Author: Kris

This site used to have a very popular feature, where – if you got 100% correct on one of the trivia quizzes – you could put your name up on the Trivia Master Board. Unfortunately I had to discontinue the feature when I redesigned the site, and I hadn’t had the time to bring it back… until now!

As a trial, I have re-enabled the Master Boards for The BFG Quiz and the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Quiz. Please try them out and let me know if you encounter any bugs!

I’ve finally managed to track down a scan of “Willy Wonka’s Hottest Item,” an early draft chapter that was later cut from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s really cool to read, both for the differences from the published version (there were no Oompa-Loompas yet!) and for the clear similarities to storylines that were later developed. Go here to have a look!

Has anyone heard of a set of Roald Dahl audio books from the Rainbow Theatre Company? I received the following request from a site visitor named Blake:

i am looking for a specific series of Roald Dahl audiobooks. They were produced in 1983 i believe by the Rainbow Theatre company and included dramatized versions of Fantastic Mr Fox, James and the Giant Peach, and Charlie and the Chocolate factory. I have found the latter on Youtube. The two others were on Youtube too several years ago, but have since been taken down. I would like to procure my own copies of each but I have hit a brick wall with my own internet research. I was curious whether you or anyone in your fan community had them, or maybe even some advice on where I could go looking

any help would be very much appreciated

If you have any information on these, please leave a comment or contact me and I’ll put you in touch with Blake!

Edited in June 2021:

Guess what? I’ve just found an Ebay auction with four of these audiobooks! I’ve emailed Blake to let him know and added info to the Audio Books page.

This Scratch game was created by me as part of the HarvardX: CS50 Introduction to Computer Science course in January 2018. It’s based on James and the Giant Peach. You’ll need Flash enabled in your browser to play it. (You can also find the game here.)

Instructions: The giant peach is floating in the ocean but our heroes are surrounded by ravenous sharks. James has convinced Earthworm to act as bait for the many seagulls circling overhead, but his courage won’t last long! As each one swoops, James must lasso it with spider’s web before it pecks poor Earthworm. How many seagulls can you catch? James will tie each one to the peach stem as you go…

How was your Christmas? I spent some time over the break working on the website. The timeline has changed from static text pages to a new, dynamic version that includes images. You can filter it by category as well. I’ve also added over 20 audio books to the site, including several in Czech, Dutch, French, and German.

On November 21, 2017, Bonhams auction house in New York City will hold an auction of movie memorabilia including many pieces from the estate of Harper Goff. Several pieces of concept artwork for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory are up for sale. (Thanks to Justin Humphreys for letting us know!)

If you want to see more of the artwork, check out the auction or our archive here.