Liccy Dahl has stated that Roald Dahl never again requested someone for a role in his book after the producers of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) denied his request to cast Spike Milligan as the title character. But he was ecstatic when Anjelica Huston was cast as the Grand High Witch, as she had been Dahl's personal favorite for the role.
Many of the witches in the meeting are men in women's clothing.
During the production, actor Rowan Atkinson caused a disaster worthy of Mr. Bean, a comedic character Atkinson was developing at the time. Atkinson went to bed with the bath taps still running in his room, causing a leak which damaged the crew's electrical equipment on the floor below.
After a test screening, Roald Dahl angrily expressed to the producers how "appalled" he was at "the vulgarity, the bad taste" and "actual terror" in certain parts of the film. Dahl demanded his name and the title be removed from the film prior to release, but after receiving an apologetic, complimentary letter from Jim Henson, Dahl grudgingly withdrew his threat.
In the book, the boy doesn't have a name. In the film, he is called Luke.