5 Roald Dahl film adaptations to celebrate his 100th birthday

The film adaptation of Matilda transported the action from the UK to the US, but lost none of the magic along the way. It starred real life couple Danny DeVito and Rhea Pearlman as the awful Wormwoods, and one of the biggest child stars of era, Mara Wilson, as Matilda. Wilson's mother died while the movie was being filmed, but she bravely opted to continue in the role.
Pam Ferris, who played Ms. Trunchball, stayed in character the whole time she was on set so that the children would be genuinely terrified of her. She went on the show her softer side, appearing most recently as Sister Evangelina in Call the Midwife.

A classic, that has been delighting, and mildly terrifying, children for generations and has become mandatory Christmas viewing in many households. It was not an initial box-office success, but gained popularity when released on video. There is also the 2005 Tim Burton take on the tale, but we're recommending this one - especially in light of Gene Wilder's recent passing.
Wilder only agreed to star in the film if they added in his opening scene, where he limps, before doing a somersault. He wanted the viewers to be constantly questioning if Wonka was lying or telling the truth.
Dahl's inspiration for the book was a school trip to a chocolate factory. He was deeply unhappy with the finished film, as it put too much emphasis on Wonka over Charlie. He refused to sell the rights to the book's sequel, Charlie and the Glass Elevator.
Peter Ostrum, who played Charlie, went on to be a vet.

This was a film that blended live-action and stop-motion, and using the stop motion to convey the magic taking place when James climbs inside the giant peach and travels from his unhappy home in England to a new life New York.
Susan Sarandon, Richard Dreyfuss, Pete Postlethwaith, David Thewlis and Joanna Lumley are amongst those who starred in the film.
The Jack Skellington puppet from Nightmare Before Christmas was used again in this film, for the captain of the pirate ship.
Randy Newman did the music for the film.

Another stop-motion take on Dahl's work, this time by US director and hipster favourite Wes Anderson, attempting his first children's film. It earned an Oscar nomination for best animated feature, and boasted a voice cast that included George Clooney and Meryl Streep as Mr. and Mrs. Fox. Anderson favourites Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman also did voice work for the film.
Much of the dialogue was recorded outside, rather than in a studio, to add the feeling of nature to the recordings.
535 puppets were made for the film, with 102 separate puppets for Mr. Fox.
The film comprises of almost 56,000 individual shots.

Most of Roald Dahl's tales have a dark side to them, but The Witches is one that stands as being particularly creepy. Maybe something to do with the young boy being turned into a mouse, or the plot to get rid of all children. The film stars Anjelica Huston as the Grand Witch (it took eight hours of make-up to transform her), and also features Rowan Atkinson. Jansen Fisher, who played Luke, also starred in Hook and Parenthood before leaving acting behind to become a professional golf caddy.
This was another film that Dahl did not fully approve of, and threatened to remove his name from the project, until he received a complimentary letter from Jim Henson, whose company produced the film.
It was the last film personally overseen by Henson, and the last film of Dahl's work released before his death.