Mike Teavee

Mike Teavee is a fictional character in the Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the subsequent film adaptations.

Background

Mike Teavee is, as his last name implies, a television fanatic, who is seldom away from his television set. He is the fourth of the children to find a Golden Ticket, and is also the last to be expelled from the tour. Unlike the other finders, the novel gives no explanation as to how Mike found his Golden Ticket because he talks only about his television obsession at his newspaper interview, especially his preference for the violent programs and expresses annoyance at the press for disrupting his viewing.

In the novel, nine-year-old Mike is particularly obsessed with violent gangster films. He wore "no less than eighteen toy pistols of various sizes hanging from belts around his body," and he liked to act out gangster shootings wherein the characters were "pumping each other full of lead."

Mike in the 1971 film

Mike was played by Paris Themmen in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, in which his last name was spelled as "Teevee" in the credits. The film portrayed Mike in a more greedy (but sociable) manner than the book. Mike, no older than eleven and hailing from Marble Falls, Arizona, is dressed in a cowboy outfit complete with a hat, a fringed jacket, and a cap gun, in imitation of the stars of his favorite western TV show. He openly wishes he could have a real gun, to which his father replies, "Not till you're twelve, son." Again he is far more interested in his television than his Golden Ticket and expresses annoyance at the newspapermen for disrupting his viewing when they urge him to turn off the television and answer their questions because "the world is waiting". His mother replies "he won't answer until the station break". Mike does, however, turn away from the television in order to listen to what Slugworth is whispering in his ear. When the children are asked to sign a contract prior to the tour that forbids them from divulging Wonka's secrets, Mike remarks, "I saw this in a movie once. A guy signed his wife's insurance policy, then he bumped her off." Wonka, mildly amused, quips "Clever." Mike then signs his name on the contract as "Mike T.V."

Unlike the 2005 adaptation, Mike does not have an aversion to chocolate, as he calls a miniature chocolate bar a "TV dinner" in the Wonkavision Room and is seen eating candy in the Chocolate Room. He is very impudent and self-assertive toward most adults, but is generally kind and sociable around the other kids. He talks about his favorite shows and movies, and dreams of becoming a TV star. Also unlike the 2005 adaptation, he has three friends back in Marble Falls.

Mike in the 2005 film

In the 2005 movie adaptation, Mike (played by Jordan Fry) has a more contemporary wardrobe in lieu of cowboy attire, and resides in Denver, Colorado. His behavior has been greatly influenced by television and (particularly gory) video games as opposed to just television. As a result of being constantly bombarded with violent imagery, particularly from first-person shooter games, he is quick to anger and is very impatient and violent. His father is hinted to be a former employee of Mr. Wonka, just like Grandpa Joe.

Mike is more willing to talk about his Golden Ticket than his previous incarnations and provides an explanation as to how he found it, which he never did in the book or 1971 adaptation (albeit inbetween playing his video games). Mike proves to be both scientifically and economically literate: he finds his Golden Ticket simply by analyzing both the Nikkei Index and the datecodes of the other ticket finds, and then calculating the location of the next ticket (offset by the day's weather at the time), thus requiring him to purchase only a single Wonka Bar. This version of Mike does not like chocolate, and simply used the ticket hunt as an opportunity to test his wits, rather than out of true desire to visit the factory, much to Grandpa George's outrage. His haggard father (Adam Godley), who later serves as Mike's tour chaperone, laments during the press conference about his inability to understand his son's thought processes, while bemoaning children's obsession with technology in general ("Most of the time, I don't know what he's talking about. You know, kids these days, what with all the technology, well... they don't stay kids for very long"). When the five children first enter the facility, Mike is the only one whom Wonka addresses by name, adding, "You're the little devil who cracked the system." Mike considers everyone else beneath him and is especially condescending toward Wonka, while finding almost everything in the factory to be "completely pointless." However, he isn't particularly condescending to Charlie and is particularly amazed by Fudge Mountain.

Whenever Mike tries to argue with Wonka about the impossibility of his inventions, Wonka tells him to "stop mumbling" despite Mike's speech being rather clear. This became a running gag in the movie that held a less prominent place in the novel and the 1971 film. Their inability to communicate may be due to the difference in their priorities: because Mike's speech is often full of logic and technical information, and Wonka's solely devoted to the imagination, Wonka "can't understand a word" Mike is saying.

Mike's Endgame

In the novel and both films, Mike is shrunk when he disobeys Wonka's request to stay away from the Television Chocolate camera. In an attempt to distribute free samples of Wonka's candy, Television Chocolate was intended to send larger-than-life-sized Wonka Bars through television sets around the world. After the bar is teleported by the camera, it is shrunk down to normal size, and can be extracted from the television set and consumed. The Television Chocolate camera transmits Mike to a television set across the room, shrinking him to a size that enabled him to fit within the diameter of the screen. Wonka orders him to be stretched to his normal size in the gum-stretching machines (taffy pullers in both films) but the Oompa Loompas overdo the process and transform him into a very thin giant over ten feet tall. Wonka suggests that every basketball team in the country would now be looking for him. In the 2005 film, Mike is left with a very high, squeaky voice after being shrunk, and his overstretched figure was seen leaving the factory after the tour, whereas in the 1971 version, nothing was stated other than Wonka's reassurance to Charlie that Mike would be fine.

In the book and the first film, Mike sends himself through the Television Chocolate machine simply due to his television fanaticism. In the novel, when his parents lament the loss of his ability to attend school or engage in society, he asserts his retained ability to watch television, whereupon his father finally blames the television for Mike's behavior and attitude and swears to throw it out the window once they get home, much to Mike's annoyance and anger.

In the 2005 movie, Mike sends himself through the machine to demonstrate its potential use as a teleporter, after becoming frustrated that Wonka never considered using the machine in any other context beyond distribution of his goods. After realizing that he has been shrunk by his trip through the machine, Mike tells Wonka to "put him back through the other way." Just like the blue form of Violet Beauregarde, Mike's new form of a thin giant is permanent.

Mike Teavee Song

This song took place in the factory's Television Room, and was sung by the Oompa Loompas after Mike was shrunk while trying to use the camera to teleport himself into the in-room television screen. In the book, the Oompa Loompas sing that TV is unhealthy and detrimental for children's minds, and that children should read books instead of watching TV; the song in the original film conveys the same message. In the 2005 film, the song suggests that television is bad for young minds, and it makes children dull and blind, as mentioned in the novel.

The 2005 version of the song is performed as Mike finds himself jumping from, and interacting with, one television program after another while an Oompa Loompa changes channels: he flips through a heavy-metal music video, a Psycho-style shower scene, two other Oompa Loompas playing Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, a WNN (Wonka News Network) news broadcast, a cooking show, and a psychedelic parody of a Beatles concert. All of the performers on all the channels were Oompa Loompas. As Mike was the last child to leave the tour before the end, he hears all of the songs along with Charlie.