and even giving Wonka a son!
31	** A chapter that was deleted but almost made it to the final draft was ''The Spotty Powder'' chapter, presenting a girl called Miranda Mary Piker, the no-nonsense, school-obsessed, fun-killing daughter of a stern schoolmaster. Upon discovering the titular "Spotty Powder", a type of candy Wonka created that temporarily faked the symptoms of a disease to allow children to [[PlayingSick skip school]], Miranda and her father flew into a rage and tried to destroy the machine creating it, only for them to fall down a dark staircase and - at least it is implied by the Oompa-Loompa song - end up swallowed by the machine and turned into a new batch of Spotty Powder. This chapter was notoriously criticized for its very dark content, resulting in it being cut from the book. But it was published several times: a first time by the ''Puffin Post'' in 1973, then in the book ''Scary! Stories that will make you scream'' in 1998, in ''The Times'' in 2005, and finally in 2010 in the book ''Spotty Powder and Other Splendiferous Secrets''.
32	** In 2014, ''The Guardian'' released an unused chapter called ''The Fudge Mountain'' about the tour going by the titular Vanilla Fudge Mountain, from which Wonka gets all of his fudge. The naughty children of this chapter were a duo of boys, Tommy Troutbeck and Wilbur Rice, that refused to listen to Wonka's warning of ''not'' riding one of the wagons going into the mines of the Fudge Mountain - resulting in them being sent to the room where the fudge is cut into little pieces and pounded flat... Hopefully for them, Wonka precises there is a strain that should catch them. More info about it [[http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/30/roald-dahl-extract-unpublished-chapter-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory here]].
33	** Also in 2014, another unused chapter was released, but this time by ''Vanity Fair'': it was ''The Warming Candies'' chapter, depicting Wonka's invention of a little candy that would keep hot anyone that eats it. A trio of boys named Clarence Crump, Bertie Upside and Trevor Roper, not buying Wonka's strange pseudo-scientific explanation about how he could trap pure heat in the candy, swallowed handfuls of it - ending up massively overheating, and having to be taken into a refrigerator to be cooled down. More info about it [[http://www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl/archive/archive-highlights/the-warming-candy-room here]].
34	** In the very first drafts of the story, the number of children part of the tour went up to fifteen, and this was because the tours of Wonka's factory were originally conceived as weekly events. Plus, in Dahl's original idea, the children were not particularly characterized - the idea of giving them specific flaws and demises coming in later rewrites. On top of Clarence Crump, Bertie Upside, Trevor Roper, Tommy Troutbeck and Wilbur Rice (all described above), the original children included: Herpes Trout (later becoming Mike Teavee), Augustus Pottle (later renamed Augustus Gloop), Elvira Entwhistle (later renamed Veruca Salt) and Violet Strabismus (the future Violet Beauregarde - who wasn't originally turned into a blueberry by the gum, in Dahl's original drafts she simply had her skin turning blue).
35	*** An interesting case about these early characters concerns Marvin Prune and Miranda Grope. Miranda Grope was the prototype for Miranda Mary Piker, of the ''Spotty Powder'' chapter, but she was the complete opposite of Piker: instead of a no-nonsense, school obsessed, rule-stickling girl, she was a rude, unruly and nasty child refusing to obey anyone. Dahl himself called her one of his most "vicious" characters. She was supposed to meet her demise by the Chocolate River, just like Augustus Gloop (then called "Augustus Pottle"). But whereas Augustus fell into the river for trying to drink it, Miranda would have rather ''jumped'' on it because she refused to obey to Wonka's rule of not swimming in his chocolate. While the two kids were to be sucked into pipes, Augustus was to be sent to the Chocolate Fudge Room and Miranda to the Peanut Bristle Mixer. Meanwhile, the actual prototype for the ''Spotty Powder'' chapter was ''The Children's Delight'' chapter, centered around Marvin Prune, a "conceited boy" in Dahl's words, who was a GenderFlip of future Miranda Mary Piker, making the later a CompositeCharacter mixing Miranda Grope and Marvin Prune.
