Which 1971 musical film starring Gene Wilder is based on a Roald Dahl book?

The 1971 musical film starring Gene Wilder that is based on a Roald Dahl book is Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

The film adapts Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, following Charlie Bucket after he finds a Golden Ticket and earns a tour of Willy Wonka’s mysterious chocolate factory. Gene Wilder plays Wonka, whose theatrical charm and unsettling unpredictability became the film’s defining qualities.

Directed by Mel Stuart, the movie was filmed in Munich in 1970 and released by Paramount Pictures in June 1971. Dahl was credited as the screenwriter, although David Seltzer made an uncredited rewrite. The songs, including “The Candy Man” and “Pure Imagination,” were written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, with Walter Scharf arranging the score.

The title is often confused with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which is the name of Dahl’s book and the 2005 film directed by Tim Burton. The BFG and Matilda are also Dahl adaptations, but neither is the 1971 Gene Wilder musical. The original film later entered the U.S. National Film Registry for its cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance.