Following are some interesting tidbits about the production of the film:
Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Nicolas Cage and Michael Keaton were all considered for the role of Willy Wonka. Marilyn Manson also badly wanted the part.
Martin Scorsese was at one point attached to direct.
A camera lens worth US$540,000 wasn't properly secured when trying to get a shot of a vat of chocolate. As a result, the lens fell into the vat, which destroyed it.
Screenwriter John August had never even seen Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) when asked by Tim Burton to write the script. After finishing the screenplay, he finally watched the 1971 version, only to be surprised at how much darker the "family" film was to his own.
Johnny Depp was so impressed with Freddie Highmore's performance in Finding Neverland (2004) that he convinced Tim Burton to cast him as Charlie Bucket.
Johnny Depp used shock rocker Marilyn Manson as his inspiration for his performance as Willy Wonka; Manson himself wanted the role of Wonka in the film.
There are buttons in the elevator marked Incompetent Fools, T-Bone Steak Jell-O, Secretarial Poodles, and Nice Plums.
The role of Doctor Wonka (Christopher Lee) was written specifically for the film to give the character of Willy Wonka a bit of a family history.
In interviews, Johnny Depp said his portrait of Willy Wonka would be "part Howard Hughes reclusive, part '70s glamorous rock star".
206,563.48 US gallons of fake chocolate were made for the river area while 38,430.42 US gallons of it were made for the waterfall. The grand total of all the fake chocolate used on stage was 244,993.98.
110,000 plastic bars were made and wrapped in Nestlé wrappers.
Nestlé provided 1,850 bars of real chocolate.
The lollipops on the trees, the giant pink sugar canes, and the giant humbugs were real candy.
Willy Wonka's boat would eventually float on chocolate. It took 20 weeks to build.
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