Editing Roald Dahl (section)

==Writing==
[[File:Deviousdahl.jpg|right|thumb|Roald Dahl's story "The Devious Bachelor" was illustrated by Frederick Siebel when it was published in ''[[Collier's Weekly|Collier's]]'' (September 1953).]]

Dahl's first published work, inspired by a meeting with [[C. S. Forester]], was "A Piece of Cake", on 1 August 1942. The story, about his wartime adventures, was bought by ''The Saturday Evening Post'' for US$1,000 ({{Inflation|US|1000|1942|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) and published under the title "Shot Down Over Libya".{{sfn|Ruffin|2006|p=17}}

His first children's book was ''[[The Gremlins]]'', published in 1943, about mischievous little creatures that were part of Royal Air Force folklore.{{sfn|Donald|2008|p=147}} The RAF pilots blamed the [[gremlin]]s for all the problems with the aircraft.{{sfn|Sasser|1971|p=1094}} The protagonist Gus—an RAF pilot, like Dahl—joins forces with the gremlins against a common enemy, Hitler and the Nazis.{{sfn|Solomon|2016|p=69}} While at the British Embassy in Washington, Dahl sent a copy to the [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] who read it to her grandchildren,{{sfn|Donald|2008|p=147}} and the book was commissioned by [[Walt Disney]] for a film that was never made.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/dec/20/roalddahl|title=Dahl's Gremlins fly again, thanks to historian's campaign|first=Nick|last=Tanner|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=16 September 2014|date=20 December 2006|archive-date=28 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140928204053/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/dec/20/roalddahl|url-status=live}}</ref> Dahl went on to write some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, such as ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]'', ''[[Matilda (novel)|Matilda]]'', ''[[James and the Giant Peach]]'', ''[[The Witches (novel)|The Witches]]'', ''[[Fantastic Mr Fox]]'', ''[[The BFG]]'', ''[[The Twits]]'' and ''[[George's Marvellous Medicine]]''.<ref name="IND" />

Dahl also had a successful parallel career as the writer of macabre adult short stories, which often blended humour and innocence with surprising plot twists.{{sfn|Maunder|2007|p=96}} The [[Mystery Writers of America]] presented Dahl with three [[Edgar Awards]] for his work, and many were originally written for American magazines such as ''[[Collier's Weekly|Collier's]]'' ("The Collector's Item" was ''Collier's'' Star Story of the week for 4 September 1948), ''[[Ladies' Home Journal]]'', ''[[Harper's Magazine|Harper's]]'', ''[[Playboy]]'' and ''[[The New Yorker]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Roald Dahl Day: From Tales of the Unexpected to Switch Bitch, Dahl's undervalued stories for adults |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/roald-dahl-day-adult-books-tales-unexpected-switch-bitch-kiss-kiss-short-stories-a7944351.html |work=The Independent |date=6 October 2017 |access-date=28 December 2017 |archive-date=19 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219092328/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/roald-dahl-day-adult-books-tales-unexpected-switch-bitch-kiss-kiss-short-stories-a7944351.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Works such as ''[[Kiss Kiss (book)|Kiss Kiss]]'' subsequently collected Dahl's stories into anthologies, and gained significant popularity. Dahl wrote [[List of Roald Dahl short stories|more than 60 short stories]]; they have appeared in numerous collections, some only being published in book form after his death. His three Edgar Awards were given for: in 1954, the collection ''Someone Like You''; in 1959, the story "[[The Landlady (Roald Dahl)|The Landlady]]"; and in 1980, the episode of ''[[Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)|Tales of the Unexpected]]'' based on "[[Skin (short story)|Skin]]".{{sfn|Maunder|2007|p=96}}

[[File:Roald Dahl's gipsy caravan - geograph.org.uk - 112566.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Roald Dahl's [[vardo (Romani wagon)|vardo]] in the garden of his home, [[Gipsy House]], in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, where he wrote ''[[Danny, the Champion of the World]]'' in 1975|alt=Roald Dahl's vardo]]

