Quentin Blake's Illustration of Mike Teavee.
Mike Teavee is one of the five winners of the Golden Tickets from the novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the two films based on the novel. He is depicted as a television-obsessed, gun-loving and talkative brat with an obsession for cowboy flicks. He also carried an obsession for the television set at his house, which let to his defeat.
History
Mike Teavee is an American boy who won one of the four Golden Tickets from a Wonka Bar. THis ticket allowed him entry into the Wonka Chocolate Factory. Throughout the tour, Mike questions Wonka's candy-making tactics. His quiet speech constantly leads Willy Wonka to tell him to speak up, due to being a little deaf in one ear.
Mike's Accident
Mike Teavee and the rest of the tour visited the Television Chocolate room, where giant Wonka Bars could be turned into regular sized Wonka Bars through the use of television technology. Even though Mike wanted to see this room, Mike doubted that sending a chocolate bar through TV would work, claiming the bar in the TV was only an image. After being proven wrong when WIlly Wonka sent a chocolate bar into the TV set and Charlie reached into the TV and ate it, he wanted desperately to enter the television set. Mikejumped into where the chocolate bar was, and activated the machine, against the warnings of Mr. Wonka and his parents. Once he did, he was divided into millions of tiny pieces and sent into the television set, but was then very small. His parents said it was a problem because he couldn't do anything anymore. After claiming he could still watch TV, his father threatened to throw the TV set out. Mike took thus very unwell, settling to trying to bite his parents. Mr. Wonka then decided he would be put in his taffy puller. The taffy puller would stretch Mike to the size of a basketball player since boys are very stretchy. The taffy puller had multiple vitamins, including vitamin Wonka, which would make Mike's toes grow to the size of his fingers. Mike was put through the taffy puller. When Mike got out, he was very thin and tall. All that's left to be known is that he was sent from the factory with a life-time supply of chocolate.
Oompa-Loompa Song
Ater Mike was shrunken by the machines, the Oompa-Loompas sang a song of how children used to read. Part of the content was how television turns the brain into goop.
Appearance
Mike Teavee was notorious for his obsession with cowboys. His clothes were the most notable aspect of this. He wore a cowboy hat and a bad around his mouth. His most notable feature was the 18 toy pistols he wore on belts around his clothes.
Personality
Mike Teavee was both obsessed with cowboys, and television. After the news learned of his victory of obtaining a Golden Ticket, he refused to be interviewed due to a cowboy movie that was on the television. He hated the endless banter of the newsmen and newswomen.
Relationships
Parents
Mr. and Mrs. Teavee seemed to be quite disappointed that their son was obsessed with television. They were sometimes strict with him but never resorted to great punishments until Mr. Teavee decided to throw away their TV set.
Willy Wonka
Mr. Wonka and Mike Teavee would often disagree on things, but never really argue. Since Mike was a quiet talker, Mr. Wonka would often comment on that.
1971 Film
"I'm Mike Teavee. WHAM! You're dead!" - Mike Teavee
This rendition of Mike Teavee was faithful to the book, like most of the children. The only differences in appearance were that he did not wear a band over his mouth, and that he wore Western-style clothing to the factory. He seemed less bratty in the film, and he didn't argue with Mr. Wonka as much. His parents did not seem as disappointed in Mike's obsessions.
2005 Film
"He's an idiot! But, I'm not!" - Mike Teavee
Even though the 1971 film stayed faithful to Mike Teavee's original concept, the 2005 rendition of Mike Teavee was quite different. Mike's obsession with TV was changed into a vast knowledge of technology. He used his knowledge to hack into the Wonka Factory's system an buy one chocolate bar, obtaining the Golden Ticket within. He did this even though he claimed to hate chocolate. In fact, he hated candy altogether. He went as far as to say that candy is a waste of time. In the Great Glass Elevator, he expressed interest in the Television Chocolate Room. In the Television Chocolate room, he took the machines to be a teleporter, claiming it's the greatest scientific discovery in the world. Mike was appalled that Wonka only thought about chocolate. His fate as the same as the Mike Teavee in the novel, except he was not sent away with a lifetime supply of candy.
Personality
Mike Teavee was depicted as a rude, slightly prideful, and p essimistic boy with a vast knowledge of technology. He was also very against the idea of candy. Despite this, he deliberate hacked into Wonka's system to determine the location of the fourth Golden Ticket. This was probably out of pride.
He was quite rude to Willy Wonka during the tour. As a comeback, Willy Wonka pretended that he couldn't hear Mike Teavee's comments, even though he was probably the loudest of the children.
Appearance
Compared to the cowboy obsessed counterpart in the novel and the 1971 film, Mike Teavee was quite normal in appearance in the 2005 film. He was mostly well-kept and wore long-sleeved shirts, showing no interest in anything related to cowboys, gangsters or guns. He also appeared older than his 1971 counterpart.
Trivia
- During the Television Chocolate storyline, Mr. Wonka commented that boys are very stretchy. This is also apparent in the novel Matilda, when Mrs. Trunchbull stretched out a child's ears out of anger for the child answering a math question incorrectly.
- In the 1971 film, Mike's dad would not give him a gun until he was twelve.