Uh oh—Netflix is making a Roald Dahl expanded universe
By Dan Selcke
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches…all of these are beloved books by children’s author Roald Dahl, treasured by millions. They’ve also all been adapted as successful films, but with Hollywood remaking everything under the sun these days, it was always just a matter of time before they were back in rotation. That time has come. Behold Netflix’s Roald Dahl expanded universe:
"Netflix will bring together the highest quality creative, visual, and writing teams to extend the stories in this first-of-its-kind slate of premium animated event series and specials for audiences of all ages and for families to enjoy together. Netflix intends to remain faithful to the quintessential spirit and tone of Dahl while also building out an imaginative story universe that expands far beyond the pages of the books themselves."
There’s a lot of corporate-speak in this press release, but I’d like to focus on Netflix “building out an imaginative story universe that expands far beyond the pages of the books themselves.” It sounds like Netflix is after what everyone in Hollywood is after these days: they want to make like Marvel and have their own incredibly lucrative interconnected network of “event series,” whatever that means, where to watch show is an invitation to watch them all. How that works out practically, I’m not sure. Will the Oompa-Loompas toss the BGF in a chocolate river? Will Matilda combat the Witches from The Witches with her telekinetic abilities? We’ll put a pin in that.
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Netflix mentions that it’s struck a deal with the Roald Dahl Story Company to adapt Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, The Twits, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and a bunch of other works that aren’t as famous. (Robert Zemeckis is directing a separate movie adaption of The Witches, and Netflix doesn’t mention it, so that one may not be in play.) Felicity Dahl, Roald Dahl’s widow, sounds pretty psyched about the whole thing:
"Our mission, which is purposefully lofty, is for as many children as possible around the world to experience the unique magic and positive message of Roald Dahl’s stories. This partnership with Netflix marks a significant move toward making that possible and is an incredibly exciting new chapter for the Roald Dahl Story Company. Roald would, I know, be thrilled."
Netflix is also building a cinematic universe on the back of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series, so it’s going all-in on this children’s programming stuff. Hopefully someone out there is excited by this news, but I can’t help but think of how Netflix tried and failed to build a shared universe based on its live-action Marvel shows. Meanwhile, AMC is trying to build a Walking Dead universe even as the mainline show flounders in the ratings department. Maybe not everything needs a shared universe? Possibly?
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