Trivia / Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

• Acting for Two:
  • Jeff Bergman voices Droopy, the American reporter, And several Oompah Loompahs.
  • Sean Schemmel voices Veruca's father, Charlie's teacher, and several Oompah Loompahs
  • Jess Harnell voices Grandpa Joe, Violet's father, and the candy shop owner.
• Ashcan Copy: The main reason for this film's creation was that Warner Bros.' license would have run out if they didn't release a new movie adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Needless to say, it backfired as it became one of the most polarizing Tom & Jerry movies out there, not to mention it undercuts the movie's anti-greed message. As a result, while WB acquired the live-action film rights of Willy Wonka months prior to the film's release, the overall film rights reverted back to the Dahl estate, who then gave it to Netflix. WB eventually produced a prequel film, Wonka, which was released in 2023.
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: Upon the release of the trailer, many internet animation news sources jumped on it as if it was a surprise. The problem being that internet knowledge on this movie was over a year old by then; it had been on the radar of several animation communities and was even on That Other Wiki for months. It certainly wasn't the finest moment when your job is to learn about animation on the internet to be that late to the news.
• Creator's Oddball: Wes Gleason, who's usually a voice director for DC animated projects, is this movie's voice director.
• Cross-Dressing Voices: Rachel Butera voices Augustus Gloop while Lauren Weisman voices Mike Teevee.
• Descended Creator: Director/Producer Spike Brandt voices Spike and provides Tom and Jerry's vocal effects.
• Fake Nationality:
  • Jess Harnell, an American, voices the store owner at the beginning with a British accent.^note He's had plenty of practice - he was Wakko, after all. The same goes for Sean Schemmel as Veruca Salt's Father.
  • Jim Ward, also an American, uses a German accent when voicing the German reporter. The same goes for Mick Wingert as Slugworth, and both Rachel Butera and Audrey Wasilewski as Augustus Gloop and his mother respectively.
• Franchise Killer: The overall negative reception to this film managed to put the Tom and Jerry Direct-to-Video Film Series on hiatus for five years, while Warner Bros. turned its attention to producing the long-stalled live-action/animated film instead. It also caused the Roald Dahl Estate to revoke Warner Bros.' film rights to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the latter having commissioned this film just to keep the film rights) and instead handed it over to Netflix, along with all the other stories he created, including its sequel in which Dahl himself wrote in his will that it may never be adapted in any form.
• In Memoriam: The movie is dedicated to the memory of Gene Wilder, who played the title character in the original 1971 movie. Wilder had passed away the year before, and the weird timing contributed to the movie's acidic reception.
• I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: Jeff Bergman and Jim Ward also worked together on Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders with Wes Gleason.
• Playing Against Type: Mick Wingert, who's known for voicing good guys like Po and Iron Man, voices Slugworth, a villain. Though he eventually plays true to type when Slugworth is revealed to be good.
• Promoted Fanboy: Lori Alan was a big fan of both films, hence why she was excited to play Mrs. Teevee here.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Jeff Bergman officially replaced Joe Alaskey as Droopy due to Joe's death in 2016.
  • For reasons including actor death and retirement, the cast of the original 1971 movie does not return for Tom & Jerry.
• Role Reprise: Jeff Bergman voiced Droopy in the 2010 Sherlock Holmes movie.
• What Could Have Been: A look at the storyboards of the gobstopper and the blueberry scene feature a curly-haired Willy Wonka, possibly indicating that he was originally supposed to look more like Gene Wilder's version of Wonka from the 1971 movie. Likewise, Violet originally had a stronger resemblance to her 1971 actress, Denise Nickerson, instead of the more cartoonish design she ended up with in the finished product.
• Working Title: Turner Classic Movies' online database originally referred to this video as Tom and Jerry: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, taking the cue of the book. It's possible that it was renamed to avoid accidentally associating itself with the 2005 adaptation given that it uses far more of the 71 instead of the 05.