Taika Waititi is partnering up with Netflix for two Charlie and the Chocolate Factory projects. Each one will be an animated series, which Waititi will write, direct, and executive produce. The first of the announced projects takes place within the world of Roald Dahl’s classic 1964 novel.
The second is an original idea that will focus on the Oompa-Loompas, which will build out their world. As for when we might be able to see these shows, that’s unclear at the moment. Waititi is fresh off his Academy Award win forJojo Rabbitand has quite a bit on his plate at the moment.
Netflix released a statement that gives a little more information as to what we can expect fromCharlie and the Chocolate Factoryfiltered through the lens of Taika Waititi. “The shows will retain the quintessential spirit and tone of the original story while building out the world and characters far beyond the pages of the Dahl book for the very first time.”
The originalWilly Wonka and the Chocoalte Factorymovie came out in 1971 with Gene Wilder in the lead role, and is a beloved classic. Tim Burton famously took on the iconic source material with Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka in 2005. It was divisive to say the least. Most recently, Warner Bros. put out an animated movie withTom and Jerry, titledTom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which is basically an animated remake of the original movie with Tom and Jerry’s antics plugged into it at various points in the story.
Taika Waititi sounds like the perfect person to breathe new life intoCharlie and the Chocolate Factory. He recently worked onThe Mandalorianas a director and voiced IG-11 character, which still hasStar Warsfans talking. It has been rumored he will direct his own movie within the franchise, but that probably won’t happen. At least not for a while. Melissa Cobb,NetflixVice President of Original Animation had this to say about pairing with Waititi.
“Finding just the right creative partner to bring Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Oompa-Loompas to life in animation was a daunting task… until Taika walked into the room. Then, it was really obvious. If Dahl had created a character of a filmmaker to adapt his work, I’m pretty sure he would have created Taika.”
Gideon Simeloff, commercial and entertainment director for the Roald Dahl Story Company says, “In the words of Willy Wonka himself - we are ‘Delighted! Charmed! Overjoyed!’ with Taika’s appointment on this project.” Taika Waititi has yet to comment on the two newCharlie and the Chocolate Factoryshows, but one can imagine he’s pretty excited about it. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what his version of Roald Dahl’s source material will look like.
Netflix is preparing a lot of original material for the next handful of years and twoCharlie and the Chocolate Factoryanimated shows will undoubtedly be big. Willy Wonka is a character that both children and adults are going to want to see, so it will be interesting to see what direction Taika Waititi decides to go. Waititi will be jumping back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe later this year to begin work onThor: Love and Thunder. You can check out the official announcement below, thanks to theNetflix Twitteraccount.
