General Discussion

highplainsdem

(63,767 posts) Tue Jun 30, 2026, 02:20 PM 4 hrs ago

This is grotesque. Netflix is using an AI clone of the late Gene Wilder's voice to host a new reality series.

https://deadline.com/2026/06/netflix-gene-wilder-voice-ai-premiere-date-golden-ticket-1236970711/

The streamer will premiere the Willy Wonka-themed reality competition series on September 23, some 55 years after Roald Dahl’s book Charlie & the Chocolate Factory was turned into a movie starring Gene Wilder.

The news comes with a twist: the company is recreating Wilder’s voice to use in the show using AI, a move that is likely to stoke controversy given concerns around the burgeoning technology. The use of Wilder’s voice has been recreated with the consent of the Wilder Estate with his wife Karen B. Wilder saying that she is “delighted” to introduce the actor’s “magic to a new generation”.

Deadline understands that Netflix worked closely with ElevenLabs, the AI audio company that counts Matthew McConaughey among its investors, to recreate Wilder’s voice. ElevenLabs has recently worked to recreate Michael Caine’s voice for an audiobook of The Odyssey and recently partnered with The Stan Lee Estate to create the superhero creator’s voice.

-snip-

“More than five decades after Gene brought Willy Wonka to life, people of all ages and backgrounds around the world continue to find joy, laughter and inspiration in his performance,” said Karen B. Wilder, Gene Wilder’s wife, on behalf of the Gene Wilder Estate. “Gene had a remarkable ability to bring humor, wonder and heart into people’s lives, and that connection has endured for generations. We are delighted that Wonka’s The Golden Ticket celebrates the warmth and imagination that he brought to the role, introducing that magic to a new generation while honoring the fans who have cherished it for decades.”

-snip-

There is no "warmth" in an AI voice. There is cold profit and a disdain for real actors who could have had the jobs the AI is used for.

Netflix uploaded the YouTube trailer for the series, with the fake voice (below) - and with no acknowledgment that it is AI. People noticed anyway. Some of the YouTube comments below the video:

Some YouTube comments:

0:48 Why does Wonka sound like HAL 9000

its horrible

You used AI to force Gene Wilder into this. I am extremely disappointed, Netflix.

Nothing says "we appreciate actors" like using dead people for shitty ai programs, disgusting.

Why didn't you get chalamet to voice it instead of using ai?

I can find Gene Wilder impersonators that sound more like him than that AI voice. Wrong cadence, no melody to it.

15 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

This is grotesque. Netflix is using an AI clone of the late Gene Wilder's voice to host a new reality series. (Original Post) highplainsdem 4 hrs ago OP

Hopefully... 2naSalit 4 hrs ago #1

Was this done in cooperation with Gene Wilder's estate? cab67 4 hrs ago #2

From the OP TheProle 4 hrs ago #3

That wasn't generative AI, which didn't exist when that film was made. AI voice generators, like highplainsdem 3 hrs ago #7

so if the wilder estate is good with it then ... ? good for them, i guess orleans 4 hrs ago #4

Your opinion counts as far as whether it's ethical. IMO it's unethical. It harms all actors if AI replacement highplainsdem 3 hrs ago #5

my approval or disapproval would depend heavily on context. cab67 3 hrs ago #6

It's not a very good recreation of his voice. imo. spanone 1 hr ago #8

I agree. highplainsdem 8 min ago #14

From Consequence: highplainsdem 56 min ago #9

It is grotesque. Kid Berwyn 53 min ago #10

It's important to resist it. To make it clear AI's pretense of creativity and humanity will never be acceptable. highplainsdem 4 min ago #15

From Vulture (New York magazine): highplainsdem 50 min ago #11

The Independent: Netflix faces backlash over AI-recreated Gene Wilder voice for new Willy Wonka competition series highplainsdem 22 min ago #12

And Lance Ulanoff, editor of TechRadar and an AI fan, says this misuse of AI "broke" him: highplainsdem 9 min ago #13

2naSalit

(104,965 posts)

1. Hopefully...

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 02:31 PM

4 hrs ago

Nobody wants to watch it and it fails in a hurry.

cab67

(3,932 posts)

2. Was this done in cooperation with Gene Wilder's estate?

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 02:40 PM

4 hrs ago

I'm sort of OK with recreating the voices of deceased actors IF that person's heirs or surviving family consent to it.
This was the case for the estates of Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher, both of whom "appeared" in Rogue One after they'd died.

