The 10 most iconic film characters - 6 and 5

6. Willy Wonka

You know him as the crazy man in the top hat. Rogue candy-maker, Willy Wonka, was a notable children’s literary figure before he was ever a film character. But it was with this movie in 1971 that the character earned widespread recognition. Willy Wonka from that point on was a memorable character to nearly anyone to place his or her glance on his visage. Many people have suggested that it was his colorful attire that prompted this recognition, and still others suggest that it was the bizarre nature of the movie itself that cemented him in viewer’s minds. But recently, most attribute his iconic nature to Gene Wilder’s uncanny performance.
If you’re looking for dark undertones, look no further. Willy Wonka seemed drenched in them. When he wasn’t coyly stringing his pint-sized contestant winners along, he was grimly alluding to moral hubris and inbred greed. He was a child’s character that took a few moments to address the unreality of his film in a very creepy manner. These dramatic underpinnings coupled with the character’s natural mannerisms have engrained him in most everyone’s mind. Not everyone may recognize all of the characters on this list, but I’d wager that everyone would know who Willy Wonka is. And that’s the true success and iconic status of the character. Poor Depp - here is to hoping he fairs well. He’s taking on an icon himself.

5. James Bond

James Bond almost didn’t make the cut. This is mostly because of the atrociously bad presence his films have had on the industry lately. Sure, they make a plethora of money, but they’re just terrible films. But, I had to give the character sway, especially since I considered his truest incarnation to be in the form of Sean Connery.
Actually, when you consider the James Bond films of that era, they weren’t anything spectacular either. Much more important films were being made at the time, and James Bond was merely a stopgap to an audience that refused to take in anything culturally obscure or dramatically different. And yet, no matter how much more important the other films may have been at the time, you can’t deny the fact that the public at large doesn’t really remember any of them. They do remember James Bond.
He’s changed a little bit with each different actor to take the helm, but he was best defined and represented when Sean Connery played him. Dapper, wry, coolheaded, and an unfortunate womanizer, almost everything about his translation of the character is memorable. And he is iconic as well. Whereas my earliest choices on the list were choices that may not seem iconic to everyone save for myself, here is a character that is iconic to everyone and secretly detested by myself. Well, I don’t dislike Bond actually, and if I have to give way to popcorn cinema (where most of the iconic characters come from anyway), then I’ll gladly give way to James Bond. As he was played by Roger Moore? Forgettable. Timothy Dalton? Regrettable. Pierce Brosnan? Bombastic. Sean Connery? Iconic.