The Depressing Truth About Willy Wonka's Oompa Loompas (2024)

In the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory text, Oompa Loompas were discovered by the eccentric Willy Wonka, who invited them to live and work at his wondrous chocolate factory. The three film adaptations of Roald Dahl's children's novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, introduced the Oompa Loompas to viewers differently. In 1971, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory revealed them to be smaller than average humanoid creatures with orange skin and cartoonish features. Tim Burton's 2005 adaptation of the story depicted them as identical workers — all played by actor Deep Roy — dressed in flashy clothes. The 2023 prequel Wonka follows the visual style of the 1971 film, with a single orange Oompa Loompa played by Hugh Grant. All three versions depict them as happy in their work, and the factory as a kind of fairy-tale kingdom where they can live in safety.

However, that dreamy portrayal was far from the truth. Even in Willy Wonka's world of pure imagination, concerning signs about the Oompa Loompas never truly diminished. Traces of slavery, white supremacy, and capitalistic exploitation existed in every corner — hidden in the plain sight of a lighthearted, magical factory. The issue stems from Dahl's book, and all three movie adaptations have taken steps to address those dynamics, with varying degrees of success. However, casting choices have been divisive, and have further led to controversy in the representation of the Oompa Loompas.

Updated on November 19, 2024, by Natasha Elder: The frequent adaptations of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory have made the material a significant part of the childhood of people of all ages. Because of this, it is important to consider the origin of one of the main people in the book and films — the Oompa Loompas. Both their origin and their portrayal have been controversial due to various elements. We wanted to discuss in greater detail the complicated history of these important characters, and further show how they have been represented so far.

Roald Dahl's Original Oompa Loompas Had Racist Implications

Eventually, the Origin of the Oompma Loompas Was Reimagined by the Author

Published in 1964, Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reflected a rise in British social anxieties as immigrants and New Commonwealth citizens entered the labor market. This, of course, led to suspicion and paranoia in the story in the form of Charlie Bucket's Grandpa Joe. As a formally laid-off employee of the chocolate factory (in the 2005 film), Grandpa Joe whispered to Charlie about the new secret workers in the factory.

In the first edition of Dahl's novel, Oompa Loompas were Black pygmies Willy Wonka imported from "the deepest and darkest part of the African jungle," according to Jeremy Treglown's Roald Dahl: A Biography. In 1970, the NAACP issued a statement expressing concerns about the racist portrayal of the Oompa Loompas in light of the then-upcoming film. Dahl himself showed sympathy for their stance and re-imagined them in the 1973 edition as having "golden-brown hair" and "rosy-white" skin.

Despite that description change, the Oompa Loompas' exploitative origin remained. They dressed in deerskins and lived in trees — indicating a primitive existence — and Wonka smuggled them from their home to work at his factory. They worked tirelessly in exchange for cocoa beans, even as the chocolatier earned real money for their labor. They were prisoners restricted to areas inside the factory. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willy Wonka learned the tribal language when negotiating a deal with the Oompa Loompas, but he was proud that "they all speak English now."

Besides the unreasonable wages and inhumane treatment, Oompa Loompas were Wonka's test subjects for new inventions. Although the film showed "Whips - All Shapes and Sizes" as cows being whipped to produce cream, the rooms could have been another indication of the chocolatier's full ownership of Oompa Loompas. Wonka believed that he had "rescued" them from the dangerous jungles, deadly diseases, and starvation, expressing a pro-slavery sentiment that echoed the "positive good" defense of the Atlantic Slave Trade, making it an altogether dark film despite being meant for families.

The text was further altered for a new edition of the book in 2023. The publisher, Puffin, made numerous adjustments to the text, including reducing the mention of Mike TeeVee's guns, eliminating the word "fat" as a descriptor, and toning down descriptions of corporal punishment such as spanking. The descriptions of the Oompa Loompas were similarly pared down to eliminate their status as "primitives." The changes have not come without controversy — after all, Dahl has passed away, and can't approve them the way he did in 1973 — but they've further mitigated some of the damaging stereotyping involved.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

G

Family

Musical

Fantasy

Director

Mel Stuart

Release Date

June 30, 1971

Cast

Jack Albertson , gene wilder , Peter Ostrum , Denise Nickerson , Julie Dawn Cole

Writers

Roald Dahl

Runtime

100 minutes

See Also

Wonka Movie: All 25 Actors Who Will Appear (Photos)'Wonka' star Hugh Grant explains why he 'hated' playing an Oompa LoompaWhy Casting Hugh Grant As An Oompa Loompa In Wonka 'Made Perfect Sense' - SlashFilmHow Wonka Handles the Controversial History of Roald Dahl's Oompa-Loompas

Are Oompa Loompas Slaves?

