Willy Wonka, founder of the most famous fictional chocolate factory in the world, is a pillar of children’s literature.
A key character in Roald Dahl’s novels, Wonka first appeared in Dahl’s 1964 children's hit Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and, after that, in its 1972 sequel titled Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is far from the only Roald Dahl work to have been given the big-screen treatment, but no others have been as successful.
To this day, Tim Burton’s 2005 adaptation of the novel, with Johnny Depp playing the role of an eccentric Willy Wonka, remains the overall highest-grossing Roald Dahl movie adaptation in history.
18 years after the release of the record-breaking movie, for Christmas 2023, Willy Wonka returns in Paul King’s spiritual prequel Wonka, with Timothée Chalamet portraying the flamboyant chocolate entrepreneur.
Chalamet embodies the man before the genius, giving life to a never-seen-before side of the chocolatier: will this coming-of-age Christmas story snatch the record title for highest-grossing Roald Dahl movie adaptation?
Although most of us certainly remember Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka during the 1971 feature film, the 2005 adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a resounding success at the box office: according to The-Numbers.com, the second iteration of the film grossed $475,825,484 (£276.2 million) worldwide.
Directed by Tim Burton, young Charlie Bucket was played by The Good Doctor star Freddie Highmore while Depp starred as Wonka.
For the movie, the Italian Oscar-winner stylist Gabriella Pescucci was nominated at the 2006 Academy Awards for Best Achievement in Costume Design, while Depp's performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination.
Interestingly, Gene Wilder was also nominated for the same award for his role as Wonka in 1972.
Furthermore, Depp plays the popular lead character in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise: the all-time highest grossing pirate movie series.
He is also, to this day, the most viewed Wikipedia page for an actor (male).
Will the new facet of Dahl's story be able to grab the record, almost 20 years after the release of its record-breaking predecessor?
A real-life chocolate factory
Although the Wonka tickets are (sadly) fictional, another absolute protagonist of every adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is – you guessed it – chocolate.
Delicious and timeless, cocoa is one of the most versatile foods in the world.
From statues to expensive fountains, there’s no limit to the records chocolate has racked up through the years:
- The tallest chocolate Easter egg measured an incredible 10.39 m (34 ft 1.05 in) and had a circumference of 19.6 m (64 ft 3.65 in). It was made by Tosca (Italy)
- The tallest chocolate sculpture stood at 13.52 m (44 ft 4.28 in) tall: a 2014 replica of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa
- The largest box of chocolates weighed 2,547.50 kg (5,616.27 lbs) and was created by Russell Stover (USA)
And many, many more!
The first recipe for a chocolate drink made its early appearance in Spain, as reported in 1631 by Andalusian physician Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma.
The recipe appeared in the book Chocolate: Or, an Indian Drinke (the title, although certainly confusing for a contemporary audience, reflects the South American origins of cocoa) and it encouraged the therapeutic properties of cocoa when used in moderation.
Later experiments with cocoa will create a sweeter variant: milk chocolate, obtained using cocoa butter, milk and sugar.
Crucially, what we know today as "white chocolate" wasn't invented until the 1930s.
White chocolate was first introduced by Nestlé in 1930, and marketed in Switzerland under the name “Galak”. After the initial success, the chocolate product was introduced in other countries under an assortment of names, including Milky Bar and Alpine White.
To this day, Galak can boast the record for the earliest white chocolate EVER.
As of 2019, the most expensive chocolate in the world was produced in remarkably limited quantities by luxury brand Attimo Chocolate in Zürich, Switzerland.
An 80-gram chocolate bar of 'La Chuorsa', a delicious but pricey dessert including 68% pure Chuao chocolate from Venezuela, had the jaw-dropping prize of 640 Swiss Francs (roughly the equivalent of £501.75 at the time of the record).
Wrapped in an elegant black and gold packaging, the lush ingredients include rare cocoa beans, saffron grown in the Swiss village of Mund and crystallised orange crisps.
Alain Mettler, the creator, was only able to make 10 kg of chocolate in total.
Another remarkable chocolate record features the so-called “Golden speckled egg”.
This delicious dessert smashed the record for the most expensive non-jewelled chocolate egg in 2012, and was sold at auction for an incredible £7,000 ($11,107).
The luxurious creation was made of Amedei Chocolate and edible Gold leaf was created by the team work of William Curley, Amy Rose Curley, Alistair Birt, Sarah Frankland, Melissa Paul, Rhiann Mead (all UK) and Suzue Curley (Japan).
Inside, the egg was filled with a heart of couture chocolate and truffles.
Decorated with 12 smaller chocolate eggs, as well as 20 mini chocolate bars and five white flowers, it was sold at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, UK.
The egg was estimated to weigh over 50 kg (110.23 lbs) and was approximately 107 cm (3 ft 6.13 in) tall and 54 cm (1 ft 9.26 in) wide.
Overall, the preparation for this record-breaking sweet treat took over three days.
Chocolate is also historically associated with happiness: studies have proven that, when we eat chocolate, our brain releases endorphins or serotonin. It's one of those foods that, over time, became synonymous with warmth and conviviality.
In 2017, during a gathering worthy of Willy Wonka himself, over 2,000 people joined a record-breaking party.
The largest hot chocolate party took place in Mexico and was attended by a whopping crowd of 2,106 participants.
The delicious event was organized by Sanki Mayor (Japan) and Chocolatier Bonnat (France), in Mexico City on 4 March 2017.
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