The following is a list of characters in the Roald Dahl children's books Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, and the former's 1971 and 2005 film adaptations.
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In the novels and films, Willy Wonka is the reclusive and odd owner of a candy factory. Wonka holds a contest in which five golden tickets are hidden within candy bars, offering a private tour to the individuals that find them he is the owner of the factory.
| Grandpa Joe | |
|---|---|
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character | |
| First appearance | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| Created by | Roald Dahl |
| Portrayed by | Jack Albertson (1971) David Kelly (2005) |
Grandpa Joe is one of Charlie's four bed-ridden grandparents. He tells Charlie (and the reader) the story of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and the mystery of the secret workers. When Charlie finds the Golden Ticket, Grandpa Joe leaps out of bed for joy for the first time in almost twenty years. Charlie takes Grandpa Joe to accompany him on the factory tour, Mr. Bucket reasoning that Joe is the better person as he knows more about the factory than the rest of them. In the sequel book, Grandpa Joe accompanies Charlie, Willy Wonka, and all members of Charlie's family in the Great Glass Elevator and plays a crucial role in the rescue of the Commuter Capsule from the Vermicious Knids.
An original backstory to Grandpa Joe's past was added to Tim Burton's 2005 film adaptation. In both the book and the 1971 film, Joe merely knows of Willy Wonka. In Burton's 2005 film, it is said that Joe actually worked for Wonka for five years, beginning when Wonka opened his first candy shop, until the day he fired all his workers from his factory. He then tells this to Wonka, and is welcomed back.
The character was played by Jack Albertson in the 1971 film adaptation Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. He constantly talks about getting out of bed to support his family but never does get out of bed until Charlie finds the Golden Ticket. On the tour Grandpa Joe encourages Charlie to disobey Wonka's orders by stealing Fizzy Lifting Drinks, later criticizing Wonka for threatening to give Charlie nothing simply because of that one mistake.
The character was played by David Kelly in the 2005 film adaptation, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Gregory Peck was originally slated to play the role, but he died before filming began.
| Charlie Bucket | |
|---|---|
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character | |
| First appearance | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| Created by | Roald Dahl |
| Portrayed by | Peter Ostrum (1971) Freddie Highmore (2005) |
Charlie Bucket is a nice, kind hearted poor boy who is about 10 years old who lives with his mother and father and four bedridden grandparents. In the 1971 film adaptation, he has a paper delivery round after school. He is curious and interested in Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory. He gets one chocolate bar a year for his birthday. In the 1964 novel, he keeps every chocolate bar in a wooden box to save it so it lasts about a month.
He soon realizes Willy Wonka's factory will be opened to five children who find a Golden Ticket in an ordinary Wonka bar. He finds out that a greedy boy named Augustus Gloop found the first Golden Ticket, spoiled brat Veruca Salt finding the second, preteen gum chewer Violette Beauregarde finding the third and television crazed boy Mike Teavee finding the fourth.
One evening, as the Golden Ticket craze dies down, Charlie finds some money on the sidewalk and buys a chocolate bar. Regardless of the golden ticket inside (in novel and 2005 film adaptation), he finds it and he rushes home, surprised. The next day (Feb 1st novel and 2005 film) (Oct 1st 1971 film), Mr. Wonka greets the children and their guardians into the factory. However, the rest of the children disappear due to their bad behavior and Charlie ends up being the only one left. Mr. Wonka then says he needs an heir and he lets Charlie bring his family too.
| Veruca Salt | |
|---|---|
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character | |
| First appearance | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| Created by | Roald Dahl |
| Portrayed by | Julie Dawn Cole (1971) Julia Winter (2005) |
The opening pages of the book describe Veruca Salt (in some early editions, Veruca Cruz) as "a girl who is spoiled by her parents". She is the second person to find a Golden Ticket and the third ejected from the tour. She is stated in the 2005 film to be from Buckinghamshire, England, and is implied to live in some part of England in the 1971 film. In all three versions of the story, this golden ticket is acquired for her by her wealthy father, who purchases Wonka’s chocolate bars in large quantities for his workers to open until it is found. All three versions portray her as constantly making demands of her parent/s for various objects that take her fancy – all of these demands begin with the words ‘I want –'. In the book and earlier film, she screams if her demands are met with resistance, while in the 2005 film, she is less temperamental. In the book and 2005 film, Veruca demands a squirrel from the Nut Room and, when denied by Wonka, invades the Nut Room to take one for herself. The squirrels pin her to the floor, deem her a bad nut and throw her down the rubbish chute, which Wonka explains leads to the incinerator. In both versions, she is seen leaving the factory at the end covered in rubbish.