TheProle

(4,223 posts)

3. From the OP

Reply to cab67 (Reply #2)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 02:48 PM

4 hrs ago

The use of Wilder’s voice has been recreated with the consent of the Wilder Estate with his wife Karen B. Wilder saying that she is “delighted” to introduce the actor’s “magic to a new generation”.

highplainsdem

(63,767 posts)

7. That wasn't generative AI, which didn't exist when that film was made. AI voice generators, like

Reply to cab67 (Reply #2)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 03:38 PM

3 hrs ago

AI text generators, are trained with a huge amount of stolen data, even if they might be customized later to try to copy a particular writer's style or a particular voice.

Rogue One used CGI and some other digital tech, but not generative AI based on theft.

orleans

(37,487 posts)

4. so if the wilder estate is good with it then ... ? good for them, i guess

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 02:54 PM

4 hrs ago

i didn't play the video, but i don't like the idea of it. my opinion doesn't count in a matter such as this.

highplainsdem

(63,767 posts)

5. Your opinion counts as far as whether it's ethical. IMO it's unethical. It harms all actors if AI replacement

Reply to orleans (Reply #4)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 03:16 PM

3 hrs ago

of actors' voices and likenesses becomes commonplace, and the genAI tool used to create Wilder's voice is from a company that's been sued for training its AI on recordings of voices it didn't have consent to use. Having consent to use Wilder's voice doesn't make the AI ethical if much of its training data was stolen.

cab67

(3,932 posts)

6. my approval or disapproval would depend heavily on context.

Reply to orleans (Reply #4)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 03:16 PM

3 hrs ago

In this case, the program is closely linked to a character Gene Wilder made iconic. Wilder's family is OK with it. Not sure I'd watch, but I wouldn't be a loud voice of disapproval, either. The voice of a living actor - for example, the actor who played him in the newer Wonka movie (I've forgotten his name) - might have been preferable, but Wilder's voice would make sense in this context.

If they were using Gene Wilder's voice for a program that has nothing to do with his life and career, and if they were doing it regardless of what anyone in Wilder's personal circle thinks, that's another matter.

spanone

(142,267 posts)

8. It's not a very good recreation of his voice. imo.

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 05:29 PM

1 hr ago

highplainsdem

(63,767 posts)

14. I agree.

Reply to spanone (Reply #8)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 06:52 PM

8 min ago

highplainsdem

(63,767 posts)

9. From Consequence:

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 06:04 PM

56 min ago

https://consequence.net/2026/06/gene-wilder-willy-wonka-game-show-netflix/

Seriously, there’s no reason to play around with digital corpses like this. No one watching at home will be confused as to why Gene Wilder isn’t an active presence in a Willy Wonka game show; he’s got a very good excuse for passing on the opportunity. Just get a human to do it. A living one. Literally anyone. A man, a woman, an Oompa Loompa… Hell, put James Corden in a velvet top hat. I’d actually rather watch that.

-snip-

Wilder passed away in 2016, following a lengthy retirement from acting spent writing books — while alive, he never delved into hosting, beyond a stint as a guest programmer for TCM in 2014 and an appearance on Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? in 1992. (I very much would like to find a clip of the latter, if anyone out there has any suggestions.) As a comedian, even in his most unhinged moments, he always carried himself with dignity. This is not that.

