Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film) Palin (as well as the other three Monty Python members) had all previously expressed interest in playing Wonka in the 1971 film adaptation. Johnny Depp was the only actor Burton considered for the role, although Dwayne Johnson was Burton's second choice in case Depp was unavailable. Depp signed on without reading the script under the intention of going with a completely different approach than what Gene Wilder did in the 1971 film adaptation. Depp said regardless of the original film, Gene Wilder's characterization of Willy Wonka stood out as a unique portrayal. Depp and Burton derived their Willy Wonka from
Fry and the Slurm Factory a movie adaptation of the novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl. The characters whom the factory paid to pretend to be workers, the Grunka Lunkas, resemble the Oompa Loompas from the film version of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and the tour guide, Glurmo, also wears a Willy Wonka-like attire, and speaks in a Gene Wilder-like voice. Slurms McKenzie, the Slurm party worm, is a parody of Spuds MacKenzie, the Bud Light spokesdog. Professor Farnsworth's F-Ray reveals a 6502 microprocessor—a widely used CPU in home computers of the 1970s and early 1980s—in Bender's head. Head writer