10 Directors Who Went To Insane Lengths To Get Their Movies Made

7. Tim Burton Trained Squirrels To Attack An Actress - Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Robert Rodriguez El Mariachi
Warner Bros

Even though Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was very faithful to Roald Dahl's classic children's story, there was one major deviation. In the book, there was a scene where Wonka's group of nut-tapping squirrels toss the spoilt brat, Veruca Salt, down the trash chute. Because this scene would be a nightmare to film, it was cut.

When it was announced the squirrel scene would be in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, viewers weren't surprised. After all, the film crew can make the squirrels with CGI thanks to the wonders of modern special effects, right?

But contrary to popular belief, the squirrels in the remake were real. Obviously, the little critters were brought to life with animatronics and CGI for certain shots but this was purely for the actors' safety. When you see the squirrels inspecting nuts, those guys are the real deal. To accomplish this scene, Burton had these rodents trained daily for ten weeks to sit on a stool, tap walnuts, open them, and deposit their contents on a conveyor belt.

Because viewers assume the squirrels are CGI in every shot, this scene never gets the credit it deserves.

Contributor
Contributor

James Egan has written 80 books including 1000 Facts about Superheroes Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about TV Shows Vol. 1-3 Twitter - @jameswzegan85