36	** The general plot was also ''very'' different in the first drafts. Willy Wonka had a son named Freddie, Mrs. Bucket was Charlie's companion on the tour rather than Grandpa Joe, the story ended with Charlie getting his own chocolate ''shop'' instead of inheriting Wonka's factory, the Wonka Factory had conventional workers rather than Oompa-Loompas, and instead of elaborate poems, verses of an ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone''-esque ditty came in the wake of each child's fate... Oh, and Charlie was black. Yes, Charlie was originally explicitly described as a black boy - but [[ExecutiveMeddling Dahl's editor]] convinced him to drop that idea, assuring him that his novel would be more interesting to the audience [[ValuesDissonance if it was about a white character instead]]. There's a lot of information about this early version of the story [[http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/30/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-50-years-roald-dahl-quentin-blake here]].
37	*** Most notably, the first drafts had Charlie fail to listen to Wonka's warnings, and ending up in a bad situation after not resisting a temptation - just like the other kids of the tour. Upon entering the Easter Room, where Wonka makes giant chocolate eggs and hyper-realistic chocolate animals, the group discovers the machine preparing Wonka's new Easter product: chocolate children the size of real children. Charlie, out of curiosity, climbs into one of the children-sized molds when nobody is looking, only to get trapped in one of the "Chocolate Boys". Hopefully this particular chocolate-statue was destined as an Easter gift to Willy Wonka's son, Freddie Wonka. After Wonka hid the Chocolate Boy in his living room for the night, so his son could discover it in the morning, Charlie became witness to a robbery in Wonka's house. The following day he is set free from his chocolate prison, and is able to help the police find the burglars - which results in Wonka thanking Charlie by giving him his very own Wonka chocolate shop to run and own. [[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/books/review/roald-dahl-black-charlie-chocolate-factory.html Here is an article]] of ''The New York Times'' describing the original ending in more details.
38	** The Oompa-Loompas' original name was the Whipple-Scrumpets. (In the finished book, Charlie's favorite variety of Wonka Bar happens to be the Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight.)
39
40
41	!!The 1971 [[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory film]]
42	''see [[Trivia/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory here]]''
43
44	!!The 2005 [[Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory film]]
45	* ActingForTwo: Every single Oompa-Loompa, even the female ones, are played by Creator/DeepRoy. Some (jackhammer, boat-rowers) are completely animatronic. Also, though some shots are recycled, minimal CGI was used - rather, ''Roy had to be filmed as each individual Oompa-Loompa.'' Don't worry, he got paid through the ''nose'' for his hard work!
46	* AdoredByTheNetwork: Until 2014 (when it was picked up by the Creator/{{HBO}} networks), this was a favorite of ABC Family[=/=]Creator/{{Freeform}}'s weekend/Christmas-season movie lineups, often presented as a double feature with the 1971 version, which still qualifies for this trope. As of 2019, the rights seem to have been reclaimed by Freeform, so time will tell if this happens again.
47	* ApprovalOfGod:
48	** Although he didn't like the film, Creator/GeneWilder praised Creator/JohnnyDepp's performance as Wonka.
49	** Creator/RoaldDahl's widow Felicity liked the movie and even mentioned that he would have loved it if he ever got the chance to see it.
50	* DeniedParody: Creator/TimBurton went on record as saying this Wonka was '''NOT''' a parody or {{Expy}} of Music/MichaelJackson after the bulk of reviews pointed out the similarities between the two figures -- and, at least in Creator/RogerEbert's review, actually counted it as a point against the film because it came off as so creepy. This is a rather plausible denial, as the resemblances between the two -- both are soft-spoken, pale, ReclusiveArtist {{Man Child}}ren -- owe more to Burton's usual character aesthetics and Depp taking inspiration from ''Vogue'' magazine editor Anna Wintour in appearance and the original novel's characterization in personality. (Jackson himself had sought the role out when the project was announced for that reason.) Unfortunately, the superficial similarities came along just after Jackson's months-long trial on child molestation charges wrapped up (the nature of the NotHisSled twist in this version may not have helped).
51	* DisownedAdaptation: Of a sort.
52	** Creator/GeneWilder said that, while he liked Creator/TimBurton and Creator/JohnnyDepp, he didn't care much for this adaptation.
53	** Diana Sowle, who played Mrs. Bucket in the original film, has stated that this adaptation just wasn't quite right and that it lacked the charm the original film had.
54	* DVDCommentary: Creator/TimBurton provided one that appears only on high-definition format releases (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray).
55	* EditedForSyndication: Mike's line, "A retard could figure it out" when explaining how he deduced his Golden Ticket's location is edited on most television airings of the movie. Most networks, such as Freeform, skip the line entirely. Airings on Nickelodeon have the line redubbed to, "An idiot could figure it out". AMC airings abruptly cut the line in half to only "...figure it out." In addition, airings on Turner-owned networks such as Cartoon Network, TBS, and TNT cut some scenes and a couple of Oompa Loompa songs for time.
