Development Author
Roald Dahl disapproved of the
1971 film adaptation.
Warner Bros. Pictures and
Brillstein-Grey Entertainment entered into discussions with the Dahl estate in 1991, hoping to purchase the rights to produce another film version of
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The purchase was finalized in 1998,
Ang Lee,
Terry Gilliam,
Anthony Minghella, and
Spike Jonze were among the Dahl estate's preferred directors for the project.
Scott Frank was hired to write the screenplay in February 1999, after approaching Warner Bros. for the job. As an enthusiastic fan of the book, he intended to remain more faithful to Dahl's vision than the 1971 film had been. which resulted in Frank completing two drafts of the screenplay, Both Warner Bros. and the Dahl Estate wanted Frank to stay on the project, but he faced scheduling conflicts and contractual obligations with
Minority Report (2002) and
The Lookout (2007). and Gwyn Lurie was hired to start from scratch on a new script in February 2002. Lurie said she would adapt the original book and ignore the 1971 film adaptation. Dahl's estate championed Lurie after being impressed with her work on another Dahl adaptation, a live-action adaptation of
The BFG, for
Paramount Pictures, which was never made. In April 2002,
Martin Scorsese was involved with the film, albeit briefly, but opted to direct
The Aviator (2004) instead.
Pre-production In May 2003, Warner Bros. announced that
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would be one of their tentpole film releases for 2005. Burton compared the project's languishing development to
Batman (1989), which he directed, in how there had been varied creative efforts with both films. He said, "Scott Frank's version was the best, probably the clearest, and the most interesting, but they had abandoned that." Lurie's script received a rewrite by
Pamela Pettler, who worked with Burton on
Corpse Bride (2005), but the director hired
Big Fish screenwriter
John August in December 2003 to start from scratch. Both August and Burton were fans of the book since their childhoods.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory took three and a half weeks to write. Burton and August incorporated many parts of the book that were absent from the 1971 film adaptation, including the construction of the Indian Prince's chocolate palace, the inclusion of Charlie's father, and Veruca Salt's attack by squirrels. Despite their intention to remain close to the source material, Burton and August diverged from the book to explore themes of family, and in doing so unearthed Willy Wonka's origin. "We added new elements that aren't in the book," explained Burton, "but I always felt comfortable that everything was in the spirit of the book." this mirroring a scene towards the end of
Charlie where it is revealed Dr. Wonka has been following his son's career with framed newspaper articles on the walls. Burton would later reflect, "I think all artistic endeavors are a way to resolve things, a form of therapy, a fantasy of resolving something. That's why I chose to resolve it that way." Burton said, "In some ways, he's more screwed up than the kids." Warner Bros. also wanted Charlie to be a
whiz kid, but Burton resisted the characterization. He wanted Charlie to be an average child who would be in the background and not get in trouble.
Dustin Hoffman and
Marilyn Manson reportedly sought the role as well. Pitt's production company,
Plan B Entertainment, however, stayed on to co-finance the film with Warner Bros.
Johnny Depp was the only actor Burton considered for the role, This marked the first time Burton did not face pushback from the studio for wanting to cast Depp, as the blockbuster success of
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) had Warner Bros. enthused about Depp being in the leading role. Depp and Burton derived their Willy Wonka from children's television show hosts such as
Bob Keeshan from
Captain Kangaroo,
Fred Rogers, and Al Lewis from
The Uncle Al Show, and Depp also took inspiration from various game show hosts. Burton recalled from his childhood that the characters were bizarre but left lasting impressions, saying, "I used to watch a guy with a sheriff's hat, or a guy who wore a weird leisure suit, or Captain Kangaroo, this guy had a weird haircut and a mustache and sideburns. And you think back and go, 'What the fuck was that?' But they left a strong impression on you." According to Depp, "the hair I imagined as a kind of Prince Valiant do, high bangs and a bob, extreme and very unflattering but something that Wonka probably thinks is cool because he's been locked away for such a long time and doesn't know any better, like the outdated slang he uses." Depp also based Wonka's unique voice on how he imagined
George W. Bush sounding like while high on drugs. The casting calls for Charlie Bucket, Violet Beauregarde, Veruca Salt, and Mike Teavee took place in the United States and United Kingdom, while Augustus Gloop's casting took place in Germany. Burton said he sought actors "who had something of the character in them", and found Mike Teavee the hardest character to cast. The actor did not see the original film adaptation, and chose not to see it until after Burton's production, so his portrayal would not be influenced. Before Adam Godley was officially cast as Mr. Teavee,
Tim Allen,
Ray Romano, and
Bob Saget were considered for the role.
Gregory Peck was reportedly considered for the role of Grandpa Joe but died before being able to accept the role.
