variety.com
19.02.2023 / 15:41
Roald Dahl Publisher Edits ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ to Cut the Word ‘Fat’ for ‘Inclusion and Accessibility’
Naman Ramachandran Editors at Penguin’s children’s imprint Puffin have taken a red pencil to the works of iconic, but divisive British writer Roald Dahl, known for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Matilda” among many others. An extensive report by U.K. newspaper The Telegraph says “language related to weight, mental health, violence, gender and race has been cut and rewritten.” In 1964 novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” which has been adapted twice as films in 1971 and 2005, starring Gene Hackman and Johnny Depp respectively, for example, the phrase “enormously fat” has been edited to just “enormous.” The same phrase in 1970 book “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” adapted as an animated film by Wes Anderson with a voice cast of George Clooney and Meryl Streep in 2009, has also been edited to “enormous.”