Glorious Facts about Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie & The Chocolate Factory’
Did you know that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's original title was Charlie's Chocolate Boy? Or that Dahl was working on a third book for the series but died before he could finish it? Get your toothbrushes ready because these facts about this novel about a boy and an eccentric candy maker are sweet!
1. As a boy, Roald Dahl was a taster for a chocolate company
As a child, Dahl fantasized about working in a chocolate inventing room and in fact, based the book on his experiences as a taster for Cadbury. When he was 13, the company would send his school boxes of chocolates, which contained 12 chocolate bars wrapped in foil for the boys to taste test - not a shabby job if we dare say so ourselves!
2. None of the kids had seen the chocolate room set before filming
In the 1971 movie, the look of amazement on the children’s faces when they first entered the iconic Chocolate Room were real. The director intentionally kept the actors off the set until filming began so that their reactions would be genuine.
3. The chocolate river wasn’t real
Apologies for ruining your fantasies, but there’s a reason the chocolate river in the original film looked watery – it was simply brown-coloured water! In the 2005 remake however, 192,000 gallons of thick, fake chocolate were used to make it look more realistic.
4. The Oompa-Loompas were almost called Whipple-Scrumpets
Roald Dahl changed almost all of the character’s original names except for Charlie Bucket's. Along with the Whipple-Scrumpets, Willy Wonka was Mr. Ritchie until he renamed him after a boomerang his brother invented when they were kids, which he called a 'Skilly Wonka’.
5. It’s become a household name
Since its publishing in 1964, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory has since grown to become a classic of children’s literature. Aside from the two movies, the book has been adapted into a musical, an opera, radio dramas, video games, and even a ride at the Alton Towers theme park. And let’s not forget the alternative rock band Veruca Salt, named after the spoiled little rich girl who’s sent down a garbage chute.
Massive respect from one chocolate factory to another for creating a delectable world of chocolate that has been the subject of countless of children’s fantasies since its publishing!
If you're looking for things to do in Malta this winter, look no further than Malta’s very own chocolate factory!
If you’re looking for different things to do in Malta, visit us at Malta Chocolate Factory. We offer chocolate-making classes as well as alcohol and chocolate pairing events. Satisfy your sugar craving at our café, with a range of hot drinks and delectable sweets, and spend some time watching our artisanal chefs tempering and moulding chocolates through the viewing window of our production kitchen.
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