________________________________ Fantasy Adventure Twice a day, on his way to and from school, little Charlie Bucket had to walk right past the gates of the factory. And every time he went by he would begin to walk very, very slowly, and he would hold his nose high in the air and take long deep sniffs of the gorgeous chocolatey smell all around him. Oh, how he loved that smell! And oh, how he wished he could go inside the factory and see what it was like. - Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Acclaimed director Tim Burton brings his vividly imaginative style to the beloved Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, about eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka (JOHNNY DEPP) and Charlie Bucket (FREDDIE HIGHMORE), a good-hearted boy from a poor family who lives in the shadow of Wonka’s extraordinary factory. Most nights in the Bucket home, dinner is a watered-down bowl of cabbage soup, which young Charlie gladly shares with his mother (HELENA BONHAM CARTER) and father (NOAH TAYLOR) and both pairs of grandparents. Theirs is a tiny, tumbledown, drafty old house but it is filled with love. Every night, the last thing Charlie sees from his window is the great factory, and he drifts off to sleep dreaming about what might be inside. For nearly fifteen years, no one has seen a single worker going in or coming out of the factory, or caught a glimpse of Willy Wonka himself, yet, mysteriously, great quantities of chocolate are still being made and shipped to shops all over the world. One day Willy Wonka makes a momentous announcement. He will open his famous factory and reveal “all of its secrets and magic” to five lucky children who find golden tickets hidden inside five randomly selected Wonka chocolate bars. Nothing would make Charlie’s family happier than to see him win but the odds are very much against him as they can only afford to buy one chocolate bar a year, for his birthday. Indeed, one by one, news breaks around the world about the children finding golden tickets and Charlie’s hope grows dimmer. First there is gluttonous Augustus Gloop, who thinks of nothing but stuffing sweets into his mouth all day, followed by spoiled Veruca Salt, who throws fits if her father doesn’t buy her everything she wants. Next comes Violet Beauregarde, a champion gum chewer who cares only for the trophies in her display case, and finally surly Mike Teavee, who’s always showing off how much smarter he is than everyone else. But then, something wonderful happens. Charlie finds some money on the snowy street and takes it to the nearest store for a Wonka Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight, thinking only of how hungry he is and how good it will taste. There, under the wrapper is a flash of gold. It’s the last ticket. Charlie is going to the factory! His Grandpa Joe (DAVID KELLY) is so excited by the news that he springs out of bed as if suddenly years younger, remembering a happier time when he used to work in the factory, before Willy Wonka closed its gates to the town forever. The family decides that Grandpa Joe should be the one to accompany Charlie on this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Once inside, Charlie is dazzled by one amazing sight after another. Wondrous gleaming contraptions of Wonka’s own invention churn, pop and whistle, producing ever new and different edible delights. Crews of merry Oompa-Loompas mine mountains of fudge beside a frothy chocolate waterfall or ride a translucent, spun-sugar, dragon-headed boat down a chocolate river past crops of twisted candy cane trees and edible mint-sugar grass. Marshmallow cherry creams grow on shrubs, ripe and sweet. Elsewhere, a hundred trained squirrels on a hundred tiny stools shell nuts for chocolate bars faster than any machine and Wonka himself pilots an impossible glass elevator that rockets sideways, slantways and every which way you can think of through the vast and fantastic factory. Almost as intriguing as his fanciful inventions is Willy Wonka himself, a gracious but most unconventional host. He thinks about almost nothing but candy – except, every once in a while, when he suddenly seems to be thinking about something that happened long ago, that he can’t quite talk about. It’s been said that Wonka hasn’t stepped outside the factory for years. Who he truly is and why he has devoted his life to making sweets Charlie can only guess. Meanwhile, the other children prove to be a rotten bunch, so consumed with themselves that they scarcely appreciate the wonder of Wonka’s creations. One by one, their greedy, spoiled, mean-spirited or know-it-all personalities lead them into all kinds of trouble that force them off the tour before it’s even finished. When only little Charlie Bucket is left, Willy Wonka reveals the final secret, the absolute grandest prize of all: the keys to the factory itself. Long isolated from his own family, Wonka feels it is time to find an heir to his candy empire, someone he can trust to carry on with his life’s work and so he devised this elaborate contest to select that one special child. What he never expects is that his act of immeasurable generosity might bring him an even more valuable gift in return. *     *     * Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, a Zanuck Company / Plan B Production of a Tim Burton Film: Johnny Depp stars in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, based on the book by Roald Dahl, and also starring Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Missi Pyle, James Fox, with Deep Roy and Christopher Lee. Directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by John August, the film is produced by Brad Grey and Richard D. Zanuck. Patrick McCormick, Felicity Dahl, Michael Siegel, Graham Burke and Bruce Berman executive produce. Director of photography is Philippe Rousselot, A.F.C./A.S.C. Production designed by Alex McDowell. Edited by Chris Lebenzon, A.C.E. Costume designer is Gabriella Pescucci. Music by Danny Elfman. