Behind the scenes of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Original author

The film is adapted from the children's novel of the same name by the world-famous fantasy novelist Roald Dahl. The original work was published in 1964 and is deeply loved by children and adults. It has sold 13 million copies and been translated into 32 languages. The 1971 movie "Candy House" was adapted from the book. Roald Dahl was born in England. In addition to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", his masterpieces include "Matilda", "The Witch" and "The Adventures of the Giant Peach", all of which have been adapted into movies. There is also "Fantastic Mr. Fox" adapted and directed by Wes Anderson in 2008.

Building the set

In order to present the fantasy factory described in the original work as realistically as possible, the producers did not rely too much on blue screen or green screen technology, but built the set as much as possible , and most of them have 360-degree sets, so the actors can completely integrate into the environment. The film crew used 7 sound stages at Pinewood Studios in England and many locations, including the famous 007 sound stage. While the sets were being built, they were also used on location, on computers and in miniatures.

Chocolate River

To create the spectacular Chocolate River, the crew required more than 200,000 gallons of liquid chocolate, of which 32,000 gallons were used for the waterfall and 170,000 gallons were used for the 180-foot-long and wide 25 to 40 feet in rivers nearly 3 feet deep. The fake chocolate in the film is made of a mixture of water and dietary fiber. Since the color intuitively seen by the naked eye is different from that in the film, Burton selected the color after some testing. During the preparation period, local laboratories conducted sampling tests every day to ensure the safety of the cast and crew working and eating.

Training squirrels

In Wonka’s chocolate factory, there are 100 squirrels dedicated to selecting nut raw materials. Like Wonka, Tim Burton also wanted to use live, trained squirrels in the film. Before the filming of the film, training for 100 was just unimaginable. The elf in the final picture was composed of CG and 40 real squirrels. In order to train these squirrels, *** spent 19 weeks training. Some of these squirrels come from local families in the UK, while the vast majority come from animal rescue centres.

CG production

Bolton strives to capture the movements of real squirrels as much as possible, but there are some anthropomorphic movements that animals cannot complete, so CG technology must be used. Of all the CG images, the most complicated was the close-up of the squirrel, because the special effects department had to make 5 million hairs come to life, and the length, color, direction of growth, and differences in movement of the hairs all had to be meticulous. In addition, in the background of the picture, the special effects department also used 12 electric squirrels, and their movements were completed remotely by technicians.