As ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ Turns 50, We Visit Fudge Mountain For The First Time In Newly Published Lost Chapter

Since it was first published in 1964, Roald Dahl’s classic tale of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been delighting readers young and old and selling over 50 million copies worldwide. Now, after half a century on our bookshelves, a 'lost' chapter entitled 'Fudge Mountain' has finally been published, showing us just how different Charlie's journey was in the novel's early stages. 

A set of stamps celebrating Dahl's work were released by Royal Mail in 2012

Published in The Guardian's review supplement, the ‘lost’ fifth chapter describes an extra room in the factory called The Vanilla Fudge Room, where things get predictably messy for two of Charlie's less obedient companions.

Along with celebrating the novel's 50th anniversary, the chapter's publication also coincides with the release of a new book, Inside Charlie's Chocolate Factory, by Lucy Mangan, which tells the story behind Dahl’s classic novel.

In the chapter we get to see just how different Charlie's adventure looked in the early stages, for instance here Charlie goes into the factory with his mother instead of his grandfather. We also find out that there were originally 10 golden ticket winners instead of  just five, while Augustus Gloop is instead known under a different moniker, Augustus Pottle.

The chapter reads as if it fits into the novel just after Gloop meets a sticky end when he falls into the chocolate river. Here two more characters, Wilbur Rice and Tommy Troutbeck, meet a similar unfortunate fate after they ignore Wonka’s advice and ride railway wagons carrying fudge to The Pounding and Cutting Room.

More: So Can We Trust Steven Spielberg With Roald Dahl's 'The BFG'?

As Wonka explains to the boy's concerned parents, "In there, the rough fudge gets tipped out of the wagons into the mouth of a huge machine. The machine then pounds it against the floor until it is all nice and smooth and thin. After that, a whole lot of knives come down and go chop chop chop, cutting it up into neat little squares, ready for the shops." This sounds like it was probably the last appearance for Wilbur and Tommy.

Quentin Blake,  Dahl's longtime illustrator told the BBC:, "I know that he rewrote and rewrote many times. For this last chapter about the vanilla fudge mountain he is leading a group of people who are not in the final book." Adding, "It is interesting to see something at an earlier stage, you know, what happened in the cooking as it were. That's rather fascinating.”

Johnny Depp starred as Willy Wonka in Tim Burton's 2005 adaptation

Since its publication, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been adapted into two major motion pictures. The first, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starred Gene Wilder and was released 1971. It was then remade in 2005 by Tim Burton as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp starring as Willy Wonka.

In 1972 Dahl released a sequel to his novel,  Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator which followed Charlie's later adventures with new mentor, Willy Wonka.