Indeed, said slate is the result of a partnership between Netflix and The Roald Dahl Story Company, which will see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory eventually joined by titles such as Matilda, The BFG, The Twits, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, George’s Marvellous Medicine, Boy – Tales of Childhood, Going Solo, The Enormous Crocodile, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, Henry Sugar, Billy and the Minpins, The Magic Finger, Esio Trot, Dirty Beasts, and Rhyme Stew.
Waititi is currently one of the most-sought creative talents today. Having first made waves in his native New Zealand with his Oscar-nominated 2004 short, Two Cars, One Night, his path would eventually lead to vampire comedy movie What We Do in the Shadows (later adapted for TV on FX,) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople before breaking into the mainstream blockbuster realm directing the 2017 action-and-humor-oriented Marvel threequel, Thor: Ragnarok, a gig he will repeat with 2021’s Thor: Love and Thunder. Yet, the recent awards season success of his dark World War II comedy, Jojo Rabbit, has cemented Waititi as a true visionary to industry eyes, and not just some quirky kiwi with a camera. Consequently, the appointment of the filmmaker to the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory shows is quite the coup. As Netflix Vice President of Original Animation Melissa Cobb lauds of the addition:
“I grew up reading Dahl stories and lived large parts of my young life in those magical worlds, so 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 of the Roald Dahl Story Company, chimes in similarly, stating:
“In the words of Willy Wonka himself – we are ‘Delighted! Charmed! Overjoyed!’ with Taika’s appointment on this project. There is something undeniably Wonka-esque about Taika’s creative flair and inimitable sense of humor and we cannot think of anyone more perfectly suited to leading the creative charge on these first of their kind, feature quality Netflix shows.”