56	* FakeAmerican: British actor Adam Godley as the American Mr. Teevee (Mike's dad).
57	* HypotheticalCasting: According to Creator/RoaldDahl's widow Liccy, he would have been happy with either Creator/DustinHoffman or an English comedian like Creator/EddieIzzard or Creator/DavidWalliams playing Willy Wonka. Her ideal choice for Grandpa Joe was Creator/ChristopherLloyd.
58	* InMemoriam: Freeform ran it in 2012 to pay tribute to David Kelly (Grandpa Joe). Same thing when Christopher Lee (Dr. Wilbur Wonka) passed away in 2015.
59	* LicensedGame: Five total were released for Platform/GameBoyAdvance, Platform/PlayStation2, Platform/NintendoGameCube, Platform/XBox, and Windows.
60	* LoopingLines: In the final scene, [[spoiler:the narrator is portrayed by Creator/DeepRoy while Creator/GeoffreyHolder dubbed his voice]].
61	* NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals: With regards to the Nut Room sequence, Tim Burton was so dead set on avoiding using CGI that he paid a team of animal trainers to train 40 real squirrels for it. It took 19 weeks of painstaking work, training each squirrel individually, but they pulled it off. And all for a scene that takes up less than 10 minutes of screen time.
62	* NonSingingVoice: Creator/DeepRoy is a self-proclaimed terrible singer and dancer. He learned how to dance for the film and Music/DannyElfman provided all of his vocals.
63	* PlayingAgainstType: Christopher Lee plays a father figure, who despite having a strained relationship with his son, is not remotely villainous, and he ultimately reconciles with his son. This can be quite a surprise given that he was mostly known for playing evil monsters and villains.
64	* ProductionPosse: It's a Creator/TimBurton movie, so no surprise Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter, and Music/DannyElfman are along for the ride.
65	* SavedFromDevelopmentHell:
66	** Development began in 1991 when Creator/WarnerBros and Brillstein-Grey Entertainment entered into discussions with the Creator/RoaldDahl estate to purchase the rights to the book. The purchase was finalized in 1998, with Dahl's widow and daughter receiving total artistic control and final privilege on the choices of actors, directors and writers.
67	** Scott Frank was hired to write the screenplay in February 1999, after approaching the studio for the job. Creator/NicolasCage was in talks to play Willy Wonka, but lost interest. Gary Ross signed to direct in February 2000, which resulted in Frank completing two drafts of the screenplay, before they both left the project in September 2001.
68	** Rob Minkoff entered negotiations to take over as director in October 2001 and Gwyn Lurie was hired to start from scratch on a new script in February 2002. Lurie was hired because the Dahl estate were impressed with her work on and unmade adaptation of ''Literature/TheBFG''. Creator/MartinScorsese was briefly in talks to direct in April 2002 before leaving to focus on ''Film/TheAviator''.
69	** Warner Bros. president Alan F. Horn wanted Tom Shadyac to direct with Creator/JimCarrey starring as Willy Wonka, believing that they could make the story relevant to mainstream audiences, but Liccy Dahl opposed this.
70	** Creator/TimBurton came aboard as director in May 2003. He compared the experience to his time on ''Film/Batman1989'', in how there had been varied creative efforts. Burton hired Pamela Petter, who worked with on ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'', to re-write Lurie's script and then John August, who he worked with on ''Film/CorpseBride'', to start from scratch. Principal photography began in June 2004 and finished in December of that year. It was finally released in 2005.
71	* SparedByTheCut: One of Creator/TimBurton's first vetoes when he was hired as director was the possibility of killing off Charlie's father. The studio suggested portraying Wonka as one to Charlie, to which Burton replied, flabbergasted, "Willy Wonka is ''not'' a father figure!"
72	* TechnologyMarchesOn: Mike uses his computer to deduce the location of one of the Golden Tickets. In [[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory the 1971 film]], a squad of professional programmers spend a lot of time and money to develop a massive supercomputer for this very purpose and suffer an odd AIIsACrapshoot moment - see that page for details.
73	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
74	** Creator/DwayneJohnson was the second choice for the role of [[Characters/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactoryWillyWonka Willy Wonka]] before Creator/JohnnyDepp was cast.