In the 1971 film, the Nut Room is replaced by a room dedicated to large geese that lay golden chocolate eggs which are judged good or bad by the Eggdicator. When Wonka refuses to sell one of these geese to her father, Veruca sings the song "I Want It Now", while wrecking the room. At the end of the song, Veruca stands atop an Eggdicator, which determines her as a bad egg and drops her into the garbage chute. In the films, Veruca is accompanied by her father, who complies with her demands and also falls into the chute. In the novel, she is also accompanied by her mother who is described as being fat. Both films portray her mother as being thin; in the 2005 film, she is significantly younger than Veruca’s father. Veruca's father are the only parents to share their child's fate.
| Mike Teavee | |
|---|---|
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character | |
| First appearance | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| Created by | Roald Dahl |
| Portrayed by | Paris Themmen (1971) Jordan Fry (2005) |
Mike Teavee, ‘a boy who does nothing but watch television’, is the fourth Golden Ticket finder and fourth to be ejected from the tour. He is from Marble Falls, Arizona in the 1971 film and from Denver, Colorado in the 2005 film. His portrayal varies across the novel and films: in the novel, he is described as being adorned with nineteen toy pistols that he ‘fires’ while watching gangsters on television. In the earlier film, he watches Westerns and dresses as a cowboy. In the 2005 film, he plays video games and used a complex method, involving consultation of the Nikkei Index, to find the Ticket. He is more bad-tempered than in previous incarnations.
In all three versions, Wonka responds to his questions with comments on his mumbling. In the book and films, Mike uses a machine Wonka created to transmit chocolate into televisions (where they can be plucked from the screen by the viewer) to send himself by television and is shrunk in the process. Wonka’s suggested remedy for this is to stretch him using the Taffy Puller (in the novel, he suggests a machine he uses to test the stretchiness of chewing gum). In the book and 2005 film, he is seen leaving the factory, but is now tall and as thin as a rake.
In the book, both of Mike's parents tour the factory with him and following his shrinking, his father announces that he will be disposing of their television when they get home. In the 1971 film, Mike is accompanied by his mother, who incorrectly attributes the piece Wonka plays on the musical lock to Rachmaninoff (the piece was actually by Mozart). Upon hearing Wonka’s proposed solution to Mike’s ‘accident’, she faints and is dragged away by two Oompa-Loompas. In the 2005 film, Mike is accompanied by his father, who claims he cannot understand most of what his son says. In both films, Mike’s parent states that he or she is a geography teacher, a line spoken by Veruca’s mother in the novel.
| Violet Beauregarde | |
|---|---|
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character | |
| First appearance | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| Created by | Roald Dahl |
| Portrayed by | Denise Nickerson(1971) AnnaSophia Robb (2005) |
Violet Beauregarde, 'a girl who chews gum all day', is one of the Golden Ticket winners, from Miles City, Montana in the 1971 film and from Atlanta, Georgia in the 2005 film. Violet is the third child to find a Golden Ticket and the second to be ejected from the tour. Violet is extremely competitive in the 2005 film, winning several medals, whereas in the 1971 film and novel, she is merely slightly rude, which causes many to view her as the most sympathetic "bad child", making her fate of expanding and almost exploding only more ironic (it was noted that this change was made to her character to make her an example of 'girl power' gone too far rather than the straightforward bad habit of chewing gum).
Her infamous downfall comes when she chews an experimental three-course meal gum. When it gets to the dessert, blueberry pie, she turns blue and begins to fill with juice, inflating into a human blueberry. Her size is that of a giant blueberry in the book, but she expands only in width in the 1971 film. In the 2005 film, however, she expands to elephantine proportions, almost reaching up to the catwalks of the Inventing Room. Her arms and legs, and other appendages, are sucked completely into her massive body, and her head is sucked halfway in. In this version, the Oompa-Loompas, during their song about her, rolling and bouncing on her almost traumatically around the Inventing Room, as she is at such a great height (nearly 10 feet).