Despite Receiving a Type of Payment, They Are Treated Like Slaves

The text itself gives further proof of the Oompa Loompas' status. Violet asked her father for an Oompa Loompa, and he promised he would obtain one for her by the end of the day. That suggested a transfer of ownership and reinforced the slave aspect of the Oompa Loompas' condition from a privileged, white supremacist viewpoint. Yet, viewers often overlooked this troubling aspect under the blind worship of the chocolatier.

As Donald Yacovene explains, chocolate has a direct chocolate link to slavery, starting with the first cocoa shipments to Europe in 1585. Great Britain has been knee-deep in the colonial business since the mid-17th century. The cocoa trade significantly impacted countries in Central America and the Caribbean. However, most of the world's cocoa production shifted to West Africa due to Britain's involvement. Many crops exploited enslaved people and child laborers to obtain a more significant profit. Britain passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. However, slavery and exploitation in cocoa production continue in other ways even today.

Through deconstructing the seemingly wonderful supernatural beings of the Oompa Loompas, viewers come to understand the underlying colonial context and severe racial and social issues associated with the beloved children's story. Willy Wonka was certainly not a man to worship, and his chocolate factory, as dreamy as it was, was built on exploitation. Subsequent adaptations have been obligated to either show that exploitation more plainly or re-imagine both Wonka and the Oompa Loompas as different than the text portrays them.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

PG

A young boy wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world's most unusual candy maker.

Director

Tim Burton

Release Date

July 15, 2005

Cast

Johnny Depp , Freddie Highmore , David Kelly , Helena Bonham Carter , Noah Taylor , Missi Pyle , James Fox , Deep Roy , Christopher Lee

Runtime

115 minutes

The Willy Wonka Movies Make Changes to the Oompa Loompas

The filmmakers for all three movies were aware of the problematic nature of the Oompa Loompas and the implicit exploitation of their status in the factory. All three lean into the idea of the factory as a magical kingdom and its workers akin to fairies or elves rather than maltreated minorities. Naturally, that involves careful revision of Dahl's text: retaining the essence of the idea while steering clear of offensive images and explanations.

The Gene Wilder Film Stresses Oompa Loompas' Fairy-Tale Qualities

The 1971 movie stresses the Oompa Loompas as closer to fairy-tale creatures, divorced from reality and occupying their own unique status in the world. Their skin is orange and their hair green, eliminating references to any specific demographic. They wear brown-and-white uniforms of vaguely European design, and the factory itself is revealed as its own world where they are the sole occupants except for Wonka himself.

In addition, the movie omits mention of how they're paid — only that Wonka wishes them to live in peace and safety. (Though they are still experimented upon: Wonka states that some Oompa Loompas were turned into blueberries before Violet Beauregard.) The story's British setting is also subtly changed to an unnamed city, shot in Munich to enhance a sense of fairy tale timelessness rather than Dahl's late imperialist sensibilities. Wilder's Wonka, however, isn't necessarily viewed as a benevolent figure — at least not all the time. His darker side has become part of the movie's appeal and quietly suggests that he might be capable of exploiting his workers.

Tim Burton's Film Trends Closer to the Book

The 2005 version directed by Tim Burton adheres more closely to the Dahl text (presumably to distance itself from its predecessor), which brings the Oompa Loompas' problematic qualities into the forefront. It includes a visual depiction of Loompaland as a savage jungle, and the inhabitants are coded as primitives worshiping cacao beans. Wonka still offers to pay them in chocolate, and they're still the subjects of experimentation. The film flirts with other problematic stereotypes — such as the story of a foolish Indian prince who commissions a palace built out of chocolate — and its innate sympathy with Wonka as a misunderstood outsider tends to compound his exploitative practices. (Wilder's Wonka has more overtly sinister qualities.)

That said, the Tim Burton film still embraces the idea of the chocolate factory as a wondrous world all on its own, with the Oompa Loompas as the sole occupant. All of them are played by actor Deep Roy, which stresses their status as fictional constructs rather than stand-ins for real demographics. Burton depicts them as technologically advanced (often serving as scientists and researchers, for instance), and, as in the book, they ultimately have the last laugh over the foolish visitors who treat their work with disrespect.