One of his more famous adult stories, "The Smoker", also known as "[[Man from the South]]", was filmed twice as both 1960 and 1985 episodes of ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'', filmed as a 1979 episode of ''Tales of the Unexpected'', and also adapted into [[Quentin Tarantino]]'s segment of the film ''[[Four Rooms]]'' (1995).{{sfn|Mottram|2006|p=95}} This oft-anthologised classic concerns a man in Jamaica who wagers with visitors in an attempt to claim the fingers from their hands. The original 1960 version in the Hitchcock series stars [[Steve McQueen (actor)|Steve McQueen]] and [[Peter Lorre]].{{sfn|Mottram|2006|p=95}} [[List of Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes|Five additional Dahl stories]] were used in the Hitchcock series. Dahl was credited with teleplay for two episodes, and four of his episodes were directed by [[Alfred Hitchcock]] himself, an example of which was "[[Lamb to the Slaughter]]" (1958).<ref>{{cite news |title=Hitchcock on TV: his 10 best episodes |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/alfred-hitchcock-10-essential-tv-programmes |access-date=17 October 2022 |agency=British Film Institute |archive-date=18 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018152602/https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/alfred-hitchcock-10-essential-tv-programmes |url-status=live}}</ref>

Dahl acquired a traditional [[Romanichal]] [[vardo (Romani wagon)|vardo]] in the 1960s, and the family used it as a playhouse for his children at home in [[Great Missenden]], Buckinghamshire. He later used the vardo as a writing room, where he wrote ''[[Danny, the Champion of the World]]'' in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gypsywaggons.co.uk/varsuk.htm |title=English Gypsy caravan, Gypsy Wagon, Gypsy Waggon and Vardo: Photograph Gallery 1 |publisher=Gypsywaggons.co.uk |access-date=28 January 2011 |archive-date=31 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131221652/http://gypsywaggons.co.uk/varsuk.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> Dahl incorporated a similar caravan into the main plot of the book, where the young English boy, Danny, and his father, William (played by [[Jeremy Irons]] in the film adaptation) live in a vardo.{{sfn|Wheeler|2006|p=9}} Many other scenes and characters from Great Missenden are reflected in his work. For example, the village library was the inspiration for Mrs Phelps' library in ''Matilda'', where the title character devours classic literature by the age of four.<ref>{{cite news |title=Matilda statue stands up to President Donald Trump |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-45680365 |access-date=1 October 2018 |agency=BBC |archive-date=1 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001034328/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-45680365 |url-status=live}}</ref>

His short story collection ''[[Tales of the Unexpected (short story collection)|Tales of the Unexpected]]'' was adapted to a successful [[Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)|TV series of the same name]], beginning with "Man from the South".{{sfn|Maunder|2007|p=417}} When the stock of Dahl's own original stories was exhausted, the series continued by adapting stories written in Dahl's style by other authors, including [[John Collier (fiction writer)|John Collier]] and [[Stanley Ellin]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/558532/index.html |title=Tales of the Unexpected (1979–88) |access-date=16 September 2014 |archive-date=5 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205104803/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/558532/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Another collection of short stories, ''[[The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More]]'', was published in 1977, and the eponymous short story was [[The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (film)|adapted into a short film]] in 2023 by director [[Wes Anderson]] with [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] as the titular character Henry Sugar and [[Ralph Fiennes]] as Dahl.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.indiewire.com/2022/01/wes-anderson-roald-dahl-wonderful-story-henry-sugar-netflix-1234689310/|title= Wes Anderson to Direct Roald Dahl's 'Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar' for Netflix with Benedict Cumberbatch|website= [[IndieWire]]|date= 7 January 2022|accessdate= 4 November 2022|archive-date= 4 November 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221104155906/https://www.indiewire.com/2022/01/wes-anderson-roald-dahl-wonderful-story-henry-sugar-netflix-1234689310/|url-status= live}}</ref>

[[File:Roald Dahl September 1990.png|thumb|upright|Dahl at Gipsy House in September 1990; ''[[Memories with Food at Gipsy House]]'' was published posthumously.]]

Some of Dahl's short stories are supposed to be extracts from the diary of his (fictional) Uncle Oswald, a rich gentleman whose sexual exploits form the subject of these stories.{{sfn|Schweitzer|1985|p=125}} In his novel ''[[My Uncle Oswald]]'', the uncle engages a temptress to seduce 20th century geniuses and royalty with a love potion secretly added to chocolate truffles made by Dahl's favourite chocolate shop, [[Prestat]] of Piccadilly, London.{{sfn|Schweitzer|1985|p=125}} ''[[Memories with Food at Gipsy House]]'', written with his wife Felicity and published posthumously in 1991, was a mixture of recipes, family reminiscences and Dahl's musings on favourite subjects such as chocolate, onions and claret.<ref name="TELG" /><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mMDjAAAAMAAJ&q=Memories+with+Food+at+Gipsy+House|title=Books magazine, Volumes 5–7|page=35|date=1991|publisher=Publishing News Ltd|access-date=16 September 2014|archive-date=17 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417114121/https://books.google.com/books?id=mMDjAAAAMAAJ&q=Memories+with+Food+at+Gipsy+House|url-status=live}}</ref>

