11-year-old Charlie Bucket lives in poverty in a tiny house with his parents and four grandparents.

His
grandparents share the only bed in the house, located in the only bedroom. Charlie and his parents
sleep on a mattress on the floor. One day, Grandpa Joe tells him about the legendary and eccentric
chocolatier, Willy Wonka and all the wonderful candy he made until the other candymakers sent in spies
to steal his secret recipes, which led him to close the factory forever. The next day, the newspaper
announces that Mr Wonka is reopening the factory and has invited five children to come on a tour, after
they find a golden ticket in a Wonka Bar. Each ticket find is a media sensation and each finder becomes a
celebrity. The first four golden tickets are found by the gluttonous Augustus Gloop, the spoiled and
petulant Veruca Salt, the gum-addicted Violet Beauregarde, and the TV-obsessed Mike Teavee.

One day, Charlie sees a fifty-pence coin (dollar bill in the US version) buried in the snow. He then buys
himself a Wonka Bar and finds the fifth golden ticket. The ticket says he can bring any family members
with him to the factory and Charlie's parents decide to allow Grandpa Joe to go with him.

After meeting Mr Wonka, the kids and their parents go inside where they meet Oompa-Loompas, a race
of small people who help Mr Wonka operate the factory since he rescued them from poverty and fear in
their home country Loompaland. The other kids are ejected from the factory in comical, mysterious and
painful ways - befitting their various greedy characters and personalities. Augustus gets sucked up the
pipe after falling into the Chocolate River in the Chocolate Room, Violet blows up into a giant blueberry
after sampling an experimental three-course chewing gum meal in the Inventing Room, Veruca is
thrown down the garbage chute in the Nut Room after the nut-testing squirrels consider her a "bad
nut," and Mike gets shrunk after he tries to be the first person to be sent by television in the Television
Room's Television Chocolate Technology. With only Charlie remaining, Mr Wonka congratulates him for
"winning" the factory and, after explaining his true age and the reason behind his golden tickets, names
Charlie his successor. They ride the Great Glass Elevator to Charlie's house while the other four children
go home (Augustus squeezed thin, Violet all blue in the face, Veruca covered in garbage, and Mike
stretched ten feet tall). Afterwards, Mr Wonka invites Charlie's family to come live with him in the
factory, and they do.

Mr. Willy Wonka (odd, bizarre) [Johnny Depp]

The eccentric owner of the world-famous Wonka chocolate factory. Along with his eccentric behavior,
Mr. Wonka also has a benevolent side. The mystery workers operating his chocolate factory after the
reopening are called Oompa-Loompas. The Oompa-Loompas hail from Loompaland, where they are the
defenseless prey of hungry creatures like hornswogglers, snozzwangers, and whandoodles until Mr.
Wonka rescues them. He brings the malnourished Oompa-Loompas back to his factory where they are
allowed to eat their favorite foodcacao beansin unlimited quantities and live in complete safety in
exchange for running the factory. Mr. Wonka treats the Oompa-Loompas like children, and, in return,
they treat him as a benevolent caretaker. Mr. Wonka further demonstrates his affinity for children and
wariness of adults by choosing a child to take over his factory. The child he seeks is humble, respectful,
and willing to run his factory exactly how Mr. Wonka runs it himself.
Though benevolent, Mr. Wonkas character is not beyond reproach. His treatment of the Oompa-
Loompas is paternalistic, and his desire to mold a child into a second version of himself is narcissistic.
Furthermore, Mr. Wonka is unwilling to accept anyones foibles. He can be extremely demanding and
judgmental. The four children who do not win the grand prize clearly disgust Mr. Wonka. He is short
with each of themhe acts as if he invited each of them simply to prove the virtuosity of Charlie. The
humble and gracious Charlie is everything Mr. Wonka is looking for.

Charlie Bucket [Freddie Highmore] is the protagonist of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and he is the
embodiment of all that is virtuous. He is deprived of adequate food, a bed, and any privacy. In spite of
all this, he never complains, nor does he ever accept charity from his family when it comes at their own
expense. Each morning, Charlie musters the strength to walk to school, even though he nearly freezes
during the colder months. And each night, he returns home and dutifully spends time with his bedridden
grandparents, a chore that he seems to genuinely enjoy.

Charlies physical proportions align with his personality: not only is he quite small and undernourished,
but also he is meek. He speaks only when he is spoken to. He never asks for more than he is given. He
looks forward to the one time a year, on his birthday, when he can indulge in a Wonka chocolate bar,
and instead of wolfing it down all at once, he savors it (bite by bite) for many months. Charlie walks past
the world-renowned Wonka chocolate factory twice a day, yet this never causes him bitterness or anger.
Instead, Charlie simply indulges in the savory smells coming out of the factory and humbly dreams of
entering the factory one day. When the golden tickets start turning up in the hands of nasty, greedy
children, Charlie never complains about how unfair it is that he will never get to go. Charlies strongest
criticism of one of the other children comes when he hears that Verucas father is using all the workers
in his peanut factory to unwrap chocolate bars night and day until his daughter gets a ticket. Charlies
only comment is that Verucas father is not playing quite fair.

Behind Charlies meek and virtuous exterior lies an inner strength and courage. He faces the new
challenges and mysteries of the factory with the same bravery he employs to overcome the adversity of
his everyday life. He finds all of the adventures in the chocolate factory to be wild and stimulating. While
other characters cringe at the speed of the boat as it tears down the chocolate river, Charlie demurely
embraces it, clutching to Grandpa Joes legs for stability and enjoying the ride of his life.

The Oompa-Loompas - Fun-loving dwarves hailing from Loompaland. Mr. Wonkas diminutive (= very
small) work force feasts on cacao beans and performs all of the work in the Wonka chocolate factory.
They also enjoy dancing, beating drums, and singing songs about what happens to bad children / the
childrens bad deeds to serve as moral lessons.