* Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) was present at the opening in New York City along with the Wonkamobile. Free ice cream and chocolate bars were given to all *

* "We are the music makers and We are the dreamers of dreams" was a quote from an ode by Arthur Shaungenssy. It goes like this:
We are the music makers.
We are the dreamers of dreams.
Wandering by lone sea breakers.
Sitting by desolate streams.
World losers and world forsakers on whom the pale moon gleams.
And yet we are the movers and the shakers of the world forever it seems.
These lines are credited inside the liner notes on the John Digweed Renaissance re-mix CD which quotes the line. *

* The tinker (Peter Capell) that startles Charlie outside the gates of the factory quotes from the poem "The Fairies" by William Allingham. "Up the airy mountain, Down the rushing glen..." *

* When the film came out again for its 25th anniversary the movie Matilda also opened on the same day. This is ironic because Roald Dahl wrote both the books that the movies were based on *

* The song Candyman originally appeared in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Sammy Davis Jr. made a hit record of the song. In fact, it was his only #1 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1972 *

* The girl who played Violet Beauregarde (Denise Nickerson) was also in the original cast of "The Electric Company." She appeared in the "Short Circus" in the second season (1972-1973) of the show. In case you didn't know...the Electric Company was a TV series intended to teaching basic reading skills to slow readers in second, third, and forth grade, as a derivation of Sesame Street. Also, Denise is well known for her role in the series Dark Shadows. She travels all over to appear at Dark Shadows conventions *

* Roald Dahl hated the movie. There is actually some doubt as to whether he actually wrote the screenplay. Either he was taking his time or didn't please the the producers so another "ghost" screenwriter filled in the details including numerous literary references. This information was all found in Jeremy Treglown's book, Roald Dahl : A Biography. Dahl's script was almost identical to the book so alot of it was thrown out and the script was rewritten (without credit) by David Seltzer. David Seltzer went on to write many great films including "The Omen." *

* The Oompa Loompas in Roald Dahl's book, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", are described as being "Pygmies" which were "imported directly from Africa. They belong to a small tribe of miniature pygmies known as the Oompa Loompas." In some versions of the book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Oompa Loompas look like pygmies but in 1973 a version was released in which the Oompa Loompas were described as "short white hippies." *