The last book published in his lifetime, ''[[Esio Trot]]'', released in January 1990, marked a change in style for the author. Unlike other Dahl works (which often feature tyrannical adults and heroic/magical children), it is the story of an old, lonely man trying to make a connection with a woman he has loved from afar.<ref name="Leszkiewicz" /> In 1994, the English language [[audiobook]] recording of the book was provided by [[Monty Python]] member [[Michael Palin]].{{sfn|McCall|2013|p=166}} Screenwriter [[Richard Curtis]] adapted it into a 2015 BBC television comedy film, ''[[Roald Dahl's Esio Trot]]'', featuring [[Dustin Hoffman]] and [[Judi Dench]] as the couple.<ref>{{cite news |title=Esio Trot review – Dench sparkles, Hoffman is perfect |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jan/02/esio-trot-roald-dahl-judi-dench-dustin-hoffman-james-corden-tv-review |access-date=31 August 2019 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=2 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102233623/http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jan/02/esio-trot-roald-dahl-judi-dench-dustin-hoffman-james-corden-tv-review |url-status=live}}</ref>

Written in 1990 and published posthumously in 1991, ''[[Roald Dahl's Guide to Railway Safety]]'' was one of the last things he ever wrote.<ref name="Arts"/> In a response to rising levels of train-related fatalities involving children, the [[British Railways Board]] had asked Dahl to write the text of the booklet, and [[Quentin Blake]] to illustrate it, to help young people enjoy using the railways safely.<ref name="Arts">{{cite news |title=The Cautionary Tale and Roald Dahl |url=https://www.walesartsreview.org/redux-the-cautionary-tale-and-roald-dahl/ |access-date=3 October 2023 |publisher=Wales Arts Review}}</ref> The booklet is structured as a conversation with children, and it was distributed to [[primary school]] pupils in Britain. According to children's literature critic Deborah Cogan Thacker, Dahl's tendency in his children's books is to "put child characters in powerful positions" and so, the idea of "talking down" to children was always an anathema to him, therefore Dahl, in the introduction of the booklet, states; "I must now regretfully become one of those unpopular giants who tells you WHAT TO DO and WHAT NOT TO DO. This is something I have never done in any of my books."<ref name="Arts"/>

===Children's fiction===
{{Quote box
| width = 30%
| align = right
| quote = "He [Dahl] was mischievous. A grown-up being mischievous. He addresses you, a child, as somebody who knows about the world. He was a grown-up—and he was bigger than most—who is on your side. That must have something to do with it."
| source = —Illustrator [[Quentin Blake]] on the lasting appeal of Dahl's children's books.<ref name=IND/>
}}
Dahl's children's works are usually told from the point of view of a child. They typically involve adult [[villain]]s who hate and mistreat children, and feature at least one "good" adult to counteract the villain(s).<ref name="IND" /> These stock characters are possibly a reference to the abuse that Dahl stated that he experienced in the [[boarding school]]s he attended.<ref name="IND" /> In a biography of Dahl, Matthew Dennison wrote that "his writing frequently included protests against unfairness".{{sfn|Dennison|2023|p=8}} Dahl's books see the triumph of the child; children's book critic Amanda Craig said, "He was unequivocal that it is the good, young and kind who triumph over the old, greedy and the wicked."{{sfn|de Castella|2011}} Anna Leskiewicz in ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'' wrote, "It's often suggested that Dahl's lasting appeal is a result of his exceptional talent for wriggling his way into children's fantasies and fears, and laying them out on the page with anarchic delight. Adult villains are drawn in terrifying detail, before they are exposed as liars and hypocrites, and brought tumbling down with retributive justice, either by a sudden magic or the superior acuity of the children they mistreat."<ref name="Leszkiewicz" />