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory released worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures. This film is rated PG by the MPAA for “quirky situations, action and mild language.” DVD Release Date: November 8, 2005 (US) November 21, 2005 (UK) www.chocolatefactorymovie.com AOL: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ________________________________ BRINGING ROALD DAHL'S CLASSIC STORY TO THE SCREEN In bringing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to life on screen, producers Brad Grey and Richard Zanuck had some small idea of what they were getting themselves into. “This was bigger than anything I’ve been involved with in my entire career, not only as a producer but as a studio head. It’s bigger in scope, size and imagination,” says Zanuck, an Oscar winner for Driving Miss Daisy and 1991 recipient of the Academy’s Thalberg Award. “Here was a book with the potential, just visually, to be absolutely spectacular on film and we were excited with the idea of being able to produce it on a scale that Roald would have appreciated, without compromising any of the heart he put into it,” says Grey, currently Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures Motion Picture Group and a four time recipient of the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, as well as an Emmy and Golden Globe winner for The Sopranos and a 17-time Emmy nominee during his career as an independent producer. “We took our time to get the script right and assemble a team that felt the same way we did about it.” The filmmakers also sought the support and collaboration of Felicity Dahl, Roald’s wife and the caretaker of his estate since his death in 1990. Says Grey, “Without her blessing, we wouldn’t have a movie.” Dahl, an executive producer on the film, acknowledges the scale of the undertaking. “An adaptation like this is daunting because I don’t think there’s a child in this world who hasn’t read the story or knows about it. Every child wants to be Charlie.” Delighted at how the creative team came together and how Roald’s original images were interpreted on a grand scale, she calls it, “the ideal combination: Roald Dahl, Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, absolutely unbeatable and completely in sync.” Published in 1964, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory recently celebrated its 40th anniversary in print. As beloved by children and adults today as it has been throughout the past four decades, the book has sold over 13 million copies worldwide and been translated into 32 languages. Its enduring popularity indicates how well the author understood, appreciated and communicated to children. As Grey observes, “He never talked down to his readers or underestimated their intelligence.” Johnny Depp, who stars as Willy Wonka, especially appreciates, “the unexpected twists in Dahl’s writing. You think it’s going in one direction and then it slams you with another alternative, another route, and makes you think. At its center, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a great morality tale. But there’s also a lot of magic and fun.” Although hugely popular with children, the consensus of the book’s adult fans is that, most definitely, “it’s more than a children’s book,” says Zanuck. “It’s a wild ride, certainly, a fun-house candy fantasyland, but it has deeper emotional implications. The character of Wonka, who he is and who he becomes at the end of the story through his connection with young Charlie, is very moving. It’s a fantasy that touches everyone.” When it came time to select a director, Tim Burton was ideal choice. “When you look at his body of work, there’s a running theme of intelligence and whimsy that’s perfectly suited for a story like this,” says Grey. “Like Dahl, he never underestimates the sophistication of his audience. In our first conversations it was clear that Tim was a fan and wanted to be as faithful to the book as possible, which was right in sync with how we felt.” “One of the interesting aspects of the book is that it’s so vivid in mood and feeling and so specific, yet it still leaves room for interpretation,” Burton believes. “It leaves room for your own imagination, which, I think, is one of Dahl’s strengths as a storyteller. “Some adults forget what it was like to be a kid. Roald didn’t,” Burton continues. “So you have characters that remind you of people in your own life and kids you went to school with, but at the same time it harkens back to age-old archetypes of mythology and fairy tales. It’s a mix of emotion and humor and adventure that’s absolutely timeless and I think that’s why it stays with you. He remembers vividly what it was like to be that age but he also layers his work with an adult perspective. That’s why you can revisit this book at any time and get different things from it no matter what your age.” Burton worked previously with Felicity Dahl when he produced the 1996 animated fantasy