FA+
Shop
13 submissions
His name is Rookie. He is a factory oompa loompa, and he is small (by oompa loompa standards) and adventurous. :)
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Mammal - Rodent
Size 695 x 695px
File Size 79.3 kB
They're all like that with the version of the universe I came up with. :)
It's a creative decision I made to make them less human in the fan interpretation I cam up with for CATCF. I went with mice since that's a classic "children's literature" species, and mice are small.
Basically, Oompa Loompas were originally an African Pygmy tribe with more or less the same lore we know oompa loompas have to this day, which while it was received well at first, got criticized and became controversial for being, well, a racist depiction. The original movie was the first to make changes to them, making them orange so to stay out of the controversy and putting them on the fictional island Oompaland. Roald Dahl himself would later make them white and implement Oompaland in the book. Although their story still have problems, namely the white savior trope...and still working at the chocolate factory with board and food as payment without any money. They also still wear stereotypical cave man clothes. Let's just say...Roald Dahl himself is his own rabbit hole.
I wanted to try a different approach and explore a different way of making them less problematic. So, I made them into mice (based them off the African pygmy mouse + Spiny mouse), and changed some elements of their backstory (they smuggled themselves onto a ship. Cacao beans are also no longer their primary food. They also eat various fruits, nuts, and insects. Cacao beans take a similar role in their culture as cake does for us - a treat to have during celebrations/special occassions.) and their agreement with Wonka. (Not all of them live in the factory. Various members live in different areas of the town. The ones who live in the factory can leave at any time if they're displeased with their living situation. Oompa Loompas outside the factory help whatever property they happen to live on with basic upkeep, and it's standard for property owners to leave out gifts as gratitude. Chocolate is the most popular thing to give, although toys, bedding, and other types of food can be offered as well.)
I did place them back into South Africa, but I am iffy on that decision. Two major factors is that I wanted to make an interpretation with as little elements from the movies as possible, and the way Oompaland is described in the books is basically the African continent based on a rudimentary understanding of its biomes anyways, just on a smaller scale due to being an island. (I think it's described as wastelands in the north and lush jungles in the south?) This is prone to change if general feedback on that is negative.
Though, a fun idea I want to explore is having them be native to all around the world, and make some designs based on various mouse species and make different "breeds" of them, for lack of a better word. Could be a fun worldbuiding project/creature design practice.
Edit: Forgot to mention that the ones living in the factory are not required to be involved in the production. They used to be, until the first generation started getting work-related disabilities/aging out. So, the agreement changed so they're only required to "pull their own weight," which can involve caring for the youth when the parents are at work, planning community events, and taking on more white-collared roles.
It's a creative decision I made to make them less human in the fan interpretation I cam up with for CATCF. I went with mice since that's a classic "children's literature" species, and mice are small.
Basically, Oompa Loompas were originally an African Pygmy tribe with more or less the same lore we know oompa loompas have to this day, which while it was received well at first, got criticized and became controversial for being, well, a racist depiction. The original movie was the first to make changes to them, making them orange so to stay out of the controversy and putting them on the fictional island Oompaland. Roald Dahl himself would later make them white and implement Oompaland in the book. Although their story still have problems, namely the white savior trope...and still working at the chocolate factory with board and food as payment without any money. They also still wear stereotypical cave man clothes. Let's just say...Roald Dahl himself is his own rabbit hole.
I wanted to try a different approach and explore a different way of making them less problematic. So, I made them into mice (based them off the African pygmy mouse + Spiny mouse), and changed some elements of their backstory (they smuggled themselves onto a ship. Cacao beans are also no longer their primary food. They also eat various fruits, nuts, and insects. Cacao beans take a similar role in their culture as cake does for us - a treat to have during celebrations/special occassions.) and their agreement with Wonka. (Not all of them live in the factory. Various members live in different areas of the town. The ones who live in the factory can leave at any time if they're displeased with their living situation. Oompa Loompas outside the factory help whatever property they happen to live on with basic upkeep, and it's standard for property owners to leave out gifts as gratitude. Chocolate is the most popular thing to give, although toys, bedding, and other types of food can be offered as well.)
I did place them back into South Africa, but I am iffy on that decision. Two major factors is that I wanted to make an interpretation with as little elements from the movies as possible, and the way Oompaland is described in the books is basically the African continent based on a rudimentary understanding of its biomes anyways, just on a smaller scale due to being an island. (I think it's described as wastelands in the north and lush jungles in the south?) This is prone to change if general feedback on that is negative.
Though, a fun idea I want to explore is having them be native to all around the world, and make some designs based on various mouse species and make different "breeds" of them, for lack of a better word. Could be a fun worldbuiding project/creature design practice.
