In the original 1964 edition, the Oompa Loompas were “a tribe of 3,000 amiable black pygmies who have been imported by Mr. Willy Wonka from ‘the very deepest and darkest part of the African jungle where no white man had been before.’ Mr. Wonka keeps them in the factory, where they have replaced the sacked white workers. Wonka’s little slaves are delighted with their new circumstances, and particularly with their diet of chocolate. Before they lived on green caterpillars, beetles, eucalyptus leaves, ‘and the bark of the bong-bong tree.'”
Discussion
Thank you for sharing this. Do you think it’s appropriate to change the book, no matter what it contains?
For things like this, the original versions need to be preserved not because they are good but BECAUSE they are reprehensible. The original Wonka story and slaves and manner of worker exploitation it seems - we should all have a problem with that. Apparently changing the OPs to a bunch of dehumanized waddling orange midgets make it all ok. Honestly I wish I known the original context when seeing the movie - you get much more of a dark cautionary tale rather than "lovable whimsy" and the "eccentricities of the wealthy"
Roald Dahl changed it himself.
The Futurama episode at the Slurm Factory alluded to this "unknown" tidbit - never read the original book (likely a reason for that, huh). WWCC is a great movie, but I feel like this needs a gritty reboot replete with confectionary union busting on the backs of pygmy slaves and Wonka spiking everyone's chocolate with acid before the boat ride. Let the people who made "Infinity Pool" produce and direct.