Alternate versions

The 1971 German version was cut down to 89 minutes, deleting the complete boat scene from the entering of the tunnel till the arriving and several other scenes, that might not be suitable for younger viewers (it was rated age 6) . There it now a complete version available, with the reentered scenes subtitled.

The HD-DVD/Blu-ray transfer uses parts of the full exposed film width (including the space on the left where the soundtrack would go, and more space below the frame) for most of the runtime, even though the framing was composed for the smaller width. As a result, most of the movie is off-center and high in frame now. For sections where this extra width was not used, it's a closer match; two of these, the opening sequence and first Oompa Loompa song, the image is actually windowboxed. The 40th anniversary Blu-ray gift set continued to use this disc; widescreen DVDs, even those included in that set, have been correct.

Missing sequences with German subtitles were shown in the German dubbing on its first full version broadcast on ARTE on August 22, 2006. This version has been released in Germany on DVD including the English version.

The original audio track was mono; stereo and 5.1 mixes since the 1990s have been of varying audio fidelity, and at least one piece of sound is not included in them (originally, Charlie's mom says "wait, stop" after the "I've Got a Golden Ticket" song; now she only says "stop"). The original English mono track has not been included on releases as an alternative to the remixes.

In some versions of the movie, during the boat scene, the part where the chicken gets its head cut off in the background was cut out. Also in this version, in the same scene, when Slugworth's head appears, Charlie says something like "Grampa, that was Slugworth!" and Grampa Joe just stares back for a few seconds.

In some TV showings, a scene showing a woman having the FBI come to her house to trace a phone call from a kidnapper who has her husband has been edited out. The kidnapper wants her case of Wonka Bars in return for her husband's safety.

In the TV version that aired on ABC in 2001, the "Cheer up Charlie" song was cut out. In the same version, the computer that could tell exactly where the golden tickets were was edited out.

In some TV versions, Veruca Salt's mother is edited out of the sequence in which Veruca "finds" her golden ticket. In the version shown on the Fox Family Channel network, the entire boat scene is deleted, as well as the auction scene, the wonka bar ransom scene, and the scene with the lickable wallpaper.

In the 70's, a short, truncated print was made available for schools, etc. It skips over the entire first half, only showing scenes in the factory (except portions of the scene where everyone waits for the gates to open). It cuts out everything following the "Fizzy Lifting Drinks" scene, and the only two scenes even near their complete versions are the Fizzy Lifting Drinks and the Inventing Room-the lickable wallpaper is cut altogether, only the first half of the Chocolate Room is shown (ending when "Pure Imagination" ends-ommitting Agustus's exit from the film), the parts with the giant contract, and the room with only one door are gone. The scene where Charlie and Grandpa look at the sign for "Hair Cream" is intact, but the boat scene that went before it is gone (meaning a confusing cut from the Chocolate Room to the area outside the inventing room). The scenes with everyone waiting for Wonka to come to the gates are severely shortened-all dialogue is gone. In fact, it makes it appear as if people randomly walked into the factory, rather than a selected group, as is made obvious in the full film. To keep continuity, one scene is shown out of order. The last scene in this version is the final reprise of "Pure Imagination" (beginning with wonka singing "If you want to view paradise...." on the tree), and is shown right after the Fizzy Lifting Drinks scene. It would lead the viewer to believe that the group went back to the chocolate room after the Fizzy lifting drinks room. This version ran appriximately 20 minutes.

The original theatrical version of this film was released by Paramount, but all television, video, and theatrical re-issue versions of the film are distributed by Warner Bros. As a result, the current version in circulation opens with either the Warner Bros. or Warner Bros. Family Entertainment logo. This happened as a result of Quaker's and Paramount's reaction to the film's poor initial box-office returns; Quaker bowed out early, and Paramount let their distribution rights expire. Since Wolper Productions had been acquired by Warner Bros. by that time, the rights reverted to them. In 2021, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment restored the original Paramount Pictures logo at the beginning from the original theatrical print on 4K Ultra HD and Digital while maintaining the 2003 Warner Bros. Pictures logo as the closing logo.