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
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory getting ground into powder. A fan of the book since childhood, film director Tim Burton wrote: "I responded to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" because it respected the fact that children can be adults." In a 2006 list for the Royal Society of Literature, author J. K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter books) named "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" among her top ten books every child should read. A 2004 study found that it was a common read-aloud book for fourth-graders in schools in San Diego County, California. A 2012 survey by the University of Worcester determined that it