75	*** Creator/NicolasCage also had discussions for the part of Willy Wonka, but turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts with ''Film/NationalTreasure''.
76	*** Creator/AdamSandler, Creator/BenStiller, Creator/BillMurray, Creator/BradPitt, Creator/ChristopherWalken, Creator/DustinHoffman, Creator/EricIdle, Creator/JimCarrey, Creator/JohnCleese, Creator/LeslieNielsen, Creator/MichaelKeaton, Creator/MichaelPalin, Creator/MikeMyers, Creator/PatrickStewart, Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/RobinWilliams, Creator/SteveMartin, Creator/WillSmith and Music/MarilynManson were considered for Willy Wonka as well before the casting of Depp.
77	** Creator/GregoryPeck and Creator/PeterUstinov were approached for the role of Grandpa Joe before the casting of Creator/DavidKelly. However, [[Main/DiedDuringProduction both of them passed away before they were able to discuss the offer.]]
78	*** Creator/AlbertFinney, Creator/AnthonyHopkins, Creator/ChristopherLloyd, Creator/GeorgeCarlin, Creator/KirkDouglas, Creator/DavidWarner, Creator/EliWallach, Creator/MaxVonSydow, Creator/MichaelCaine, Creator/PaulNewman, Creator/RichardAttenborough, Creator/RichardGriffiths and Creator/RonMoody were also considered for the part of Grandpa Joe before the casting of Kelly.
79	** Creator/DanCastellaneta, Creator/EdONeill, Creator/JamesBelushi, Creator/KurtwoodSmith, Creator/BobSaget, Creator/RayRomano and Creator/TimAllen[[note]]The original idea for the character was to cast an actor famous for playing a father on a sitcom.[[/note]] were considered for the role of Mr. Teavee before Creator/AdamGodley was cast.
80	** Creator/RobertZemeckis, Creator/MartinScorsese, [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Rob Minkoff]], Creator/BarryLevinson, [[Film/{{Pleasantville}} Gary Ross]] and Creator/FrankOz were approached to direct the movie before Creator/TimBurton was hired.
81	** Creator/WarnerBros seriously considered giving this film a ScreenToStageAdaptation. Instead, their theatrical division became a co-producer of the 2013 stage musical.
82	** After composing Augustus Gloop's song, Music/DannyElfman assumed each Oompa Loompa song would sound just like it, even producing a demo of Veruca's song with the same melody as Gloop's. Instead, Burton suggested the idea that each Oompa Loompa song would have its own style, which Elfman latched onto quickly.
83	* WriteWhatYouKnow:
84	** The BracesOfOrthodonticOverkill young Willy Wonka wears? Creator/TimBurton wore similar headgear as a child.
85	** The scene of the Wonkas reuniting amidst the elder Mr. Wonka's numerous newspaper clippings of his son's success was based on Burton having recently visited his dying mother and discovering that she'd kept a scrapbook full of reviews for his movies.
86
87	!!The 2013 West End Musical
88	* ActorInspiredElement: Willy Wonka's elegant StaffOfAuthority having the bendy properties of a bamboo cane (think Creator/CharlieChaplin) was role originator Creator/DouglasHodge's idea; he'd been rehearsing with a bamboo cane and grew used to its feel and the tricks, stances, etc. this allowed him. (See WhatCouldHaveBeen below for how his input affected other aspects of the show.)
89	* CutSong: Not a whole song, but the second verse of "The Amazing Tale of Mr. Willy Wonka" (about the SeriousBusiness of his sweets) was cut with the 2014 cast turnover, skipping to the Prince Pondicherry story. It is preserved on the cast album.
90	** "The Double Bubble Duchess" was replaced in April 2016 with "Queen of Pop," a song written for the then-forthcoming Broadway production.
91	** "When Willy Met Oompa" was originally written for the London show, but was cut prior to rehearsals. It was reinstated for the Broadway production.
92	* DeletedScene[=/=]OrphanedReference: The "Creation Overture" animated prologue was dropped in 2014 upon the first major cast turnover for reasons unknown, though pacing and/or not wanting to rerecord the narration[[note]]since it was provided by Creator/DouglasHodge, the first Willy Wonka, who left with the turnover[[/note]] may have been factors. This cut resulted in the loss of the MeaningfulEcho of the phrase "just a bean" in "It Must Be Believed to Be Seen".