While his whimsical fantasy stories feature an underlying warm sentiment, they are often juxtaposed with grotesque, [[black comedy|darkly comic]] and sometimes harshly violent scenarios.<ref name="INT" />{{sfn|Hamlin |2015}} ''[[The Witches (novel)|The Witches]]'', ''[[George's Marvellous Medicine]]'' and ''[[Matilda (novel)|Matilda]]'' are examples of this formula. ''[[The BFG]]'' follows, with the good giant (the BFG or "Big Friendly Giant") representing the "good adult" archetype and the other giants being the "bad adults". This formula is also somewhat evident in Dahl's film script for ''[[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]]''. Class-conscious themes also surface in works such as ''[[Fantastic Mr Fox]]'' and ''[[Danny, the Champion of the World]]'' where the unpleasant wealthy neighbours are outwitted.<ref name="BBC Studios 2016" /><ref>{{cite news|title='Fantastic Mr. Fox' movie review: Wes Anderson joyfully re-creates Roald Dahl's foxy family|url=http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/11/post_25.html|work=[[The Star-Ledger]]|date=21 January 2016|access-date=21 January 2016|archive-date=31 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131081408/http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/11/post_25.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Dahl also features characters who are very fat, usually children. Augustus Gloop, Bruce Bogtrotter and Bruno Jenkins are a few of these characters, although an enormous woman named Aunt Sponge features in ''[[James and the Giant Peach]]'' and the nasty farmer Boggis in ''Fantastic Mr Fox'' is an enormously fat character. All of these characters (with the possible exception of Bruce Bogtrotter) are either villains or simply unpleasant gluttons. They are usually punished for this: Augustus Gloop drinks from [[Willy Wonka]]'s chocolate river, disregarding the adults who tell him not to, and falls in, getting sucked up a pipe and nearly being turned into fudge. In ''Matilda'', Bruce Bogtrotter steals cake from the evil headmistress, [[Miss Trunchbull]], and is forced to eat a gigantic chocolate cake in front of the school; when he unexpectedly succeeds at this, Trunchbull smashes the empty plate over his head. In ''The Witches'', Bruno Jenkins is lured by the witches (whose leader is the [[Grand High Witch]]) into their convention with the promise of chocolate, before they turn him into a mouse.{{sfn|Marlow|2009|p=46}} Aunt Sponge is flattened by a giant peach. When Dahl was a boy his mother used to tell him and his sisters tales about trolls and other mythical Norwegian creatures, and some of his children's books contain references or elements inspired by these stories, such as the giants in ''The BFG'', the fox family in ''Fantastic Mr Fox'' and the trolls in ''[[The Minpins]]''.{{sfn|Volvovski|Rothman|Lamothe|2014|p=28}}

In 1972, [[Eleanor Cameron]], also a children's book author, published an article in ''[[The Horn Book Magazine|The Horn Book]]'' criticising ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' and its depiction of the African-derived [[Oompa-Loompa]]s, who "have never been given the opportunity of any life outside of the chocolate factory".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cameron|first=Eleanor|date=19 October 1972|title=McLuhan, Youth, and Literature: Part I|url=https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=mcluhan-youth-and-literature-part-i-2|access-date=14 October 2020|website=The Horn Book|archive-date=10 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810105229/https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=mcluhan-youth-and-literature-part-i-2|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1973, Dahl posted a reply, calling Cameron's accusations "insensitive" and "monstrous".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dahl|first=Roald|date=27 February 1973|title=The Horn Book {{!}} "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory": A Reply|url=https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=charlie-chocolate-factory-reply|access-date=14 October 2020|website=The Horn Book|archive-date=19 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819131054/https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=charlie-chocolate-factory-reply|url-status=live}}</ref> The debate between the two authors sparked much discussion and a number of letters to the editor.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Eleanor Cameron vs. Roald Dahl|url=https://www.roalddahlfans.com/dahls-work/books/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/eleanor-cameron-vs-roald-dahl/|access-date=14 October 2020|website=Roald Dahl Fans|language=en-US|archive-date=16 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016204406/https://www.roalddahlfans.com/dahls-work/books/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/eleanor-cameron-vs-roald-dahl/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1991, [[Michael Dirda]] also discussed other criticisms of Dahl's writing, including his alleged sexism, of which Dirda wrote, "''The Witches'' verges on a general misogyny."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dirda|first=Michael|date=7 December 1990|title=Opinion {{!}} Roald Dahl Also Left a Legacy of Bigotry (Published 1990)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/07/opinion/l-roald-dahl-also-left-a-legacy-of-bigotry-880490.html|access-date=14 October 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=19 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019034537/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/07/opinion/l-roald-dahl-also-left-a-legacy-of-bigotry-880490.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1998, [[Michele Landsberg]] analysed the alleged issues in Dahl's work and concluded that, "Throughout his work, evil, domineering, smelly, fat, ugly women are his favourite villains."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Think Twice about Roald Dahl|url=https://www.lilith.org/articles/think-twice-about-roald-dahl/|access-date=14 October 2020|website=Lilith Magazine|date=27 September 1998|language=en-US|archive-date=19 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019084043/https://www.lilith.org/articles/think-twice-about-roald-dahl/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2008, [[Una Mullally]] argued that there are feminist messages in Dahl's work, even if they may be obscured, "''The Witches'' offers up plenty of feminist complexities. The witches themselves are terrifying and vile things, and always women... The book is often viewed as sexist, but that assessment ignores one of the heroines of the story, the child narrator's grandmother."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Mullally|first=Una|title=Women, as written by Roald Dahl|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/women-as-written-by-roald-dahl-1.2775898|access-date=14 October 2020|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|archive-date=13 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313051144/https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/women-as-written-by-roald-dahl-1.2775898|url-status=live}}</ref>

