In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, why is Charlie so passive in the movie?
As the main character I would think he would do something during the big adventure in the factory but he does nothing. He faces no challenges. He is not tested in any way. He doesn’t even have the opportunity to make a single mistake.
He is simply the blandest and most uninteresting character in the entire group. He doesn’t even merit a song. I just don’t get it.
–Gilbert
Congratulations, Gilbert. You are now a studio executive.
The one consistent note Tim and I got from Warner Bros. about the script was, “Shouldn’t Charlie be trying harder?” To which we answered, “No.” And because Tim Burton is Tim Burton, they eventually stopped asking.
The world is full of movies where scrappy young heroes succeed by trying really hard, by being clever and saying witty things. But that’s not Roald Dahl’s Charlie Bucket at all. We didn’t want a classic Disney protagonist, so we left Charlie the way he was: a good kid.
Here’s what I wrote a [few weeks ago](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2005/whats-the-difference-between-hero-main-character-and-protagonist) about this issue:
However, Charlie is not a classic Protagonist. Charlie doesn’t grow or change over the course of the story. He doesn’t need to. He starts out a really nice kid, and ends up a really nice kid.
In terms of Classical Dramatic Structure, that leaves us one Protagonist short, which leads to the biggest change in the screenplay versus the book (or the 1971 film). In our movie, Willy Wonka is the protagonist. He grows and changes. We see his rise and fall, along with his nervous breakdown during the tour. Charlie’s the one who’s always asking – ever so politely, in the Freddie Highmore Whisperâ„¢ – the questions that lead to Wonka’s flashbacks upon his rotten childhood. (In Classic Dramatic terms, that makes Charlie an Antagonist. Not to be confused with a Villain. Are you sure you don’t want to read about some squirrels?)
As I pitched it to Tim: Charlie gets a factory, and Willy Wonka gets a family. It’s the whole want-versus-need thing. Charlie doesn’t need a factory. Wonka really needs a family. Otherwise, he’s going to die a giggling misanthropic weirdo.
Charlie “wins” because he’s genuinely good, in a quiet, unassuming way. He doesn’t get a song because the Oompa-Loompas only sing about rotten children.
I’m sorry that doesn’t float your boat, Gilbert, but I think the real issue may be how much you’re preconditioned by all the movies you’ve seen with plucky kids who outthink the adults. If you hurry, you can probably catch one at the multiplex.
[Deciding which parents get to visit the factory](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2005/deciding-which-parents-get-to-visit-the-factory)
 is in theaters starting today — if you live in Los Angeles, New York or Toronto. For the rest of North America, and other parts of the world, you can begin seeing it next week, September 23rd.</p>
<p>Last night, I spoke at USC’s 466 class, which screens a different film each week. At the Q & A afterwards, host [Leonard Maltin](http://www.leonardmaltin.com/) talks with someone involved with the picture, often an alumni. I used to be in the class, so it’s bewildering to realize this was my sixth 466 (after <em>Go, Charlie’s Angels, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Big Fish,</em> and <em>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</em>). </p>
<p>In many ways, this was the easiest of all the classes I’ve spoken at, because with this film I don’t have as much of that <em>please-please like it I beg you</em> instinct. I feel much less ownership of Corpse Bride than the others. Don’t get me wrong — I’m proud of it — but working in animation is inherently much more collaborative in terms of story. For starters, I was the third writer to work on it, after [Caroline Thompson](http://imdb.com/name/nm0003031/) and [Pamela Pettler](http://imdb.com/name/nm1017135/). Then there’s a whole department called “Story,” whose job it is to figure out how to convert the screenplay into storyboards, and along the way, a lot gets changed and rearranged. Altogether, it’s much less “my” movie than the others.</p>
<p>But it was a lot of work.</p>
<p>Often, I’d get storyboards from London for scenes that were about to shoot, and would have a day or less to tweak the dialogue before an actor would record the needed lines. Whenever I visited the stages outside London, most of my time was spent watching the scenes already shot, and discussing with the rest of the team how to handle this moment or that. At absolutely no point could I get precious about things needing to stick closer to how they were written. I was there to help, so I helped where I could. I felt like a craftsman rather than artist, and that’s fine.</p>
<p>Reviews so far have been really good, so here’s hoping it gets a good reception. A lot of people ask me, “Isn’t it too scary for kids?” Not really. If your kids like Halloween, they’ll be fine. It’s never gory, and the Land of the Dead stuff is pretty light and breezy.</p>
<p><code>[Corpse Bride article in Script magazine](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2005/corpse-bride-article-in-script-magazine)<br />
[New, longer Corpse Bride trailer up](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2005/new-longer-corpse-bride-trailer-up)</code> </p>
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