Edit: Forgot to mention that the ones living in the factory are not required to be involved in the production. They used to be, until the first generation started getting work-related disabilities/aging out. So, the agreement changed so they're only required to "pull their own weight," which can involve caring for the youth when the parents are at work, planning community events, and taking on more white-collared roles.
damn, I never read the book but it's quite interesting what opinions had people who successfully transcended time and became known worldwide, not saying I agree with it, just interesting
I hope to see what kindamisadventures this little creature gets himself into, do you plan on just writing it or make a whole comic for this goober? <.<
I hope to see what kinda
I do have a vague idea of a story in mind for him, but I don't know the details, and that project would be far off. Right now I have a fully original superhero comic in the works (designing a train for it right now, actually), a variety of creative skills to practice, and start working towards reviving the video side of what I'm doing. Which, I do have a direction in mind for now, it's just a matter of starting a backlog and keeping up with those.
For Rookie, I want to send him on a globe-trotting adventure and eventually end up at the village his ancestors left (he would be 3rd-4th gen), although I don't even know the why behind it. I always imagined the factory oompas got hit with a blight, and he wanted to go to the origin point of his heritage in hopes of finding a cure. It could also be general curiosity, or re-discovering some sort of lost cultural art or tradition that his (great-)grandparents talked about fondly.
But, right now, the only big fan project I'm not working on in my WIPs is a big worldbuilding thing for this version. The only entry I have finished are the oompa loompas (and even then, it's "only" a basic rundown going over their backstory and their dynamic with Willy Wonka himself and general living conditions. I found no need to go much deeper and will if it helps enrich a bigger project, namely a story or a roleplay), but there are plenty of unique twists/aspects that are waiting to be explored.
Since I want to keep my FurAffinity profile curated to furry art, the only elements I'll be showing will be the more furry/animal-centric ones. But the CATCF is a diverse and wild IP, especially if you want to throw the movies into the mix. For instance, I forgot if the wallpapers show up in the book, but I know that in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, one of them is flavored after snozzleberries, which are a type of sweet berries that gremlins like to eat. It's a reference/crossover element to an older Roald Dahl story, The Gremlins, that the Steven Spielberg movie took inspiration from.
I made my version of Wonka good friends with Gizmo for the Hell of it due to this.
For Rookie, I want to send him on a globe-trotting adventure and eventually end up at the village his ancestors left (he would be 3rd-4th gen), although I don't even know the why behind it. I always imagined the factory oompas got hit with a blight, and he wanted to go to the origin point of his heritage in hopes of finding a cure. It could also be general curiosity, or re-discovering some sort of lost cultural art or tradition that his (great-)grandparents talked about fondly.
But, right now, the only big fan project I'm not working on in my WIPs is a big worldbuilding thing for this version. The only entry I have finished are the oompa loompas (and even then, it's "only" a basic rundown going over their backstory and their dynamic with Willy Wonka himself and general living conditions. I found no need to go much deeper and will if it helps enrich a bigger project, namely a story or a roleplay), but there are plenty of unique twists/aspects that are waiting to be explored.
Since I want to keep my FurAffinity profile curated to furry art, the only elements I'll be showing will be the more furry/animal-centric ones. But the CATCF is a diverse and wild IP, especially if you want to throw the movies into the mix. For instance, I forgot if the wallpapers show up in the book, but I know that in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, one of them is flavored after snozzleberries, which are a type of sweet berries that gremlins like to eat. It's a reference/crossover element to an older Roald Dahl story, The Gremlins, that the Steven Spielberg movie took inspiration from.
I made my version of Wonka good friends with Gizmo for the Hell of it due to this.
wow, you wanna do a lot of stuff at once, the day only has 24 hours, y'know? I wish you the best on all that, I do wish to know how things go on, particularly the superhero comic, not a fan of those but still wanna see what you come up with, I still wanna see more of the ratto boyo :3c
good luck with your story, I do hope you don't end up with your room full of papers and entire bibles explaining how things work, what and how to foreshadow things, their belief system and tiny details that most likely very few will notice but would be nice to see anyway
when you say "living conditions", you mean like economy? the social system? what kinda things?
good luck with your story, I do hope you don't end up with your room full of papers and entire bibles explaining how things work, what and how to foreshadow things, their belief system and tiny details that most likely very few will notice but would be nice to see anyway
when you say "living conditions", you mean like economy? the social system? what kinda things?
The living conditions section is where the "pulling their own weight" policy is described and talks a little bit about their healthcare.
And yeah, only 24 hours existing in a day and needing to sleep for some of them is a big problem. I wish there are more hours...or I somehow transcend mortal needs. lmao
Thankfully, it helps to break everything up throughout the week. So one day would be focused on the comic, another on learning to code, and so on. I do have a system that currently works for me, though I may start focusing on only the comic when all the design work for the chapter is finished and it's time to draw the script.
And yeah, only 24 hours existing in a day and needing to sleep for some of them is a big problem. I wish there are more hours...or I somehow transcend mortal needs. lmao
Thankfully, it helps to break everything up throughout the week. So one day would be focused on the comic, another on learning to code, and so on. I do have a system that currently works for me, though I may start focusing on only the comic when all the design work for the chapter is finished and it's time to draw the script.
Comments