-Mysterious confectioner Willy Wonka decides, after nearly being closed to the public for years, to let five children in to his factory to see the wondrous factory in all its glory. Complete mayhem will ensue as four of the brattiest children alive win the tickets and the last winner is a humble young boy named Charlie Bucket.
-Johnny Depp: Willy Wonka
-Freddie Highmore: Charlie Bucket
-David Kelly: Grandpa Joe
-Helena Bonham-Carter: Mrs. Bucket
-Noah Taylor: Mr. Bucket
-Missi Pyle: Miss Beauregarde
-James Fox: Mr. Salt
-Deep Roy: Oompa-Loompas
-Sir Christopher Lee: Dr. Wonka
-Adam Godley: Mr. Teavee
-Franziska Troegner: Mrs. Gloop
-AnnaSophia Robb: Violet Beauregarde
-Julia Winter: Veruca Salt
-Jordan Fry: Mike Teavee
-Phillip Wiegratz: Augustus Gloop
-Blair Dunlop: young Willy Wonka
-Liz Smith: Grandma Georgina
-Eileen Essell: Grandma Josephine
-David Morris: Grandpa George
-Nitin Ganatra: Prince Pondicherry
-Shelley Conn: Princess Pondicherry
Did You Know?
-The lollipops on the trees, the giant humbugs and the giant pink sugar canes were made of real candy
-The country in which this movie is supposed to take place is supposed to be an ambiguous country between the United States and England. This is even represented in the money. The coin that Grandpa Joe gives Charlie to buy a chocolate bar is a US silver dollar
-Another example of the cross between the US and England place of location is that there is London architecture, street layouts, accents with American clothing styles, American mailboxes, terminology and American fire hydrants. Another unique thing is that Charlie and his parents all speak with an English accent
-The only ticket not found by one of the five children is the ticket for Veruca Salt. Her father finds a ticket for her
-One of Tim Burton's famous trademarks is the use of black and white stripes. This can be seen in the scene during the Augustus Gloop song; the Oompa Loompas are wearing suits with black and white stripes and there is black and white striped candy in the main room
-At one point, Mr. Teavee makes a comment about Willy Wonka being "a few quarters short of a buck" while Mr. Salt replies that he doesn't "speak American". Ironically, the actor who plays Mr. Teavee, Adam Godley, is English
-In real life, cocoa beans are very bitter. In order to make them taste like actual chocolate, sugar and other ingredients must be added
-This was the first movie where not only Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter collaborated, but so did Sir Christopher Lee and Tim Burton
-Originally, the role of Violet Beauregard was supposed to go to Taylor Momsen. Unfortunately, she was not considered for the role because she was considered too glamorous to play a rude, arrogant tomboy
-Some of the actors considered for the role of Mr. Teavee included Dan Castelleneta, who's famous for voicing Homer Simpson among other characters on The Simpsons, Kurtwood Smith, who's famous for playing Red Foreman on That '70s Show, Ed O'Neill, who's famous for playing Al Bundy on Married...With Children.
-When you first see Willy Wonka, he says "Good morning, Starshine. The earth says hello". This is a nod to the musical Hair. There is a song with that title in it
-Filming took six months, due to British Equity rules, which stated that children could only work four and a half hours per day
-Some of the actors considered for the role of Grandpa Joe included Christopher Lloyd, David Warner, Max von Sydow, Richard Griffiths (for those not familiar with this name, Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter series), Sir Richard Attenborough
-During the scene where Prince Pondicherry's chocolate palace starts melting, the first drop to hit falls on his face in the shape and position of a bindi, which is a dot worn by both men and women to signify their social class, marital status and religion
-Tim Burton wanted the chocolate river in this film to be thick, like real chocolate, unlike the 1971 film
-Johnny Depp and Sir Christopher Lee appeared in two other movies together: 2005's Corpse Bride and 1999's Sleepy Hollow.
-Deep Roy, who did most if not all of the Oompa-Loompa roles, says he is a self-described bad dancer and singer. He did not do his own singing
-The forty squirrels in the nut room were real squirrels. They were trained for ten weeks before filming. In fact, their training began when they were newborns, being fed by bottle to develop relationships with human trainers. My sister would die happy knowing this; she loves and I mean LOVES squirrels!!!
-Johnny Depp stated he based his costumes on Marilyn Manson's album The Golden Age of Grotesque
-The house used for Charlie's house was author Roald Dahl's former house in Great Missenden, in Buckinghamshire, England.
-Freddie Highmore had gotten the role of Charlie Bucket thanks to Johnny Depp, who was so impressed with Highmore's performance in Finding Neverland.
-The toothpaste factory Charlie's father works for is Smilex Toothpaste. In the 1989 film Batman, also directed by Tim Burton, Smylex was the poisonous gas created by The Joker
-In the room with the "three course gum" machine, there are large machines that look like rotating drums filled with colorful balls. These are real machines used to make jawbreakers
-Dr. Wonka (Sir Christopher Lee) tells young Willy (Blair Dunlop) that some kids are allergic to chocolate to discourage him from eating it. Ironically, Johnny Depp is allergic to chocolate
-During one of the flashbacks, young Willy Wonka is seen wearing a huge head brace in addition to braces. This was not in the original story. This was actually taken from Tim Burton's childhood
-Grandma Georgina, played by Liz Smith, stated in an interview that she read the scripts for both of the grandmothers and she chose the grandmother who kissed Johnny Depp. She said "it was lovely"
-Each song sung by the Oompa-Loompas are in a different style. The song sung during the scene with Mike Teavee is rock, where Willy says "on with the tour" in a reference to rock concert tours. The song during Violet's scene where she blows up is a disco song, where Willy replies "Come on, let's boogie!" During the scene where Veruca gets dragged to the incinerator is psychedelic, Beatles-type music. Willy responds "Well, let's keep on truckin'". During the Augustus Gloop scene, the song is Broadway Musical-type because Willy is clapping and praising the show
-Some of the actors considered for the role of Willy Wonka include Rowan Atkinson, an English actor known for playing Mr. Bean, John Cleese of Monty Python fame, Eric Idle, also of Monty Python fame, Mike Myers, Michael Palin (Monty Python). It was even suggested for an English comedian to play the role, such as Eddie Izzard or David Walliams
