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Taika Waititi to direct two Netflix Charlie and the Chocolate Factory shows

Oompa! Loompa! Doompa-dee-doo! Two animated shows are coming for you!

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper

Ever wondered about the personal lives of the Oompa-Loompas, the workers in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory? Filmmaker Taika Waititi has the golden ticket to bring their world to life. On Thursday, Netflix announced that Waititi will write, direct and executive produce two original series based on author Roald Dahl's work.

"The first is based on the world and characters of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," a Netflix tweet read. "The second is a wholly original take on the Oompa-Loompas, that builds out their world."

Last month, Waititi won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for the black comedy Jojo Rabbit, in which he played Adolf Hitler. He also directed 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, and co-directed 2014's What We Do in the Shadows.

Author Roald Dahl's 1964 novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, has been made into two films. 1971's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory starred Gene Wilder as Wonka, and 2005's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starred Johnny Depp in that role. Dahl also wrote a sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, which was published in 1972.

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