Mel Stuart initially aspired to be a composer, but after leaving university decided on a career as a filmmaker instead.
He started as a producer of documentaries in the 1960s and 1970s with the David L. Wolper Organization, going freelance after 1977.
But before that happened…
The idea for adapting the book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” into a film came about when Stuart’s ten-year-old daughter Madeline read the book and asked her father to make a film out of it, with “Uncle Dave” (Wolper) producing it.
Stuart showed the book to Wolper, who happened to be in the midst of talks with the Quaker Oats Company regarding a vehicle to introduce a new candy bar from its Chicago-based Breaker Confections subsidiary (since renamed the Willy Wonka Candy Company and sold to Nestlé).
Wolper persuaded the company, which had no previous experience in the film industry, to buy the rights to the book and finance the picture for the purpose of promoting a new Quaker Oats Wonka Bar.
Wolper and the book’s author Roald Dahl agreed that the film would be a musical, and that Dahl himself would write the screenplay.
However, Wolper changed the title to “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971).
Madeline and her brother Peter make cameo appearances in the film.
Peter appears as the little boy who informs Charlie’s teacher about Willy Wonka opening his chocolate factory, while Madeline appears as one of the little girls in Charlie’s classroom.
Stuart lamented in his book “Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” that his favorite scene was cut due to poor test screenings.
In the scene, which took a lot of preparation and money to film, an English explorer climbs a holy mountain to ask a guru the meaning of life.
The guru requests a Wonka Bar.
Finding no golden ticket, he says, “Life is a disappointment.” Stuart loved the scene, but few laughed. He invited a psychologist friend to a preview, where again, the audience reaction was muted. The psychologist told him, “You don’t understand, Mel. For a great many people, life is a disappointment.” (IMDb/Wikipedia)
Happy Birthday, Mel Stuart!