Wonka Returns The Oompa Loompas to the Wilder Film

Of the three films, Wonka (2023) addresses the problem most directly: taking advantage of its status as a prequel to step outside of Dahl's text. A young Wonka traps an Oompa Loompa named Lofty, who was exiled from Loompaland after Wonka himself unknowingly stole several cacao beans on his watch. Lofty has been claiming his chocolates in repayment for the debt, and Wonka's responsibility on that front — however unintentional — becomes a key point in the plot.

Loompaland itself is stripped of its colonialist implications, portrayed as an uncharted island in an unnamed sea, with the Oompa Loompas dressed in striped suits reminiscent of the Vatican's Swiss Guard. That returns it more fully to the fairy-tale ideas from the Wilder film. Far from an exploited worker, Lofty is portrayed as upper-class, well-off, and more than a little snooty. He's sent into exile wearing a wealthy yachtsman's outfit and piloting a speed boat.

Instead, it's Wonka — portrayed as a champion of the downtrodden who is himself exploited through most of the film — who offers Lofty a job as the "head of the tasting department" in his new factory, which he builds effortlessly through magic rather than requiring manual labor. It implies that the Oompa Loompas are equal partners in his endeavor, and fixes some of the problems of the previous films, making Wonka better than the previous two in at least this aspect. Additionally, it makes Wonka's bottomless generosity an overt anomaly among rival candy makers motivated entirely by greed.

The Portrayal of Oompa Loompas in Film Is as Controversial as Their Origin

Whether or Not to Cast Actors with Dwarfism Has Been a Point of Contention

Actors with dwarfism have historically been underrepresented in film, or have largely had to take on demeaning roles. Typically, an actor with dwarfism has to deal with being an underdeveloped character who is usually the target of many short jokes. The 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movies both cast actors with dwarfism to play Oompa Loompas. In Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 10 actors were hired to play the various Oompa Loompas while Charlie and the Chocolate Factory hired Deep Roy to play every single one. However, 2023's Wonka had Hugh Grant playing the main representative of Oompa Loompas.

While it has been widely acknowledged among those with dwarfism that the original films' portrayal of Oompa Loompas reinforced many of the stereotypes they have been trying to move away from. However, the films have also been one of the few sources of employment. In an interview with the LA Times, actor George Coppen discussed the current difficulties in getting hired as an actor with dwarfism. He mentions that older films are rightfully being called out for their harmful stereotypes, and those types of roles are being eliminated, but Hollywood has yet to open up new roles for actors with dwarfism to take instead.

As such, actors such as Coppen and Danny Woodburn, as well as other celebrities with dwarfism like Brad Williams and Dylan Postl, have stated they would like to be offered the choice for such roles. When Hugh Grant was cast, they felt hurt that such a prominent role wasn't offered to someone with dwarfism, particularly as they had been previously employed. The at-the-time President of the Little People of America, Mark Povinelli, said in an interview with The Guardian that the CGI effects only made the situation worse. Instead of employing someone with dwarfism, the filmmakers used special effects to make Hugh Grant's head larger and his limbs shorter. Povinelli even likened doing so as being similar to "a physical version of blackface." Additionally, he mentioned how disrespectful it was to cast an actor without dwarfism when the Oompa Loompa was finally going to be a nuanced character instead of a flashy, background character.

The troubling history of casting actors to play Oompa Loompas further contributes to the overall controversial nature of the character. Even once the dark origin of the Oompa Loompas was changed to be less racist, there have continued to be problems with the portrayal. The poor treatment of those with dwarfism in Hollywood is further aggravated by the casting choices made for Oompa Loompas. Moreover, changing the backstory of the fictional characters doesn't change how immoral their employment situation is.

Wonka

PG

Fantasy

Adventure

Comedy

With dreams of opening a shop in a city renowned for its chocolate, a young and poor Willy Wonka discovers that the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers.

Release Date

December 15, 2023

Director

Paul King

Cast

Timothee Chalamet , Hugh Grant , Olivia Colman , Keegan-Michael Key , Rowan Atkinson , Sally Hawkins

Runtime

116 minutes

Main Genre

Fantasy

Writers

Simon Farnaby , Paul King , Roald Dahl