Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory's forgotten rooms
Glenn Cochrane
STACK Senior Editor
Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is one of the most celebrated children's books of all time, beloved by generations around the world. But did you know that there was more to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory than we were led to believe?
At a glance
There's more to Wonka than you know
The forgotten children
The lost chapters
More fun facts
You may have read Dahl's classic 1964 book or watched the 1971 movie starring Gene Wilder. Or perhaps your first taste was Tim Burton's 2005 adaptation, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, starring Johnny Depp. Whichever is the case, you will be familiar with all of the quirky characters and the wonders that await them inside Wonka's magical factory.
There's so much more that could have been. In all iterations of the story, five golden tickets are hidden inside Wonka bars around the world for five lucky children to discover. You may be surprised to know that this is not how it was originally written. Dahl had actually documented ten golden tickets for ten children, but chose to remove several of these characters in order to keep the story moving along.
The names of characters that never appeared in the publication are Clarence Crump, Bertie Upside, Terence Roper, Marvin Prune, Miranda Grope, Augustus Pottle, Miranda Mary Piker, Wilbur Rice, and Tommy Troutbeck.
Furthermore, some of the characters that we know and love originally had different names. The aforementioned Miranda Grope and Augustus Pottle were combined to become Augustus Gloop, whereas Elvira Entwhistle became Veruca Salt, Violet Glockenberry became Violet Beauregarde, and Herpes Trout became Mike Teavee.
Of course, so many characters would require much more adventure, and the early version of the story featured four additional rooms in the chocolate factory, each occupying its own chapter in the book, or so it is said. These missing chapters were discovered amongst Dahl's personal archives following his death, with some said to have been written backward in mirror-writing.
A chapter titled Spotty Powder told of a suspicious substance that looks and tastes like sugar but causes an outbreak of red spots on the faces of those who eat it. The character of Miranda Mary Piker and her stern headmaster father are enraged by the product and sneak into a secret room to sabotage its production. Their screams are heard by the others with Willy Wonka assuring them that it was actually laughter. The whereabouts and fate of the father and daughter is never revealed.
A chapter called The Vanilla Fudge Room dates back to the earliest draft of the book and was considered too outrageous and subversive by Dahl and subsequently thrown away. And by all descriptions it does sound like a very dark moment indeed. The chapter had the tour group visit the Vanilla Fudge Room, which featured a giant fudge mountain. Two of the children hop onto a wagon that is hauling large chunks of fudge away, unaware they are being taken to the Pounding and Cutting Room.
Wonka explains that the room cuts and reshapes fudge and that it is equipped with a large wire strainer. What became of the children remains a mystery, although the passage was rewritten to become the infamous chocolate river scene, where Augustus Gloop falls in and is sucked up by a pipe.
The Warming Candy Room never saw publication, but it is said to have depicted a room with a giant boiler that produces a scorching substance called Scarlet Liquid, which forms into a hard-shelled product called Cold Heat. The power of this candy is said to warm a person's body enough that they can endure being naked in the snow for hours at a time. Three boys consume copious amounts of the treat, resulting in profuse perspiration before bursting with heat. Yikes!
Very little is known about a lost chapter titled The Children's-Delight Room, however it is said that, upon submission, the publisher declared the entire book to be one of the most tasteless works to ever be written for children.
How different Charlie and the Chocolate Factory might have been, and to think of the possibilities for future film instalments to explore. Rumours are already swelling about a follow-up to the recent prequel movie Wonka, which concluded with the foundation of Willy Wonka's iconic factory.
There's plenty of story to be told before the timeline catches up to the Gene Wilder film. Imagine if any of these devious little chapters found their way into it?
More fun facts
As well as writing the sequel book Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Roald Dahl had begun writing a third book titled Charlie in the White House. It would have involved Charlie and his family, along with Willy Wonka, being invited to the White House in honour of saving Earth from a Vermicious Knid attack. Dahl only wrote one chapter before he passed away, which is on display at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in England.
New Zealand director Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Thor: Ragnarok) is currently developing two animated series based on Dahl's Charlie books. The first will be set in the world of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory while the second will be set in the Oompa Loompa's island home of Loompaland.
Roald Dahl was not a fan of the 1971 film and went so far as to disown it entirely. He was said to have been infuriated by the film's deviations from his story, the musical numbers being sappy, and too much emphasis being placed on Willy Wonka, rather than Charlie Bucket. He also disapproved of Gene Wilder's casting over comedy legend Spike Milligan.
Looks like this shelf is empty
We’re restocking this section... in the meantime check out our other deals.
^Discounts apply to previous ticketed/advertised price prior to the discount offer. As we negotiate, products will likely have been sold below ticketed/advertised price prior to the discount offer. Prices may differ at airport stores.
