Taika Waititi is one of the most popular directors in Hollywood at the moment, due in large part to his unique aesthetic and comedic style. Now he’s been signed with Netflix to write, direct, and executive produce two original animated series base don Roald Dahl’s famous book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The first show will follow the book’s characters while the second will be an original take on everyone’s bright orange Greek chorus, the Oompa-Loompas. This is the start as well as of a team-up between Netflix and The Roald Dahl Story Company to reimagine several of the author’s most popular stories.
“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,” said Netflix Vice President of Original Animation Melissa Cobb.
“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,” added Gideon Simeloff, Commercial and Entertainment Director, Roald Dahl Story Company.
On top of this project, Waititi is also working on a project under the Star Wars franchise as well as directing the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. It’ll be interesting to see Waititi tackle animation, especially given how his visual style tends to be so bright and animated to begin with. No word yet as to when we can expect those projects to make it onto the streaming service.
