Arthur Slugworth is the overarching antagonist of Roald Dahl's 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its movie adaptations. He also serves as the main antagonist of the 2023 prequel film Wonka.
The president of Slugworth Chocolates Inc., he's a rival candy maker who successfully sends a spy into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, stealing the recipe to the Candy Balloons that can be blown to incredible sizes.
Biography[]
Background (Wonka)[]
Slugworth grew to become one of the most famous chocolatiers in the galleries gourmet and joined the Chocolate Cartel with his rivals Gerald Prodnose and Felix Fickelgruber where they blackmailed anyone with chocolate to get out of trouble. Slugworth and the other cartel members store and captivate their chocolate in a large reserve under a cathedral run by the corrupt Father Julius and his "chocoholic" monks.
One night he was approached by Dorothy Smith, the lover of his deceased brother, who asked for his help in getting a doctor for her sick infant daughter. Realizing that his hold on his family fortune could be challenged by his niece, Slugworth took the child in his care before secretly dumping her off at Scrubbit's and paying her to watch over the child before returning to Dorothy and claims that the infant died before a doctor could arrive causing Dorothy to break into tears before Slugworth tossed a few sovereign coins to her and had her escorted off his property.
Novel[]
In the book, Arthur Slugworth is one of Willy Wonka's rival chocolatiers. Slugworth, along with Wonka's other rivals Mr. Fickelgruber and Mr. Prodnose, sent in spies to steal the secret recipes to Wonka's treats for them.
Having obtained these, he began making candy balloons that a consumer blows up to incredible sizes, and then causes to burst before eating them; a plagiarized invention.
The work of Slugworth (along with the other rivals) came close to ruining Wonka's factory. Wonka was forced to close his factory and fire all of his workers. A few years later, Wonka's factory began working again (operated exclusively by Oompa-Loompas), and his work continued to dominate the candy industry, with no rival able to plagiarize his work. Using the Oompa Loompa as his workers enables Wonka to operate his factory without regular employees and keeping it off-limits to the public, so none of the spies can infiltrate.
Slugworth is never heard from again, but it is stated that Slugworth, Prodnose, or Fickelgruber would each give their front teeth to enter Wonka's inventing room (a laboratory) for 5 minutes. It's presumed that Slugworth, alongside Prodnose and Fickelgruber, may have continued their businesses, but as Willy Wonka stopped hiring human employees, it's likely they no longer were able to produce special treats like those of Wonka.
1971 film[]
In the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Slugworth's company is in business. Inside Bill's Candy Shop, Wonka's products and signs are the most visible, but Slugworth's Sizzlers are also prominently displayed, and one is even sold to a child called June Marie.
Things that are also seen are signs for Fickelgruber's candy. Grandpa Joe describes Slugworth as the worst of Wonka's rivals, telling Charlie that he was one of those who sent his spies in dressed as Wonka workers to steal Wonka's Recipes.
A man calling himself Slugworth is a prominent character later in the film, where he was portrayed by the late Günter Meisner. As each Golden Ticket is found, he approaches the finder and whispers something into his or her ear. After Charlie finds the last ticket, the same man then approaches Charlie as well, and he delivers what is presumably the same speech he has given the other children.
He introduces himself as Arthur Slugworth, president of Slugworth Chocolates Incorporated, and bribes the child to bring one piece of the newly invented Everlasting Gobstopper to him so that he can discover and plagiarize the formula. Two of the children respond to Slugworth's bribe. Veruca Salt crosses her fingers behind her back when Willy Wonka asks the children to promise not to show the Everlasting Gobstopper to anyone else.
Mike Teevee asks his mother what secrets they can sell to Slugworth; his mother is also heard telling her son to keep his eyes peeled and his mouth shut. Grandpa Joe also responds near the end of the movie. After Willy Wonka snaps at him and Charlie Bucket for violating the rules by stealing Fizzy Lifting Drinks and bouncing off the ceiling, which needs to be washed, as a reason of why Charlie didn't get the prize, Joe threatens to give Slugworth the Gobstopper. However, Charlie can't bring himself to betray Wonka and thus returns the Gobstopper to Wonka.
Touched by this display of selflessness, Wonka forgives the theft of the Fizzy Lifting Drinks and reveals that the man isn't actually Slugworth, but a non-Oompa Loompa employee named Wilkinson, and that his "offer" was a secret test of character.