Kid Berwyn

(25,544 posts)

10. It is grotesque.

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 06:07 PM

53 min ago

AI will replace human imagination so fast, it will make a robot’s head spin. For ever.

highplainsdem

(63,767 posts)

15. It's important to resist it. To make it clear AI's pretense of creativity and humanity will never be acceptable.

Reply to Kid Berwyn (Reply #10)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 06:57 PM

4 min ago

highplainsdem

(63,767 posts)

11. From Vulture (New York magazine):

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 06:10 PM

50 min ago

https://www.vulture.com/article/netflix-wonka-game-show-gene-wilders-ai-voice.html

Netflix is releasing a new game show, one that combines the popularity of Squid Game, the timeless charms of the live-action Wonka experience, and the unwanted ubiquity of technofascist horrors beyond our comprehension. Wonka’s The Golden Ticket is a competition series where 12 lucky contestants will get to live out the classic childhood fantasy of winning a Golden Ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, which has been rendered in the teaser trailer with a mix of cheap AI graphics and colorful, whimsical physical sets. “Once inside, contestants must navigate a series of Wonka’s games, tests, and temptations designed to challenge them physically, mentally, and morally,” says Netflix.

The trailer alone is mentally and morally challenging enough, as it is narrated by the artificially reconstituted voice of a dead man. The series will feature the voice of Gene Wilder, who played Wonka in the 1971 film and died in 2016 from complications with Alzheimer’s disease. The voice in the trailer is creepy and not in the way that Wonka is meant to be creepy. It’s upsetting to hear an un-ensouled voice entreating us to “marvel at the magic you remember,” negating its attempt at lazy nostalgia-baiting with its unfortunate robotic reminder of a dystopian present.

-snip-

highplainsdem

(63,767 posts)

12. The Independent: Netflix faces backlash over AI-recreated Gene Wilder voice for new Willy Wonka competition series

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 06:39 PM

22 min ago

https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/news/netflix-willy-wonka-gene-wilder-ai-b3006104.html

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.”

The article also links to Wilder's last interview, in 2013, in which he explained that he left Hollywood in 1991 because of "the kind of junk" they were doing: "I didn’t want to do 3D, for instance."

Somehow I doubt he'd have been happy to be told there'd be an AI clone of his voice to host a reality show.

highplainsdem

(63,767 posts)

13. And Lance Ulanoff, editor of TechRadar and an AI fan, says this misuse of AI "broke" him:

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 06:51 PM

9 min ago

https://www.techradar.com/streaming/entertainment/im-an-ai-fan-but-netflixs-use-of-an-ai-generated-gene-wilder-voice-for-its-willy-wonka-reality-show-broke-me-and-weve-officially-gone-too-far

I'm an AI fan, but Netflix's use of an AI-generated Gene Wilder voice for its Willy Wonka reality show broke me — and we've officially gone too far
Opinion
By Lance Ulanoff published 4 hours ago
A golden ticket to hell

-snip-

The AI Wilder voice in this trailer is devoid of passion, pathos, or really any recognizable human emotion. It's a soulless Gene Wilder.

Look, there's no doubt the power of AI is transforming life and culture. It lets us do things we never thought possible. It's a co-worker, a companion, a sleuth, a coder, and a creator, but we are now at the point where we must ask ourselves: Just because AI can, should it?

I guess we can ask a similar question about the AI-generated Val Kilmer in the unfortunately titled As Deep as the Grave. While I can understand if Kilmer had completed some filming and they wanted to bridge the gap in scenes filmed after his death, this full-scale recreation, even with the estate's permission, seems wrong. I love these actors, but none are irreplaceable, and using their likenesses and voices simply to generate nostalgia and sell a product feels very wrong, and certainly not the best use of AI (and all the resources behind it).

Surely, we can agree that it's often better to let the dead stay dead and not try to resurrect a simulacrum of their essence through the power of AI. The results are, to be honest, rather like the work of Baron Von Frankenstein: a monstrous creation that probably has no place on earth.

Reply to this discussion