"It takes a cautionary tale structure but does it in a very spare, unpatronizing way," Luke Kelly, the grandson of author Roald Dahl, told me recently of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this fall. "It doesn't pull punches for kids, but it also touches on things that everyone can relate to, especially nowadays via issues that are so much more apparent: our obsessions with having all sorts of material things and us trying to please our children, kids glued to video screens all the time, weird relationships between parents and children where we pretend our kids are perfect, and issues of weight and obesity. It feels like these things have increased more and more over the years, but it's always remarkable to me how the book seems to speak to the times more than ever." And whether you grew up reading it or you read it with your kids — or, likely, both — the book probably still sticks in your mind.
This weekend Oompa-Loompas will be jumping out of planes and the Dahl Family has opened its archives to the public in celebration of Roald Dahl Day and the anniversary of Dahl's most well-known and well-loved work. There's also a great new book, Inside's Charlie's Chocolate Factory by Lucy Mangan, that tracks the amazing journey of this timeless work.
"Like most people, I feel like I grew up with Roald Dahl," Mangan says. "I have such happy memories of reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a child. And then I realized that we were approaching the 50th anniversary. I was so amazed, and I knew there was a story to tell."
For any fan of the book, the classic 1970s Gene Wilder film, or the recent Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version, Mangan's book is a treasure trove of information, insights, memorabilia, and ephemera. But really, it all began with a simple children's story.
"My grandfather really loved chocolate and he really loved these characters, and I really feel that those things combined carry through to the reader — or the viewer, for the films — in a really powerful way and have helped to make the work so timeless," Kelly concludes.
Here are some exclusive images from Mangan's book that give insight into the making of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:
