Gene Wilder fans are in uproar after Netflix revealed that an AI recreation of the late actor’s voice is being used for their new competition show, Wonka’s The Golden Ticket.
The streaming service bills the show, which is set to be released September 23, as a “one-of-a-kind reality competition” where “lucky players step inside Wonka’s Chocolate Factory to face unpredictable games, tests and temptations.”
A new trailer for the series features an AI-generated voiceover created to sound like Wilder, who famously starred as Wonka in the much-loved 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Wilder died in 2016 at the age of 83.
In the teaser clip, a recreation of Wilder’s voice can be heard saying: “For the first time in decades, I’m opening my beloved chocolate factory… A whole new generation of real life golden ticket holders will compete for a life-changing prize, or say a most unfortunate goodbye.”
The reveal of the AI-generated voice has failed to spark wonder with fans of Wilder or the 1971 film. One wrote on X: “Gene is rolling in his grave.”
Another opined that the AI voice “almost sounds like gene wilder, but not really and is a plastic substitute that people will eat up because the robots have made them stupid, This is an obscenity.”
A third added: “Someone should have voiced this better, the ai voice lacks emotion, no soul no depth.”
While another wrote: “WORST VERSION OF HIS VOICE! WTAF… you couldn’t go with more than one take from the AI bot?! I could probably piece together an amalgamation of just things genes said in movies and get a smoother more natural dialogue feels… he said ‘extraordinary’ entirely WRONG… rip Gene.”
Wilder quit feature films in 1991, decades before his death.
In his final interview, the actor said he left Hollywood behind because he “didn’t want to do the kind of junk I was seeing.”
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“I didn’t want to do 3D, for instance,” he continued. “I didn’t want to do ones where it’s just bombing and loud and swearing. So much swearing going on. If someone says ‘Ah, go f*** yourself,’ well, if it came from a meaningful place, I’d understand it. But if you go to some movies, can’t they just stop and talk, just talk, instead of swearing? That put me off a lot.”
Tim Burton’s version of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was also dismissed by Wilder.
“I think it’s an insult,” he said of the reboot. “Johnny Depp, I think, is a good actor, but I don’t care for that director. He’s a talented man, but I don’t care for him doing stuff like he did.”
Though he also gave memorable performances in several Mel Brooks comedies, Wilder is perhaps best remembered for his outlandish turn as Wonka, typified by this classic, nightmarish tunnel boat ride scene.