In the 1971 film, the Oompa-Loompas are ordered to roll Violet out of the Inventing Room in her blueberry form to "squeeze her" in the Juicing Room before she explodes. In the 2005 film, while there is not an explicit reference to this possibility, it is implied that something like this could happen due to her blimp-like size. She comes out (in both the novel and 2005 film) in her normal size and purple in color, although in the 2005 film, her dexterity is increased, seemingly by having the blueberry juice squeezed out of her. Violet's infamous inflation scene has been subject to many parodies (most notably on That '70s Show in a dream sequence with Mila Kunis), and even started several online inflation sites.
| Augustus Gloop | |
|---|---|
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character | |
| First appearance | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| Created by | Roald Dahl |
| Portrayed by | Michael Bollner (1971) Philip Wiegratz (2005) |
Introduced in the opening pages of the book as ‘a greedy boy’, "Augustus Gloop" is the first person to find a Golden Ticket and the first to be ejected from the tour. He hails from Dusselheim, Germany in the 1971 film, and Dusseldorf, Germany in the 2005 film. In the novel and both films, he is portrayed as being ‘enormously fat’ and also gluttonous. The circumstances in which he is removed from the tour are consistent across all three versions of the story: while drinking from the Chocolate Room’s chocolate river (despite the exhortations of his parent/s and Wonka), he falls into the river and is sucked through a pipe to a room where fudge is manufactured (called ‘the Fudge Room’ in the 1971 film). In the books and 2005 film, he is seen leaving the factory at the end; in the novel he has been squeezed thin by the pipe, while in the 2005 film, he is covered in chocolate.
In both films, Augustus’ mother accompanies him to the factory and his father is a butcher. In the novel and films, his mother takes great pride in his gluttonous eating and seems to enjoy the attention of the media focused on her son. Upon his removal from the tour, Wonka has an Oompa-Loompa escort his parents/mother to the Fudge Room to locate him.
| Arthur Slugworth | |
|---|---|
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character | |
| First appearance | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| Created by | Roald Dahl |
| Portrayed by | Günter Meisner (1971) Phil Philmar (2005) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
In the book, Arthur Slugworth is one of Willy Wonka's rival chocolatiers. Slugworth, along with Wonka's other rivals Mr. Fickelgruber and Mr. Prodnose, sent in spies to steal the secret recipes to Wonka's treats. Having obtained these, he began making candy balloons that a consumer blows up to incredible sizes, and then causes to burst before eating them; a plagiarized invention. The work of Slugworth (along with the other rivals) came close to ruining Wonka's factory. Wonka was forced to close his factory and fire all his workers. A few years later, Wonka's factory began working again (operated exclusively by Oompa-Loompas) and his work continued to dominate the candy industry, with no rival able to plagiarize his work because using the Oompa Loompa as his workers enables Wonka to operate his factory without regular employees and keeping it off-limits to the public, so no spies can infiltrate. Slugworth is never heard from again, but it is stated that Slugworth, Prodnose, or Fickelgruber would each give their front teeth to enter Wonka's inventing room (a laboratory) for three minutes.
In the 1971 film, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Slugworth's company is in business. Inside Bill's Candy Shop, Wonka's products and signs are the most visible; but Slugworth's Sizzlers are also prominently displayed, and one is even sold to a child called June Marie. Also seen are signs for Fickelgruber's candy. Grandpa Joe describes Slugworth as the worst of Wonka's rivals, telling Charlie that he was one of those who sent his spies in dressed as Wonka workers to steal Wonka's Recipes.
A man calling himself Slugworth is a prominent character later in the film. As each Golden Ticket is found, a sinister man approaches the finder and whispers something into his or her ear. After Charlie finds the last ticket, the same man approaches Charlie as well, and delivers what is presumably the same speech he has given the other children. He introduces himself as Arthur Slugworth, president of Slugworth Chocolates Incorporated, and bribes the child to bring one piece of the newly-invented Everlasting Gobstopper to him so he can discover and plagiarize the formula. Two of the children respond to Slugworth's bribe. Veruca Salt crosses her fingers behind her back when Willy Wonka asks the children to promise not to show the Everlasting Gobstopper to anyone else. Mike Teavee asks his mother what secrets they can sell to Slugworth; his mother is also heard telling her son to keep his eyes peeled and his mouth shut. Grandpa Joe also responds near the end of the movie. After Willy Wonka snaps at him and Charlie Bucket for sampling Fizzy Lifting Drinks, (probably a final test by Wonka of character) Grandpa Joe threatens to give Slugworth the Everlasting Gobstopper. However, Charlie can't bring himself to betray Wonka and thus returns the Everlasting Gobstopper to Wonka.
