This is a list of characters from The Phantom Tollbooth, a 1961 children's book written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Jules Feiffer, and its different adaptations.
Milo is a school-aged boy and the main character, bored with life prior to receiving the gifts.
In early drafts, Juster put Milo's age at eight, then nine, before concluding that it was "not only unnecessary to be that precise but probably more prudent not to do so, lest some readers decide they were too old to care..."[1]: xxxii A very early draft has in his place a ten-year-old named Tony with his parents Mr. & Mrs.
[1]: xxx In the Chuck Jones adaptation, Milo is portrayed by Butch Patrick who also voices his animated form.
Tock was based on one of Juster's favorite characters, Jim Fairfield from Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy.
Juster said, "For the sake of balance, I wanted someone who was the reverse [of Tock]— a bad influence, someone who is a braggart, not very honest, a huckster, not too trustworthy, a self promoter—in short, someone sure to steer Milo wrong.
[1]: 233 In the Chuck Jones adaptation, Rhyme and Reason are voiced by Patti Gilbert and June Foray respectively.
Juster's comment that "witches hate loud noises" was only a plot device that he made up.
Unlike the book that had no mentioning on if she was released or not, Faintly was seen exiting the dungeon and reopening her stand upon Rhyme and Reason's return.
Later in the book, The Soundkeeper tells Milo that Dr. Dischord was part of the reason why she banished all sound.
[1]: 58–59 He unfairly arrests Milo and Tock where he blames them for wrecking the Dictionopolis Word Fair which Humbug and Spelling Bee did.
This version is shown to have a motorized wheel stand in place of legs, a police siren on his hat, and assumes that everyone is guilty.
Officer Short Shrift's arrest of Milo and Tock remains intact where he also had to assume the role of judge and jailer to sentence and incarcerate them.
By the end of the film, he passes by Milo's car quoting "Everyone is found innocent until proven guilty".
The Lethargarians, small mischievous lethargic creatures who live in the Doldrums and are irresponsibly lazy.
[1]: 24 In the Chuck Jones adaptation, the Lethargarians have a villainous role being more mischievous and are voiced by an uncredited Thurl Ravenscroft.
They consist of: The Terrible Trivium, a demon in the Mountains of Ignorance who wastes time with useless - or "trivial" - jobs.
Feiffer's illustration was an experiment using spattered ink, later used by Gerald Scarfe and Ralph Steadman a few years later.
Exclusive to the film, the Two-Headed Hypocrite joins its fellow demons in attacking Milo, Tock, and Humbug.