Taika Waititi To Direct 2 Animated Series For Netflix Based On ‘Charlie & The Chocolate Factory’ & The Oompa-Loompas!
‘Thor Ragnarok’ & ‘Jojo Rabbit’ director Taika Waititi is set to write and direct two new Roald Dahl animated series for Netflix it has been announced. The first will be based on ‘Charlie & The Chocolate Factory’, whilst the second will expand the world of the Oompa-Loompas!
“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,” commented Netflix Vice President of Original Animation Melissa Cobb. “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.”
The first animation will be based on the world and characters of ‘Charlie & The Chocolate Factory’, whilst the second will be a wholly original take on the Oompa-Loompas, that builds out their world. the plan is to capture the spirit of Dahl’s beloved book, but both series will build out the world beyond the author’s original pages. Waititi will write, direct, & exec produce both projects.
“In the words of Willy Wonka himself – we are ‘Delighted! Charmed! Overjoyed!’ with Taika’s appointment on this project,” adds Gideon Simeloff, Commercial and Entertainment Director, Roald Dahl Story Company. “There is something undeniably Wonka-esque about Taika’s creative flair and inimitable sense of humour and we cannot think of anyone more perfectly suited to leading the creative charge on these first of their kind, feature quality Netflix shows.”
As Simeloff mentions in the quote above, Waititi seems a perfect fit for guiding the craziness of Dahl’s vision from book to screen. He is the man behind the brilliant ‘Thor Ragnarok’, the wonderfully strange ‘What We Do In The Shadows’, and the fabulous Oscar-winning movie ‘Jojo Rabbit’. His next movies include the sports comedy ‘Next Goal Wins’ starring Michael Fassbender and Elisabeth Moss, and MCU movie ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’.
These animated series mark the start of the collaboration between Netflix and The Roald Dahl Story Company which was announced back in 2018. Along with ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, the plan is to produce a slate of original animated event series, based on the books from the acclaimed and award-winning author’s best-selling library such as ‘Matilda’, ‘The BFG’, ‘The Twits’, and many other beloved titles. The intention is to stay true to the quintessential spirit and tone of Dahl while also building out an imaginative story universe that expands far beyond the pages of the books themselves.
No news yet on exactly when the two Taika Waititi directed Roald Dahl animated series will arrive (it’s animation, so it could be a while!) We’ll let you know when we hear more.