Although at first it seems as though Slugworth is the film's main villain, Wonka eventually reveals at the end of the film that the man is not Slugworth, but a fellow Wonka worker named Mr. Wilkinson, and that his offer was a moral test of character.
The movie does not explain how the false Slugworth was able to approach each winner so soon after they found their tickets. However, it's implied Wonka somehow managed to keep track of each ticket's destination and then he told Wilkinson where they're most likely to be found. The movie also doesn't explain whether or not Slugworth was another person, and if the false Slugworth was just pretending to be him.
Slugworth/Wilkinson was played by Günter Meisner, a West German actor.
Slugworth only makes a split-second appearance in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He receives a secret recipe from Prodnose and is not heard of again. Examples of the plagiarization are shown, as is Wonka closing the doors on his workers, including Grandpa Joe. When Grandpa Joe meets Wonka, he tells him he used to work in his factory. Wonka does not seem to recognize Grandpa Joe, instead demanding if Grandpa Joe was one of the spies. When Grandpa Joe says that he wasn't one of the spies, Wonka says "Welcome Back." He is played by Philip Philmar
| Prince Pondicherry | |
|---|---|
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character | |
| First appearance | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| Created by | Roald Dahl |
| Portrayed by | Nitin Ganatra (2005) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
Prince Pondicherry is a prince who lives in India. He appears in the third chapter of the novel when Grandpa Joe is telling Charlie a story. In the story Willy Wonka makes him a chocolate palace in India that melts because of the hot weather. He is absent from the 1971 film version.
The Prince makes a brief appearance in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where he is played by Nitin Ganatra. He tells Wonka to build him a palace entirely out of chocolate, and Wonka assures him that it will be done. Despite India being a normally hot country, the construction of the palace saw no chocolate that was melted by the sun. The only molten chocolate in the construction was pre-melted by the construction workers.
Despite this, once Wonka completes the palace, he warns Pondicherry that he must start eating it straight away before the chocolate starts to melt. It is never exactly explained why he could make non-melting ice cream and not non-melting chocolate, unless there are certain issues with the formula. Clearly not a practical man, Prince Pondicherry ignores the advice and takes up residence in the palace (though he does eat one bite of the throne off).
Soon after, during "a very hot day with a boiling sun," Pondicherry is being fed chocolate by his princess when drops of melting chocolate begin to fall on the prince's head. The palace begins to fall apart, and the Prince and his lovely wife (played by Shelley Conn) escape unharmed but covered in chocolate, looking on at the melted palace, which is still seen falling down on itself. He then sends Wonka an urgent telegram requesting a new palace, but unfortunately Wonka has problems concerning industrial espionage in his factory and therefore cannot come.
This version follows closely to the version told in the book, but adds the Princess (who was never mentioned in the novel) and states that the Prince, who had been dozing, found himself immersed in a lake-sized pool of molten chocolate.
Oompa-Loompas are known for their short stature, green hair, orange skin and white pants with protruding knees. In early editions of the novel, Oompa-Loompa are shown as African pygmies. Following growing controversy and criticism, in later editions of the book, Oompa-Loompa are white skinned and golden haired.[1]
Oompa-Loompa come from Loompaland, which is a region of Loompa, a small isolated island in the Atlantic Ocean. The Oompa-Loompa would end up being preyed upon or attacked by Whangdoodles, Hornswogglers and Snozzywangers, which also lived there. Wonka ended up inviting them to work at his factory and get away from their natural predators. In the book, Oompa-Loompa are the only people Willy Wonka will allow to work in his factory, because of the risk of industrial espionage committed by his candy-making rivals. Oompa-Loompa are only knee-high, with astonishing haircuts, and are paid in their favourite food, cacao beans, which were extremely rare in their island. Oompa-Loompa insist on maintaining their native clothing: men wear skins, women wear leaves, and children wear nothing (in the 1971 film, the Oompa Loompas wore Germanic clothing with stripped shirts and baggy lederhosen like pants, in the 2005 film, the Oompa Loompas wore tribal clothing in their native Loompaland and typical factory worker uniforms in the factory). In the 1971 film the male Oompa-Loompas are seen working in the factory, in the 2005 film only one female worker, a secretary Mr. Wonka addresses as Doris (when the Great Glass Elevator passes through the administration offices) is seen, though in Quentin Blake's illustrations both male and female Oompa-Loompas are shown rolling away Violette Beauregarde after her transformation into a blueberry. Presumably the females remain in the village seen briefly from the Great Glass Elevator.
Oompa-Loompa are also mischievous, love practical jokes, singing and are very good at improvising according to Wonka. As each bad child makes his/her exit, Oompa-Loompa sing moralising songs accompanied by a drum beat, and tend to speak in rhyme.
In the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Oompa-Loompa are portrayed as orange-skinned. In the film, Vermicious Knids were also the enemies of the Oompa-Loompa alongside the Whangdoodles, Hornswogglers and Snozzwangers.
In the 2005 film production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp, Kenyan-Indian actor Deep Roy played all 165 Oompa Loompas. Roy took pilates and dance classes to prepare for the role.
Vermicious Knids are a fictional species of amorphous aliens that invade the Space Hotel USA in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. They are also mentioned in the 1971 feature film adaptation, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, except on this occasion they are referred to as being one of the species of animals that inhabit Loompaland.
In their natural form, Vermicious Knids are huge, dark, egg-shaped beings that are quite at home in the vacuum of space. Their homeworld is the planet Vermes, a fictional planet located (as stated in dialogue) 184,270,000,000 miles from Earth (this would place it at 52 times Pluto's distance). Their one weak point is that they are show-offs; they cannot resist shaping themselves to spell the word "SCRAM" - the only word they know - before they attack. Willy Wonka knows that this interval is ideal for escaping an encounter with the Knids.
According to Willy Wonka, numerous sentient alien species that formerly existed have been wiped out by the Knids' predations. Wonka claims that the only reason humans have escaped this fate is because the Knids - not being heatproof and not possessing retro-rockets–cannot enter Earth's atmosphere without being burned up by friction. What are supposed to be shooting stars are in fact shooting Knids burning up in the atmosphere. In Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, a swarm of Knids take advantage of the new Space Hotel USA to lie in wait for humans to come to them. When the transport capsule brings in the first residents of the Space Hotel, the Knids devour some of them and the survivors retreat to the transport capsule. The Knids attack the transport capsule, which is not Knid-proof like the Great Glass Elevator. Their attacks damage the transport capsule's rockets, rendering it incapable of escaping back to Earth. Wonka, Charlie, and Grandpa Joe rescue the damaged transport capsule by linking up with it and towing it back to Earth. Wonka destroys the swarm of Knids by burning them in Earth's atmosphere. They do not have any teeth, but rather swallow their victims whole. I They also make a brief appearance as, again, an animal in Loompa Land in the 2005 adaptation Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Wonka goes to Loompa Land in search of new flavors for candy, when a giant green hornet-like animal attacks him, which he quickly kills with a machete. Oddly enough, he tries eating the blood off the knife, but The etymology of the name was not provided by Dahl. Pronunciation of Knid is said in the book to approximate adding a schwa between the "K" and "nid", or in Dahl's words, "K'nid". Cnidaria is the name of the taxonomic phylum containing stinging aquatic invertebrates such as jellyfish and coral, itself derived from the classical Greek word for nettle, κνίδη. Vermicious is a real word, meaning "worm like".
The Vermicious Knids are mentioned in several other Dahl stories such as James and the Giant Peach (after police see that the peach has landed on the Empire State Building) and The Minpins.
| Mrs. Bucket | Diana Sowle (1971) Helena Bonham Carter (2005) |
| Mr. Bucket | Noah Taylor (2005) |
| Mr. Salt | Roy Kinnear (1971) James Fox (2005) |
| Mr. Beauregarde | Leonard Stone (1971) |
| Mrs. Teavee | Dodo Denney (1971) Louise Woods (2005)(uncredited) |
| Mrs. Gloop | Ursula Reit (1971) Franziska Troegner (2005) |
| Mr. Gloop | Kurt Großkurth (1971) (uncredited) Harry Taylor (2005) |
| Mr. Teavee | Michael Goodliffe (1971) (uncredited) Adam Godley (2005) |
| Mrs. Beauregarde | Cameo (1971) Missi Pyle (2005) |
| Mrs. Salt | Pat Coombs (1971) (uncredited) Francesca Hunt (2005) |
| Grandma Josephine | Eileen Essell (2005) Franziska Liebing (1971) (uncredited) |
| Grandma Georgina | Liz Smith (2005) Dora Altmann (1971) (uncredited) |
| Grandpa George | Ernst Ziegler (1971) (uncredited) David Morris (2005) |
| Bill, the Candy Man | Aubrey Woods (1971) Oscar James (2005) |
| Dr. Wilbur Wonka | Christopher Lee (2005) |
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