The origins of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory go back to the children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, published in 1964. Among the novel's fans was director Mel Stuart's daughter Melanie. It was in 1969 that then twelve year old Melanie Stuart approached her father and told her that he wanted him to make the book into a movie and "have Uncle Dave sell it." 'Uncle Dave" was Mel Stuart's friend, producer David L. Wolper. Although he was no relation to Mel Stuart or his daughter, they were close enough that he was called "Uncle Dave."
Mel Stuart read the novel himself and then took it to David L. Wolper. Mr. Wolper agreed that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would make a good movie. It was only a few weeks later that David L. Wolper announced that he had made a deal with the Quaker Oats Company to buy the rights to the book and finance the film. David L. Wolper had recently produced a television special titled Say Goodbye that was sponsored by Quaker Oats. The ad man who handled the Quaker Oats account, Ken Mason, asked David L. Wolper if he had any other projects with which they could promote a new candy bar, at which point Mr. Wolper told him about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Ken Mason took the idea for a film based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the Quaker Oats Factory. In the meantime, David L. Wolper called Roald Dahl's agent who indicated that they could buy the film rights for $200,000. Fortunately, the Quaker Oats Company indicated that they were indeed interested in financing the film. Quaker Oats Company then began work on a Wonka Bar, and hence the title of the project went from being Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Difficulties in coming up with the formula for the Wonka Bar would result in the Quaker Oats Company giving up on bringing the new candy bar to the market, although they would have success manufacturing other products under the "Willy Wonka" name.
Director Mel Stuart had initially conceived of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as a straight-forward drama. The poems sang by the Oompa-Loompas in the novel would have simply been recited in the film. It was producer David L. Wolper who encouraged Mel Stuart to make the movie a musical. The score and songs would be composed by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, who had earlier written the stage musicals The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd and Stop the World – I Want to Get Off.
Roald Dahl was meant to write the screenplay for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, but had difficulty meeting deadlines. As a result David Seltzer did uncredited work on the screenplay, and made some major changes to it. Among the changes Mr. Seltzer made to the screenplay (which were not in the book) were the addition of the character of Slugworth and a scene dealing with fizzy drinks that made one float in the air.vFor the all important role of Willy Wonka, author Roald Dahl's choice was British comedian Spike Milligan. Director Mel Stuart and producers David L. Wolper and Stan Margulies first considered Joel Grey for the role. Of course, the role of Willy Wonka would eventually go to Gene Wilder. At that point Gene Wilder's career was still on the rise. He had a supporting role in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), played a co-lead in The Producers, a co-lead in Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), and a lead in Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1971).
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was filmed from August 31 1970 to November 19 1970, largely in Munich, West Germany. While today the film is a beloved family classic, author Roald Dahl disliked the movie and disowned it. He was angered by the fact that much of his script was rewritten by David Seltzer and angered with the changes that were made. He was even angry that music had been added beyond the Oompa-Loompa songs (which differ from the Oompa-Loompa songs in the book). He thought the movie centred too much on Willy Wonka and not enough on Charlie.
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was not a success upon its initial release, despite receiving good reviews from critics. It only earned $2.1 million on its opening weekend and ultimately it was the 53rd highest grossing film for 1971 in the United States. It would receive some attention the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science in the form of an Oscar nomination for Best Music, Scoring Adaptation and Original Song Score.
Fortunately, in the years following its release Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory would become a favourite at children's matinees. In 1974 Gene Wilder would have two hit movies in the form of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. The network television premiere of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory on NBC on November 23 1975 was then highly anticipated. Unfortunately, in the Eastern and Central time zones the first 45 minutes of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory on NBC was pre-empted by an NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and the Washington Redskins that had gone into over time. As a result NBC received over 1000 irate calls from viewers angry that they had missed the 45 minutes of the movie due to a football game.
Fortunately, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory would air many more times on television. In the process it has become one of the most beloved family films of all time. The movie boasts a 90% rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. In 2014 it was included in the National Film Registry for being "...culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Over the years Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory has regularly been included in lists of the best family movies ever made. While it might not have done well on its initial release, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory has since become a beloved classic.
( a lot of the information in this post came from the book Pure Imagination: The Making of Wily Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by Mel Stuart and Joel Young. I highly recommend it!)
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