Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Short description
Charlie Bucket is a boy from a poor family who dreams of chocolate he can rarely afford. When the reclusive candy maker Willy Wonka hides five golden tickets in his chocolate bars, the finders win a guided tour of his long-closed factory. Charlie unexpectedly becomes one of the five children chosen, along with their accompanying adults, and joins the visit to a strange, wondrous production site staffed by Oompa-Loompas. The other winners are far less well behaved than Charlie, and the tour turns into a test of character as much as a spectacle.
Tim Burton directed this adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel, the thirteenth of twenty-two films he has directed, following Big Fish and preceding Corpse Bride. John August wrote the screenplay, and Johnny Depp plays Willy Wonka, with Freddie Highmore as Charlie, David Kelly as Grandpa Joe, Helena Bonham Carter and Noah Taylor as Charlie's parents, and Missi Pyle among the supporting cast.
Released in July 2005, the film cost about 150 million dollars and took in roughly 475 million worldwide, a strong return. On IMDb it holds 6.7/10 from 569,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7/10 from 16,398 votes. A critics' rating of 7.5/10 from 226 reviews places it slightly above the audience scores on both platforms.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is based on Roald Dahl’s novella, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (1964).
- Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Nicolas Cage, Michael Keaton, Adam Sandler, and Jim Carrey all auditioned for the role of Willy Wonka at one time.
- This film became the second “chocolate” role for Johnny Depp, the lead actor (in 2000, “Chocolat” was released). Johnny himself admitted that he doesn’t like the taste of good chocolate, preferring cheaper varieties, similar to those used to make Easter bunnies.
- Renowned Martin Scorsese was considered as a director for the project.
- This work was the fifth collaboration between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. Previously, “Edward Scissorhands,” “Ed Wood,” and “Sleepy Hollow” had been released. Shortly after, “Charlie” another project called “Corpse Bride” would be released.
- Screenwriter John August had never seen the film “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971) until Tim Burton approached him with a request to write a screenplay. John only began watching it after finishing work on the storyline and was greatly surprised to find that the 1971 film was much harsher and angrier than his own draft, despite the film being nominally considered family-friendly.
- Johnny Depp was so impressed by young Freddie Highmore’s performance in “Finding Neverland” (2004) that he was able to convince Tim Burton to cast him as Charlie Bucket.
- The lyrics to four out of five musical numbers featured in the film were written by the author of the original fairy tale, Roald Dahl.
- Actor Deep Roy played all the Oompa-Loompa characters single-handedly. He had to repeat the same movements hundreds of times. In recognition of his outstanding work ethic, the actor's fee was increased to one million dollars.
- Around 40 animals were used and trained for the squirrel attack scene.
- The scene in which Willy Wonka recalls his childhood was not present in the original work.
- Screenwriter Scott Frank wrote two versions of the script before leaving the project. He was subsequently replaced by John August.
- Approximately 207,000 gallons of fake chocolate were used to create the chocolate river, while 38,500 gallons were used for the chocolate waterfall.
- The main sponsor of the film was the chocolate corporation Nestle, which provided approximately 1,850 bars of real chocolate for filming. At the same time, 110,000 bars of fake chocolate were made, wrapped in original Nestle packaging.
- The lollipops on the trees, giant plantations of pink sugar cane, and peppermint candies are all real confectionery products.
- The segment featuring the Indian prince was included as a tribute to Indian cinema, at Burton's insistence – a passionate fan of Bollywood.
- In the episode with the chocolate bar being moved “by television,” footage from the film “2001: A Space Odyssey” is shown on a small monitor on the wall, followed by the main theme from that film. And the enormous chocolate bar itself is reminiscent of the mysterious monolith from the same film.
- Marilyn Manson expressed great interest in the role of Willy Wonka.
- At the 28th minute of the film, a VAZ-2104 car with right-hand drive passes by in the frame.
- During filming, AnnaSophia Robb made a ball of chewing gum the size of a softball.
- At the very beginning of the film, Willy Wonka places tickets on the backs of still-unwrapped chocolate bars. Later, Charlie gets his ticket from the top, on the front side.
- A camera lens worth around $540,000 was not properly secured while attempting to get a shot of chocolate boiling in a cauldron. As a result, the camera fell into the cauldron and was, naturally, rendered unusable.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