Receiving the 1983 [[World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement]], Dahl encouraged his children and his readers to let their imagination run free. His daughter Lucy stated "his spirit was so large and so big he taught us to believe in magic."<ref name="BBC Studios 2016" /> She said her father later told her that if they had simply said goodnight after a bedtime story, he assumed it wasn't a good idea. But if they begged him to continue, he knew he was on to something, and the story would sometimes turn into a book.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/british-author-roald-dahl-daughter-lucy-bfg-rough-drafts-bedtime-stories/|title=Roald Dahl's daughter on when "The BFG" was a bedtime story|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=5 July 2016 |access-date=29 December 2022|archive-date=29 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229001435/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/british-author-roald-dahl-daughter-lucy-bfg-rough-drafts-bedtime-stories/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.|Roald Dahl, ''The Minpins''}}

[[File:Norland Scarecrow Festival 12.jpg|thumb|upright|Scarecrow of [[the BFG]] (the Big Friendly Giant) at a festival in Yorkshire; many of Dahl's new words are spoken by the character.<ref name="new words">{{cite news |title=10 Roald Dahl moments to inspire generations |url=https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/culture/books/book-reviews/10-roald-dahl-moments-to-inspire-generations |access-date=7 July 2023 |work=Reader's Digest |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708140105/https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/culture/books/book-reviews/10-roald-dahl-moments-to-inspire-generations |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

Dahl was also famous for his inventive, playful use of language, which was a key element to his writing. He invented over 500 new words by scribbling down his words before swapping letters around and adopting [[spoonerisms]] and [[malapropisms]].<ref name="new words"/><ref name="Dahl Dictionary" /> The lexicographer Susan Rennie stated that Dahl built his new words on familiar sounds, adding:

{{blockquote|He didn't always explain what his words meant, but children can work them out because they often sound like a word they know, and he loved using [[onomatopoeia]]. For example, you know that something ''lickswishy'' and ''delumptious'' is good to eat, whereas something ''uckyslush'' or ''rotsome'' is definitely not! He also used sounds that children love to say, like ''squishous'' and ''squizzle'', or ''fizzlecrump'' and ''fizzwiggler''.<ref name="Dahl Dictionary"/>}}

As marketing director of [[Penguin Books]] in the 1980s, [[Barry Cunningham (publisher)|Barry Cunningham]] travelled the UK with Dahl on a promotional book tour, during which he asked Dahl what the secret of his success was, with Dahl responding, "the thing you've got to remember, is that humour is delayed fear, laughter is delayed fear."<ref name="Cunningham">{{cite news |title=Working with Roald Dahl helped me find Harry Potter |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51y37yez2mo.amp |access-date=20 July 2024 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Cunningham later recollected, "if you look at the way he uses humour and the way that children use humour, perhaps sometimes it's the only weapon they have against terrifying circumstances or people. That's very indicative of his stories and the style of those stories."<ref name="Cunningham"/>

A UK television special titled ''Roald Dahl's Revolting Rule Book'', which was hosted by [[Richard E. Grant]] and aired on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] on 22 September 2007, commemorated Dahl's 90th birthday and also celebrated his impact as a children's author in popular culture.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1113720/|title=Roald Dahl's Revolting Rule Book (TV Movie 2007)|work=IMDb|date=22 September 2007|access-date=26 May 2020|archive-date=7 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307223611/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1113720/|url-status=live}}</ref> It also featured eight main rules he applied on all his children's books:
# Just add chocolate
# Adults can be scary
# Bad things happen
# Revenge is sweet
# Keep a wicked sense of humour
# Pick perfect pictures
# Films are fun...but books are better!
# Food is fun!
[[File:Etwall Well Dressing - 2017 (Roald Dahl's BFG) - geograph.org.uk - 5399344.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Well dressing]] in [[Etwall]], Derbyshire, depicting various characters from Dahl's stories, 
marking the centenary of his birth]]
In 2016, marking the centenary of Dahl's birth, Rennie compiled ''The Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary'' which includes many of his invented words and their meaning.<ref name="Dahl Dictionary" /> Rennie commented that some of Dahl's words have already escaped his world, for example, ''Scrumdiddlyumptious'': "Food that is utterly delicious".<ref name="Dahl Dictionary" /> In his poetry, Dahl gives a humorous re-interpretation of well-known nursery rhymes and [[fairy tales]], parodying the narratives and providing surprise endings in place of the traditional happily-ever-after. Dahl's collection of poems, ''[[Revolting Rhymes]]'', is recorded in [[audiobook]] form, and narrated by actor [[Alan Cumming]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7aeAAAAMAAJ&q=alan+cumming|title=AV guide, Volumes 77–82|publisher=Scranton Gillette Communications|date=1998|access-date=16 September 2014|archive-date=17 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417114106/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7aeAAAAMAAJ&q=alan+cumming|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2023, [[Puffin Books]], which holds the rights to all Dahl's children's books, published editions which included [[Roald Dahl revision controversy|hundreds of revisions]] to the text at the advice of [[sensitivity reader]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=The rewriting of Roald Dahl |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/17/roald-dahl-books-rewritten-offensive-matilda-witches-twits/ |website=The Telegraph |date=24 February 2023 |access-date=19 February 2023 |archive-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302234039/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/17/roald-dahl-books-rewritten-offensive-matilda-witches-twits/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Changes included the use of gender-neutral words and phrases such as "parents" or "siblings" rather than "boys and girls", "mothers and fathers", the word "fat" being replaced with terms such as "enormous" or "large", and words like "crazy" and "mad" were regularly removed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/17/roald-dahl-books-rewritten-offensive-matilda-witches-twits/ |title=Roald Dahl rewritten: the hundreds of changes made to suit a new 'sensitive' generation |date=24 February 2023 |last1=Cumming |first1=Ed |last2=Buchanan |first2=Abigail |last3=Holl-Allen |first3=Genevieve |last4=Smith |first4=Benedict |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |access-date=6 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302234039/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/17/roald-dahl-books-rewritten-offensive-matilda-witches-twits/ |archive-date=2 March 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> The move was supported by a number of authors, including Society of Authors chair [[Joanne Harris]] and [[Diego Jourdan|Diego Jourdan Pereira]] at ''[[Writer's Digest]]'', but it drew many more critical responses.<ref name="roy">{{cite news |last1=Roy |first1=Nilanjana |title=The case against rewriting Roald Dahl |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a5f1f6af-8aaf-4f8b-8bfe-01c4e3d68c87 |work=Financial Times |date=24 February 2023 |access-date=25 February 2023 |archive-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302171641/https://www.ft.com/content/a5f1f6af-8aaf-4f8b-8bfe-01c4e3d68c87 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pereira |first=Diego Jourdan |date=28 August 2023 |title=Roald Rage: On When and Whether It Makes Sense to Update Previously Published Text for Modern Sensibilities |url=https://www.writersdigest.com/be-inspired/roald-rage-on-when-and-whether-it-makes-sense-to-updated-previously-published-text-for-modern-sensibilities |access-date=17 November 2023 |website=Writer's Digest |language=en}}</ref> Several public figures, including then-[[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Rishi Sunak]] and author [[Salman Rushdie]], spoke out against the changes.<ref>{{cite news|last=Dellatto|first=Marisa|title=Roald Dahl Books Get New Edits—And Critics Cry Censorship: The Controversy Surrounding 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory' And More|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2023/02/20/roald-dahl-books-get-new-edits-and-critics-cry-censorship-the-controversy-surrounding-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-and-more/?sh=6833ef524534|work=[[Forbes]]|date=20 February 2023|access-date=26 February 2023|archive-date=28 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228232244/https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2023/02/20/roald-dahl-books-get-new-edits-and-critics-cry-censorship-the-controversy-surrounding-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-and-more/?sh=61a3a45a4534|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Zymeri|first=Jeff|title=Salman Rushdie Blasts 'Absurd' Censorship of Roald Dahl|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/news/the-dahl-estate-should-be-ashamed-salman-rushdie-blasts-absurd-censorship-of-roald-dahl/|work=[[National Review]]|date=21 February 2023|access-date=26 February 2023|archive-date=21 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221153943/https://www.nationalreview.com/news/the-dahl-estate-should-be-ashamed-salman-rushdie-blasts-absurd-censorship-of-roald-dahl/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Roald Dahl rewrites: edited language in books criticised as 'absurd censorship' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/20/roald-dahl-books-rewrites-criticism-language-altered |website=The Guardian |date=20 February 2023 |access-date=25 February 2023 |archive-date=25 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225024944/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/20/roald-dahl-books-rewrites-criticism-language-altered |url-status=live}}</ref> It was reported that when Dahl was alive, he had spoken out very strongly against any changes ever being made to any of his books.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sawer |first1=Patrick |title=Roald Dahl warned 'politically correct' publishers – 'change one word and deal with my crocodile' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/25/roald-dahl-warned-politically-correct-publishers-change-one/ |website=The Telegraph |date=25 February 2023 |access-date=26 February 2023 |archive-date=19 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319153507/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/25/roald-dahl-warned-politically-correct-publishers-change-one/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Alberge |first1=Dalya |title=Roald Dahl threatened publisher with 'enormous crocodile' if they changed his words |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/25/roald-dahl-threatened-publisher-with-enormous-crocodile-if-they-changed-his-words |website=The Guardian |date=25 February 2023 |access-date=1 March 2023 |archive-date=1 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301205847/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/25/roald-dahl-threatened-publisher-with-enormous-crocodile-if-they-changed-his-words |url-status=live}}</ref> On 23 February 2023, Puffin announced it would release an unedited selection of Dahl's children's books as 'The Roald Dahl Classic Collection', stating, "We've listened to the debate over the past week which has reaffirmed the extraordinary power of Roald Dahl's books" and "recognise the importance of keeping Dahl's classic texts in print".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jackson |first1=Siba |title=Roald Dahl classic texts to be kept in print after outrage over changes to books |url=https://news.sky.com/story/roald-dahl-classic-texts-to-be-kept-in-print-after-outrage-over-changes-to-authors-books-12818769 |website=Sky News|date=24 February 2023 |access-date=24 February 2023 |language=en |archive-date=24 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224164427/https://news.sky.com/story/roald-dahl-classic-texts-to-be-kept-in-print-after-outrage-over-changes-to-authors-books-12818769 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Rackham |first1=Annabel |title=Roald Dahl: Original books to be kept in print following criticism |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64759118 |work=BBC News |date=24 February 2023 |access-date=24 February 2023 |archive-date=24 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224164911/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64759118 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Screenplays===
For a brief period in the 1960s, Dahl wrote screenplays. Two, the [[James Bond]] film ''[[You Only Live Twice (film)|You Only Live Twice]]'' and ''[[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]]'', were adaptations of novels by Ian Fleming.<ref>{{cite news|title='Sean Connery? He never stood anyone a round': Roald Dahl's love-hate relationship with Hollywood|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/sean-connery-never-stood-anyone-round-roald-dahls-love-hate |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/sean-connery-never-stood-anyone-round-roald-dahls-love-hate |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|last=Collin|first=Robbie|date=18 February 2021|access-date=28 February 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/sep/13/roald-dahl-great-writers-imagination-lacey ''Roald Dahl Day: my glimpse into the great writer's imagination''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811031857/https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/sep/13/roald-dahl-great-writers-imagination-lacey |date=11 August 2016}}. ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 22 November 2014.</ref> Dahl also began adapting his own novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', which was completed and rewritten by [[David Seltzer]] after Dahl failed to meet deadlines, and produced as the film ''[[Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory]]'' (1971). Dahl later disowned the film, saying he was "disappointed" because "he thought it placed too much emphasis on Willy Wonka and not enough on Charlie".<ref>Liz Buckingham, trustee for the Roald Dahl Museum, quoted in Tom Bishop: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4660873.stm ''Willy Wonka's Everlasting Film Plot''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108084528/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4660873.stm |date=8 November 2011}}, BBC News, July 2005.</ref> He was also "infuriated" by the deviations in the plot devised by David Seltzer in his draft of the screenplay. This resulted in his refusal for any more versions of the book to be made in his lifetime, as well as an adaptation for the sequel ''[[Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator]]''.<ref>Tom Bishop (July 2005) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4660873.stm "Willy Wonka's Everlasting Film Plot"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108084528/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4660873.stm |date=8 November 2011}}. [[BBC News]].</ref>