Design Production designer
Alex McDowell described
Charlie and the Chocolate Factorys visual aesthetic as "a collision between
psychedelic, inflatable
pop art and 1960s Russian-American
space race". Tim Burton wanted the setting of the film to be ambiguous in an effort to give the film a fable-like quality similar to the book. McDowell scouted several
industrial mill towns in Northern England but came to the conclusion that a real place would not look stylized enough for Burton. "It was back to the Pinewood
backlot to start building something that looked grim, wet and depressing on the outside but transitioned believably into a magical kingdom inside." The town, whose design was shaped by the black and white urban photography of
Bill Brandt, as well as
Pittsburgh and
Northern England, is arranged like a medieval village, with Wonka's estate on top and the Bucket shack below. As per the film's ambiguous setting, the cars drive down the middle of the roads. The crew came up with the layout of the Nut Room fairly quickly, while the color scheme took more time to develop. Willy Wonka's Chocolate Room was built on Pinewood Studios'
007 Stage, one of the largest soundstages in the world. Sections of artificial grass were laid upon blocks of
polystyrene foam that formed the shape of the landscape. For the chocolate river, McDowell insisted on having the river look edible, saying "in the
first film, it's so distasteful." The final mixture, developed by a UK-based chemical company called Vickers, was a mix of water and a thickening agent known as
Natrosol,
Colleen Atwood, who served as the costume designer on every live-action Tim Burton film from
Ed Wood (1994) to
Dumbo (2019), was set to reprise her position on
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but ultimately declined citing "personal reasons". Burton then selected Italian costume designer
Gabriella Pescucci. Ten different jackets and overcoats were designed to find the right look for Willy Wonka. Pescucci described the film's wardrobe as "contemporary, but with old world styling". Wonka's latex gloves, which Burton added as a symbol of his detachment from society, were provided by a London-based
latex fetish BDSM clothing company.
Filming Principal photography for
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory started on June 21, 2004. and Veruca Salt's manor filmed at
Hatfield House for the interior shots and
Wrotham Park for the exterior. Various establishing shots were filmed in
Germany,
Yemen, and the
United States. Tim Burton shot
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory simultaneously alongside
Corpse Bride (2005). Composer
Danny Elfman, screenwriter
John August, and production designer
Alex McDowell served in the same position for both movies.
Johnny Depp,
Helena Bonham Carter,
Deep Roy, and
Christopher Lee provided their vocals to
Corpse Bride during the filming of
Charlie. Tim Burton avoided using too many digital effects to reflect the original book's emphasis on texture and because he wanted the younger actors to feel as if they were working in a realistic environment. As a result,
forced perspective techniques, oversized props and
scale models were used to avoid
computer-generated imagery (CGI) wherever possible. However, several scenes were deemed impossible to achieve realistically without CGI.
The Moving Picture Company was tasked with creating entire CG environments for sequences such as the boat ride and the glass elevator tour. A practical method was initially used for Violet Beauregarde's inflation; however, Burton was not satisfied by the effects and decided the scene would be accomplished with CGI. Willy Wonka's pale complexion was achieved in post-production, using Colorfront to isolate Depp's face in each shot and desaturate it. Deep Roy was cast to play the
Oompa-Loompas based on his previous collaborations with Burton on
Planet of the Apes (2001) and
Big Fish (2003). The actor was able to play various Oompa-Loompas using
split screen photography, digital and
front projection effects. Roy, who played a total of 165 individual Oompa-Loompas in the film, experienced an especially laborious regimen during production. He was required to regularly practice
Pilates with a personal trainer and follow a diet in order for his appearance to remain unchanged during filming. With no prior professional dancing experience, each musical number involving Roy took a month to rehearse and six months in total to film. In referencing his workload during production, Burton called Roy the "hardest-working man in
show biz". For Veruca Salt's demise at the hands of a hundred
squirrels, Burton wanted the animals to be real. He consulted with the film's animal trainer, Mike Alexander, to determine which parts of the sequence would be achievable with live squirrels. The squirrels were then given props and taught how to sit upon a bar stool, tap and then open a walnut, and deposit its meat onto a conveyor belt. On one occasion, the camera was improperly secured to the system and subsequently plunged into the faux chocolate river, destroying the $540,000 camera and delaying production. Another hurdle during filming was the existence of
British Equity rules, which state that children can only work four and a half hours a day. According to Elfman, "I had no trouble divorcing myself from those [original] songs. I've dealt with that a couple of times. You know you're dealing with something that's going to make a lot of people angry, and you just can't think about it." Because the Oompa-Loompa musical numbers would require complex choreography and be shot on set, Elfman had to compose those songs before filming began. Elfman also composed the songs simultaneously alongside the music from
Corpse Bride. It was decided at an early stage that Elfman would be providing the vocals for all the Oompa-Loompas, a decision justified by the identical nature of the Oompa-Loompas, with pitch changes and modulations to represent different singers.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory marks the first time since
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) that Elfman contributed to a film score using written songs and his vocals. All four songs utilize lyrics directly from
Roald Dahl's book; as such, the lyrics are credited to Dahl. In addition to the Oompa-Loompa songs, Elfman created an entire underscore for the film being based around three primary themes: a gentle family theme for the Buckets, generally set in upper
woodwinds; a mystical, string-driven
waltz for Willy Wonka; and a hyper-upbeat factory theme for full orchestra, Elfman's homemade
synthesizer samples and the diminutive chanting voices of the Oompa-Loompas. When introducing himself to the golden ticket winners, Wonka quotes "
Good Morning Starshine" from the 1967 musical
Hair. The original motion picture soundtrack was released on July 12, 2005, by
Warner Sunset Records. Doug Adams of
Film Score Monthly said of the Oompa-Loompa songs: "Each piece includes something the others don't, rhythms or hooks or harmonies that in Elfman's inimitable way seem like deconstructions and wholly original concepts at the same time." Elfman would later cite
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as being one of the most fun projects he had been involved with. ==Release==