93	* ExecutiveMeddling: This is the reason "Pure Imagination" from the [[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory 1971 film]] is included with what is otherwise a completely new score. Creator/SamMendes wasn't too happy about this, since he wanted the show to stand on its own merits, but since audiences and critics love its placement as ClimacticMusic -- and it ties in to the CentralTheme perfectly -- this is arguably a case of Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad.
94	* MilestoneCelebration: This was the show that officially reopened the newly renovated/restored Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the world's oldest operating theatre, for its 350th anniversary in 2013.
95	* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: The initial plan for a Broadway transfer to launch in the 2014-15 season was scrapped, partially due to Creator/SamMendes being busy with other projects and the need to wait on a theatre big enough to accommodate its huge physical production becoming available. The Broadway production, with Jack O'Brien taking over the directing duties from Mendes (who stayed on as a producer), opened in April 2017.
96	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
97	** As discussed in [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/10101644/Behind-the-scenes-at-Charlie-and-the-Chocolate-Factory.html this article]], director Creator/SamMendes first tried to get the stage rights to the novel in the late ''1980s''. He tried again at the TurnOfTheMillennium, but the rights were with Warner Bros. by then, and they were busy with what became the 2005 film. Once that was out of the way, the go-ahead was given for a new stage adaptation in 2007. From there the show went through ''fifty'' drafts! (Amazingly, the first song written, "Almost Nearly Perfect", managed to survive the whole way.)
98	** Before going with the conceit of adult actors in trick costumes (ala how Lord Farquaad was handled in ''Theatre/ShrekTheMusical'') to play the Oompa-Loompas, the creators considered either using puppets or casting children in the roles.
99	** Creator/DouglasHodge's decision to take on the role of Willy Wonka meant giving up the chance to play the title character in a Cameron Mackintosh-produced revival of ''Barnum'' at Chichester Festival Theatre. But he'd never had the chance to take part in the creative process of staging a new musical before (of his previous roles in stage musicals, 1983's ''Bashville'' came very early in his career, and all the others were revivals), and Creator/SamMendes and the writers were willing to listen to his input.
100	** "It Must Be Believed to Be Seen" was almost a CutSong, as the songwriters came up with a far more bombastic number to take its place. That song made it to the readthrough stage, but Douglas Hodge wasn't happy with it and wanted something cheekier...so the writers, who felt much the same way by that point, played "It Must Be Believed to Be Seen" for him, and with further tweaking, the song was back in the show. Part of the tweaking involved Mr. Wonka's entrance -- Hodge, who had read the book but [[PopCulturalOsmosisFailure not yet seen the 1971 movie adaptation]], wanted to fake a fall as he came down the steps. Once he understood that this was too similar to the '71 film, the InternalHomage variant involving an InstantCostumeChange instead of a tumble emerged.
101	** Initially the show was set to premiere at the London Palladium, but when the West End production of ''Theatre/ShrekTheMusical'' announced its closing notice, leaving the similarly massive Theatre Royal Drury Lane free, plans were changed.
102	** The Great Glass Elevator setpiece was so hard to perfect that not only were the earliest preview performances cancelled outright, but an alternative version of the "Pure Imagination" sequence was created in which the elevator is explicitly described as ''invisible'' (the actors miming its walls).
103	** The chocolate river and the boat ride down it couldn't be convincingly realized on stage without killing the show's pacing (via time-consuming switching in and out of setpieces), hence [[PragmaticAdaptation the simpler waterfall setpiece in the Chocolate Room and a different journey-by-boat for the transition from the Nut Room to the Department of the Future]].
104	** The final stretch of "Juicy!" features roller-skating Oompa-Loompas; originally Willy Wonka was going to skate too, but Douglas Hodge never got the hang of it and concerns for his safety led to that bit of business getting cut.
105
106	!!The 2017 Broadway {{Retool}}
107	* CutSong:
108	** "The Amazing Tale of Mr. Willy Wonka" was replaced with a solo for Grandpa Joe, "Charlie, You and I" (titled "Tales of Wonka" in early previews, suggesting that it may have originally been longer). "Willy Wonka! Willy Wonka!," while preceding this song, plays the exposition song role "Amazing Tale" did in London.
109	** "Almost Nearly Perfect" was cut in favor of the 1971 film's "The Candy Man" as part of a completely new opening sequence.
110	** "It's Teavee Time" was replaced with "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?"
111	** Aside from a few lyrics referred to as "Grandpa Joe" in the song listing, "Don'cha Pinch Me Charlie" was cut and replaced with "I've Got a Golden Ticket" from the '71 film.
