The Willy Wonka Character We Never Got To See
It goes without saying that the magical world of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory is unforgettable. But so, too, are the cast of characters that visit this factory in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and its two cinematic adaptations. Both the legendary candy man, and the guests he invites inside his mysterious laboratory, are vibrant, eccentric, and fill up the world the author created just as boldly as the story's iconic titular setting. From the sweet and curious Charlie Bucket himself to the spoiled and selfish Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregard, Augustus Gloop, and Mike TV, the Willy Wonka children each play an essential role in carrying Dahl's story forward. The novel and films are a cautionary tale with some seriously dark moments, and these characters serve as memorable reminders of the consequences of bad behavior and poor attitude, and the rewards that can come from being honest and well-intentioned.
Surprisingly enough, it turns out that there's another Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character who we never got to see — because Roald Dahl cut her from the book before it went to publication. That means we missed out on seeing what could have been another iconic moment in the Willy Wonka movies, as well.
Let's take a look at what the character was like, and where she eventually ended up making an appearance.
Who was the lost Willy Wonka character?
At one point, Roald Dahl planned on having 15 children win entrance to Willy Wonka's factory. In early drafts of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he whittled it down to six who found the Golden Tickets. As fans know, the published book only has five children. The last character to be cut was named Miranda Mary Parker — and according to Dahl's handwritten notes, as seen on RoaldDahl.com, she was "a girl who is allowed to do anything she likes."
Also in these notes about the novel, the author said that Miranda Mary Piker was "the filthiest, rudest and most disobedient creature you could imagine," though he did not go into detail about exactly how she illustrated that behavior (via Factinate). Nevertheless, had she been incorporated into the book, she was fated to meet a particularly gruesome obstacle that seems to have been befitting of her bad attitude: After going swimming in Willy Wonka's chocolate river, she would fall down the chocolate waterfall and land in the candy maker's Crunchy Munchy Peanut Brittle Bars mixer (also via RoaldDahl.com). Basically, she is turned into peanut brittle.
This certainly would have added another macabre layer to both the book and the movie adaptations, but we never got to see it happen on screen. Truthfully, it may not have been necessary — the other spoiled children's mishaps in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory more than get the author's point across.
Miranda Mary Piker's horrific fate did eventually see the light of day, though, as it was published as a short story called "Spotty Powder" in a 1973 issue of Puffin Post magazine.