adventure James and the Giant Peach, adapted from another of Roald’s books, and she was especially pleased when he committed to Charlie. She sees in him some reflections of her late husband’s unique “creativity and sense of humor,” adding that, “I wish Roald was here to work on it with Tim, because they would have been brilliant together.” “What we have,” says Zanuck, ”is a blending of these two genius minds. Tim has gone back to the specifics of the author’s intent and given his own extraordinary spin to it.” Early in pre-production, Burton visited the Dahl home and looked inside the spare, unheated workroom where Roald did all of his writing. Away from the noise and bustle of the house, it was his private no-frills sanctuary. Burton was amazed to realize how closely his designs for Charlie Bucket’s ramshackle house resembled this structure and Felicity Dahl confirmed it was very likely the author’s inspiration for the Bucket home. Moved by the experience, Burton says, “It made me feel like we were definitely on the same wavelength. It was uncanny how similar the two structures were. Roald even used rolled-up pieces of cardboard to prop together a makeshift desk for himself. I never had the opportunity to meet the man, but just through the work I feel some kind of connection with him.” Screenwriter John August (Big Fish) has his own special connection with Roald Dahl. “When I was in the third grade,” he recalls, “we had to write a letter to a famous person. Nearly everyone chose Jimmy Carter, who was the president then, but I chose Roald Dahl because my favorite book was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Incredibly, I got back a postcard from him, from England. I was ten years old and it was my first contact with an author. That was one of the things that inspired me to become a writer. So it was a great honor and responsibility for me to adapt this book into a movie.” What touches August most about the story is that, “even though Charlie is very poor, and he doesn’t have much to eat, he lives in a little house with all of the people that he loves – mother, father, and both sets of grandparents. That’s a remarkable gift that any kid would be lucky to have.” Taking his cue both from the book and the filmmakers, August maintained the story’s non-specific time or place. “It’s timeless,” states Grey. “It doesn’t matter if it’s today or 40 years ago. A message that suggests being true to yourself and to other people, and treating others as you would like to be treated – the golden rule – is never outdated.” Burton and August added a nuance to the Wonka character by offering a glimpse into his own childhood. In flashbacks, while the children, accompanied by one parent each (or in Charlie’s case, his grandfather) tour the factory, Willy revisits crucial moments from his past and remembers conversations with his own stern father, town dentist Dr. Wilbur Wonka. We see the overly protective Wonka Sr. forbid his son to eat sweets, and imagine how young Willy’s unrequited longing for a taste of chocolate became a lifelong fascination that grew into the Wonka candy empire. “Where the book allows room for possibility and the reader’s interpretation,” explains Burton, “we felt the film needed to provide some framework in the case of Wonka’s eccentricity, to offer some possibility of why he is the way he is without delving too deeply into it. Why is he behaving this way and what’s behind it?” Felicity Dahl concurs, noting that, “all books have to be changed a bit in making a film. The important thing is that the alterations enhance the story rather than detract from it, and I believe that’s what Tim has done here. When you choose someone like Tim to make a film, you choose him for his creative ability so you have to give him your trust.” During the tour, Charlie’s innocent question about whether or not Wonka remembers his first taste of candy stirs deeply buried feelings in the famous chocolatier. When he later offers Charlie the grandest prize of all – the factory itself with all its wonders – and Charlie refuses to accept if it means leaving his family behind, it gives Wonka pause. Maybe he’s underestimated the value of family. Maybe Charlie, who is always a little hungry and lives in a broken-down hovel, has something better than money and chocolate. “It’s a beautifully simple message, in this world where people are always striving after material things and success,” says Burton. “There are material things and then there are the emotional and spiritual. Sometimes the most important things are the simplest.” ________________________________ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 >> Crew >> Cast >> DVD Release Date >> Bringing Roald Dahl’s Classic Story to the Screen >> Casting Willy Wonka, Charlie Bucket and the Bucket Family >> The Four Rotten Children >> The Oompa-Loompas and Dr. Wonka >> Building Wonka’s World: Inspired Production Design and State-of-the-Art Practical & Virtual Effects Combine for an Unparalleled Atmosphere of Wonder >> The Chocolate River >> The Oompa-Loompas >> The Squirrels >> Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Marks the 11th Collaboration between Tim Burton and Acclaimed Composer Danny Elfman >> Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The IMAX Experience >> About the Cast >> About the Filmmakers IN DEPTH | GALLERY | BRIEF NOTES | OFFICIAL WEBSITE ROALD DAHL | JOHNNY DEPP | POSTER I | POSTER II © 2005 by the appropriate owners of the included material