112	** "Simply Second Nature" was replaced with "Pure Imagination", which was moved to the Chocolate Room scene to make room for "The View from Here", the new ClimacticMusic.
113	** "Juicy!" was cut, leaving Violet the only brat without TheVillainSucksSong; her demise is a wacky background event during the {{Backstory}} song "When Willy Met Oompa" instead.
114	** "A Little Me" and the closing reprise of "It Must Be Believed to Be Seen" were cut, leaving "The View From Here" as the final song in the show.
115	** Originally, a TriumphantReprise of "Strike That! Reverse It!" came after "The View from Here" but this was axed during previews.
116	** The US and Australian touring productions cut "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" in favor of "That Little Man of Mine", a song cut from earlier stagings. This may have been because audiences weren't amused by lyrics in the former song such as "And then we tweet before we think" and "And though he may be malcontent/Someday he might be president" that were seen as digs at President Creator/DonaldTrump.
117	** "When Willy Met Oompa" was replaced in MTI's licensed version with "You Got Whacha Want," a previously unused song that was later added for the UK touring production. This once again gives Violet her own TheVillainSucksSong.
118	* DawsonCasting: In the same vein as ''Theatre/TheGoldenTicket'', the four bratty kids are played by adult actors here, leaving Charlie as the only child in the entire cast.
119	* DeliberateFlawRetcon: In the ''New York Times'' [[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/theater/a-second-bite-of-the-wonka-bar-reimagining-charlie-for-broadway.html article]] discussing the {{Retool}}, the creative team claimed that the much less elaborate sets were "meant to reinforce the show’s oft-stated theme: the importance of imagination. The change was prompted partly by necessity — the British sets were designed for a West End theater that has a much larger stage than the Broadway house." But by the time this piece was published, there had been ''many'' complaints from preview audiences that the sets were a huge comedown from the SceneryPorn of the West End version and didn't live up to what all of the promotional material and even ''the exterior of the theater'' promised, and more cynical theatergoers were theorizing that the REAL reason they didn't just use/adapt the London sets was a desire to mount the show on the cheap and make it easier to tour. After the article was published, these theatergoers argued that if they ''really'' intended the audience to use its imaginations, they should have gone with an even more minimalist approach (ala ''Theatre/PeterAndTheStarcatcher'').
120	* DyeingForYourArt: Christian Borle shaved his head to play Willy Wonka
121	* OrphanedReference: Charlie's "How d'ja do?" {{Catchphrase}} isn't a catchphrase in this version due to the cutting of "Almost Nearly Perfect", spoiling the joke at the end of Act One when it's the first and almost only thing he can think of to say on the red carpet.
122	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
123	** Creator/SamMendes was going to direct the Broadway transfer, but due to his many commitments he had to hand off the duties to Jack O'Brien.
124	** The RevisedEnding [[http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/broadway/7873927/marc-shaiman-scott-wittman-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-musical originally revealed]] that all four brats somehow survived their ordeals in the factory, whereupon Charlie decided to make them his employees with their respective vices turned to positive ends. However, preview audiences apparently saw this as EndingFatigue after "The View from Here", and this and the TriumphantReprise of "Strike That! Reverse It!" were cut to end the show as soon as possible, turning the finale into a FocusGroupEnding.
125	!!The 2022-2023 U.K.-Ireland Tour
126	* AuthorsSavingThrow: The Bratty Kids being implied to have been [[DeathByAdaptation actually killed in the West End and Broadway Musicals]] has often been heavily criticized. In the 2022 tour, Wonka makes it clear at the end that the kids all survived.
127	* CutSong: While the 2022 U.K. tour was significantly closer to the original West End than Broadway's was, several songs were still changed and/or cut:
128	** Instead of replacing "Almost Nearly Perfect", "The Candy Man" replaces "If Your Mother Were Here".
129	** While "It Must Be Believed To Be Seen" hasn't been entirely cut out, it's first half has been replaced with a new song, "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".
130	** Similar to the Broadway production, "Pure Imagination" takes the place of "Simply Second Nature".
131	** The new song "You Got What You Want" replaces "Juicy!"/"When Willy Met Oompa".
132	** A reprise of "The Candy Man" replaces "A Little Me".
133	** A reprise of "Almost Nearly Perfect" replaces the reprise of "It Must Be Believed to Be Seen" as the finale.
134

Context Trivia / CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory