Famed children’s book illustrator Quentin Blake, who worked on the popular Roald Dahl books, said, “If the guards had their way, the twits wouldn’t exist.”
Blake spoke this week shortly after the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Center in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, put up an apology plaque at the entrance, declaring the author’s racism and anti-Semitism was “undeniable and indelible”.
In the recent spate of “cancelled” works, Dahl’s novels have been altered by publishers to be “brighter”.
Earlier this year, publisher Puffin commissioned sensitive readers to rewrite portions of the author’s text to ensure the books “still bring joy to all,” leading to extensive changes in Dahl’s work.
Significant changes have been made to the descriptions of the characters’ physical appearance – the new editions no longer use the word “fat”, which has been dropped from all books, and the Oompa Loompas are now gender neutral.
Famed children’s book illustrator Quentin Blake (pictured last year), who worked on the popular Roald Dahl books, has said, “If the woke had its way, the twits wouldn’t exist.”
In the recent spate of ‘cancelled’ works, Dahl’s novels (pictured in 1976) have been altered by publishers to be ‘brighter’.
Blake, who illustrated the books, said he was shocked by this, adding, “If the work is wrong, it’s wrong.” “If it’s gross and insensitive, we need to know that.”
But he said children laugh at “rude descriptions” of characters like Miss Trunchbull from Matilda or The Twits.
“That’s what they like!” If the sensitives had their way, he wouldn’t have written The Twits at all,” he told the Telegraph.
The novel has had minor changes, such as Ms. Twit’s ‘awesome ugliness’ being cut to ‘ugliness’.
Changes were made by Puffin and the Roald Dahl Story Company – bought by Netflix in 2021 for a reported £500million.
But the scrutiny began in 2020, when the company was still run by the Dahl family, who apologized that same year for the author’s anti-Semitic remarks.
Dahl, a World War II fighter pilot, is one of the best-selling children’s book authors in history with more than 250 million books sold.
According to The Telegraph, Matthew Dennison, Dahl’s biographer, said the author chose his vocabulary carefully. He said: “I am almost certain that he would have recognized that the changes to his novels brought about by the political climate were driven by adults rather than children.”
Problems with the content of Dahl’s children’s book were compounded in 2020 when a Hollywood version of The Witches drew backlash after the Great Witch, played by Anne Hathaway, was missing a finger on each hand.
The novel has had minor changes, such as Ms. Twit’s ‘awesome ugliness’ being cut to ‘ugliness’.
Paralympic competitors and charities said it was an insult to the limb difference community and Warner Bros. was forced to apologize.
In the latest installment of The Witches, 59 changes have been made to avoid insults, such as the phrases “You must be crazy, woman!” and “Lot of ladies” has been changed to “You must be crazy!”. and “great ladies group”.
It comes as Rishi Sunak makes attempts to alter Dahl’s books, with the Prime Minister citing the author’s BFG character to warn you not to get bogged down in words.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said it was “important” that literary works were “preserved and not airbrushed”, citing the “right to freedom of expression and freedom of expression”.
The spokesman said: “When it comes to our rich and diverse literary heritage, the Prime Minister agrees with the BFG that we shouldn’t grapple with words.”
“I think it’s important that literary and fictional works are preserved and not airbrushed.” “We have always defended the right to freedom of expression and freedom of expression.”
The Prime Minister had reservations about rewriting the books – and quoted Dahl’s BFG in a warning not to get confused with words. Pictured: BFG Movie Poster
Rishi Sunak poses with his daughter on the red carpet at the world premiere of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical last year.
Hundreds of changes have been made to Dahl’s books, adding a few passages not written by the author
The renowned writer Sir Salman Rushdie also described the steps as “absurd censorship”.
It was previously revealed that due to the use of sensibility readers, publishers had decided to remove words like “crazy” and “insane” from the books.
References to the colors “black” and “white” are also said to have been removed, as the BFG is not allowed to wear a black cape and the description “turning white from fear” has been removed.
This is happening because children’s book authors have voiced their opinions on the controversy.
Its Dark Materials author Philip Pullman felt that Dahl’s books “should be made to disappear” and left unaltered if they were found offensive.
“If Dahl offends us, he should be out of print,” Pullman said on Radio 4’s Today program. “Read all of this [other] “Wonderful authors writing today who don’t get as much attention because of the enormous commercial importance of people like Roald Dahl.”
Bestselling author Philip Pullman (pictured in 2019) has said publishers need to stop censoring Roald Dahl’s classic children’s books and simply let his works be “out of print”.
Puffin Books, a division of Penguin Random House, has removed so-called colorful language from books like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Matilda” to make them “more acceptable” to modern readers (file photo)
Contrary to the literary pundits, who call the censorship “absurd”, Sir Philip argued that changing Mr Dahl’s writings would do no lasting harm to the industry. Pictured: Roald Dahl in 1988
Pointing out that there are probably millions of used copies of Dahl’s books in school libraries, classrooms and charity shops, he asked, “Are you going to group all the books together and cross them out with a big black pen?”
John Dougherty, award-winning author of some 30 children’s books, said on Nicky Campbell’s Radio 5 Live talk show that the changes made to Dahl’s books sounded like “overkill.”
He said there was no reason the BFG shouldn’t wear a black cape, saying it “seemed absurd”.
How the stories changed
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
2001 – Ms. Salt was a big, fat creature with short legs and she blew like a rhino
2022 – Mrs. Salt was so out of breath she was panting like a rhino
THE TWITS
2001 – Ms. Twit might have been ugly and might have been hideous, but she wasn’t stupid
2022 – Ms. Twit might have been hideous, but she wasn’t stupid.
MATILDA
2001 – Get your mom or dad
2022 – Get your family
THE BFG
2001 – “BFG,” she said, “would you please tell these rather goofy characters exactly what to do?”
2022 – “BFG,” she said, “would you please tell them exactly what to do?”
THE HUGE CROCODILE
2001 – We eat little boys and girls
2022 – We eat little children
ESIO TROT
2001 – ‘I beg you to tell me, Mr. Hoppy!’ I will be your slave for life.’
2022 – ‘I beg you to tell me Mr. Hoppy!’ You will be my hero for life.’
AMAZING MR FOX
2001 – Bunce, the pot-bellied dwarf, looked up at Bean…
2022 – Bunce looked up to Bean…
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH
2001 – They were like a couple of hunters who had just shot an elephant
2022 – They were like a couple of hunters who had just shot their prey
Hundreds of changes were made to the original text, erasing Dahl’s colorful and memorable descriptions, some of which were over fifty years old, to make his characters less grotesque.
Mrs. Twit’s “fearful ugliness” has been reduced to “ugliness” and Mrs. Hoppy in Esio Trot is not an “attractive middle-aged lady” but a “friendly middle-aged lady”.
Gender is also eliminated as books no longer refer to “female” characters.
Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, once a “most impressive woman”, is now a “most impressive woman”, while her “big horse face” is now called “her face”.
Oompa-Loompas who were once “little men” are now “little people” and Fantastic Mr Fox’s three sons have become daughters.
To complete the new editions, the publisher has also added passages that do not come from the author, who died in 1990.
In “The Witches,” a paragraph describing her as balding under her wigs is followed shortly by a new line: “There are many other reasons women might wear wigs, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.”
A witch posing as a “supermarket teller” now works as a “top scientist” and Matilda reads Jane Austen instead of Rudyard Kipling.
Mental health was another area of focus for sensitive readers, as the words “insane” and “crazy,” which Dahl used comically, were removed from his books.
The word “black” was removed from the description of the horrific tractors in 1970’s The Fabulous Mr. Fox. The machines are now simply “murderous, brutal-looking monsters”.
The Roald Dahl Story Company, which controls the rights to the books, previously said it worked with Puffin to proofread the texts to ensure Dahl’s “wonderful stories and characters continue to bring joy to all children today.”
The language was reviewed in collaboration with Inclusive Minds, a collective dedicated to making children’s literature more inclusive and accessible. All changes are “small and carefully considered,” the company said.
The company claimed the analysis began in 2020, before Netflix bought the Roald Dahl Story Company and embarked on plans to produce a new generation of films based on the author’s books.
A spokesman for the organization added: “We want to ensure that Roald Dahl’s wonderful stories and characters continue to bring joy to all children today.”
“When releasing new editions of books written years ago, it’s not uncommon to review the language used while updating other details, including a book’s cover and page layout.
“Our guiding principle was to retain the storylines, characters, and irreverence and hard-edged spirit of the original text.” “Any changes made were small and carefully considered.”
They added: “As part of our language review process, we worked with Inclusive Minds, a collective for people who care about inclusion and accessibility in children’s literature.”
“The current review began in 2020, before Dahl was acquired by Netflix. It was co-directed by Puffin and the Roald Dahl Story Company.’