He wrote the script for a film that began filming but was abandoned, ''[[Death, Where is Thy Sting-a-ling-ling?]]''.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|date=5 September 1971|page=12|title=His fables for children give 'Mr Patricia Neal' edge in Dahl house|first=Gordon|last=Gould}}</ref>

===Influences===
[[File:Dylan Thomas Writing Shed (7896662300).jpg|thumb|upright|Interior of [[Dylan Thomas]]'s writing shed; Dahl made a replica of it in his own garden in [[Great Missenden]], where he wrote many of his stories.|alt=Interior of Dylan Thomas's writing shed]]

A major part of Dahl's literary influences stemmed from his childhood. In his younger days, he was an avid reader, especially awed by fantastic tales of heroism and triumph. He met his idol, [[Beatrix Potter]], when he was six years old.<ref name="Potter"/> His other favourite authors included [[Rudyard Kipling]], [[Charles Dickens]], [[William Makepeace Thackeray]] and former Royal Navy officer [[Frederick Marryat]], and their works made a lasting mark on his life and writing.{{sfn|Craats|2014|p=1957}} He named Marryat's ''[[Mr Midshipman Easy]]'' as his favourite novel.<ref name="new words"/> Joe Sommerlad in ''[[The Independent]]'' writes, "Dahl's novels are often dark affairs, filled with cruelty, bereavement and [[Dickensian]] adults prone to gluttony and sadism. The author clearly felt compelled to warn his young readers about the evils of the world, taking the lesson from earlier fairy tales that they could stand hard truths and would be the stronger for hearing them."<ref name="Influences" />

Dahl was also influenced by [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]''. The "Drink Me" episode in ''Alice'' inspired a scene in Dahl's ''George's Marvellous Medicine'' where a tyrannical grandmother drinks a potion and is blown up to the size of a farmhouse.<ref name="Influences" /> Finding too many distractions in his house, Dahl remembered the poet [[Dylan Thomas]] had found a peaceful shed to write in close to home. Dahl travelled to visit Thomas's hut in Carmarthenshire, Wales in the 1950s and, after taking a look inside, decided to make a replica of it to write in.<ref>{{cite news|title=How Dylan Thomas's writing shed inspired Roald Dahl|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-37342271|agency=BBC|date=18 September 2016|access-date=20 June 2018|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517141351/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-37342271|url-status=live}}</ref> Appearing on BBC Radio 4's ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'' in October 1979, Dahl named Thomas "the greatest poet of our time", and as one of his eight chosen records selected Thomas's reading of his poem "[[Fern Hill]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=Desert Island Discs: Roald Dahl |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p009mwxx |access-date=26 October 2023 |publisher=BBC |date=27 October 1979}}</ref>

Dahl liked ghost stories, and claimed that ''Trolls'' by [[Jonas Lie (writer)|Jonas Lie]] was one of the finest ghost stories ever written. While he was still a youngster, his mother, Sofie Dahl, related traditional Norwegian myths and legends from her native homeland to Dahl and his sisters. Dahl always maintained that his mother and her stories had a strong influence on his writing. In one interview, he mentioned: "She was a great teller of tales. Her memory was prodigious and nothing that ever happened to her in her life was forgotten."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3559378/Roald-Dahl-young-tales-of-the-unexpected.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3559378/Roald-Dahl-young-tales-of-the-unexpected.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Roald Dahl: young tales of the unexpected|date=30 August 2008|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=16 September 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> When Dahl started writing and publishing his famous books for children, he included a grandmother character in ''The Witches'', and later said that she was based directly on his own mother as a tribute.<ref name="infloox" /><ref name="infloox-1" />

===Television===
In 1961, Dahl hosted and wrote for a science fiction and [[Horror and terror|horror]] television [[anthology series]] called ''[[Way Out (TV series)|Way Out]]'', which preceded the ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|Twilight Zone]]'' series on the [[CBS]] network for 14 episodes from March to July.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054574/|title=Way Out (TV Series 1961)|date=8 January 2005|publisher=IMDb|access-date=16 September 2014|archive-date=22 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622145049/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054574/|url-status=live}}</ref> One of the last dramatic network shows shot in New York City, the entire series is available for viewing at [[The Paley Center for Media]] in New York City and Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=gunsmoke&p=4&item=T:06395|title=The Paley Center for Media: Way Out|work=The Paley Center for Media|access-date=16 September 2014|archive-date=5 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205165929/http://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=gunsmoke&p=4&item=T:06395|url-status=live}}</ref> He also wrote for the satirical [[BBC]] comedy programme ''[[That Was the Week That Was]]'', which was hosted by [[David Frost]].<ref>McCann 2006, p. 156</ref>

The British television series, ''[[Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)|Tales of the Unexpected]]'', originally aired on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] between 1979 and 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/861|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115003800/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/861|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 January 2009|title=BFI: Film and TV Database – Tales of the Unexpected|work=BFI|access-date=16 September 2014}}</ref> The series was released to tie in with Dahl's [[Tales of the Unexpected (short story collection)|short story anthology of the same name]], which had introduced readers to many motifs that were common in his writing.{{sfn|Maunder|2007|p=417}} The series was an anthology of different tales, initially based on Dahl's short stories.{{sfn|Maunder|2007|p=417}} The stories were sometimes sinister, sometimes wryly comedic and usually had a twist ending. Dahl introduced on camera all the episodes of the first two series, which bore the full title ''Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected''.{{sfn|Terrace|1985|p=406}}