The movie doesn't explain how the Wilkinson was able to approach each winner so soon after they found their tickets. However, it's implied that Wonka somehow managed to keep track of each ticket's destination, and then he told Wilkinson where they are most likely to be found. This seems likely, as in the 2005 film, Wonka personally places the tickets on the candy bars, and they are then shipped to specific locations.
2005 film[]
Slugworth only makes a split-second appearance in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where he was portrayed by Philip Philmar. He receives a secret recipe from fellow envious candymaker Prodnose, and both of them were not heard of again.
Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory[]
In the film, he invades Wonka's chocolate factory to steal a special candy known as the Everlasting Gobstopper with Spike, a henchman. He stole Veruca's song "I Want It Now" in the Tom and Jerry version. He was voiced by Mick Wingert.
2023 film[]
Slugworth is first seen watching Willy Wonka demonstrate his "hoverchoc", fearing the flying chocolate and the threat Wonka holds, Mr. Prodnose has his assistant call the Chief-of-Police and heads down outside with the other cartel members to test-taste the hover choc. Mr. Slugworth (along with Prodnose and Fickelgruber) mocks the chocolate but regrets doing so when the hoverchoc takes effect and makes the cartel members fly uncontrollably. The chocolate cartel members vow to get revenge on Wonka.
The chocolate cartel is later seen in their cathedral-based headquarters, where they blackmail the chief of police into doing anything he can to arrest Wonka by exploiting the chief's obsessive love of chocolate by offering him 1,800 boxes of chocolates.
Slugworth and the other cartel members are later seen demanding the chief to get rid of Wonka, only for the chief to reveal that Wonka and his friends are living at Scrubbits' which infuriates Slugworth as Scrubbits is the same exact location where Arthur abandoned his niece Noodle and comes up with a plan to have Mrs. Scrubbit and Bleacher taint Wonka's candy and get him arrested.
After Wonka's store is burned down by angry customers as a result of the tainted chocolates, Slugworth and the Cartel approach Wonka with an offer to pay off everyone's debt to Scrubbit in return that he leaves town and stops making chocolate forever. After he accepts the deal they send Wonka on a boat which they loaded with dynamite, and exploded after leaving the docks.
While stuck in traffic due to escaped flamingos, Slugworth receives a phone call from Father Julius who states that an escaped giraffe had wandered into the cathedral forcing him to leave the building as animal control was sent in to contain the giraffe. Realizing that his account book and chocolate reverse are left unprotected, Slugworth and the cartel head to the cathedral where they catch Wonka and Noddle in the act of taking the ledger as Slugworth holds the two of them at gunpoint.
Slugworth then locks the two in chocolate reserve planning to drown them in chocolate before taking Wonka's jar of Hover-Chocs which were meant for the Oompa Loompa Lofty, and eats all the chocolate before leaving.
As Slugworth and the Cartel begin to leave the Cathedral, Wonka and Noddle having escaped turn in the ledger to Officer Affable as the Chief-of-Police tries to confiscate the ledger only for them to be exposed through the ledger which shows numerous payments the Cartel had made to him. With the Chief-of-Police arrested, Slugworth and the Cartel attempt to make a run for it only for the three of them to slowly hover up due to the effects of the Hover-Chocs. Holding onto the town fountain, Slugworth states that he will simply buy his way out of the justice system whether it be through lawyers or bribing the court officials as Noodle turns a valve causing the Cartel's entire chocolate reserve to flow through the fountain causing Slugworth to lose his grip as the Cartel is launched into the air.
When asked if they will ever float down, Wonka states that Hover-Chocs usually last a few minutes. However, due to the Cartel having eating the entire jar, he is unsure how long they will be hovering. It's unknown what happens to Slugworth and his associates afterwards, but they either floated down and got arrested once the effects of the Hover-Chocs passed or the effects wore off at a great height and they all fell to their deaths.
Trivia[]
- In 1971 and 2017 animated (Tom & Jerry) version, Wikinson is a hidden deuteragonist who pretended to be a false antagonist (Slugworth).
External links[]
| Characters |
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Golden Ticket winners
Augustus Gloop (1971) Families
GLOOP: Mrs. Gloop (1971) • Mr. Gloop (1971) Other characters Arthur Slugworth • Fickelgruber • Lofty • Mr. Turkentine • Mr. Wilkinson • Noodle • Oompa-Loompa • Prince Pondicherry • Prodnose • The Shopkeeper
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