“Willy” spoke to the Independent:
Yeah they do. The phrase “an enigmatic wordsmith hailing from the bustling streets of Glasgow” that I used is from his bio on Amazon, as quoted in the article.
This seems like one of those weird occurrences where now that it is internationally infamous that demand will suddenly skyrocket and people who still have their $45 ticket in hand will be able to sell them on ebay for $1045. Actual props used in the event as collectors items, etc.
Not really, no. They mention “17 Chat-GPT written novels on Amazon” and one title but nothing about what those are: vaccine conspiracies and human trafficking.
It clearly says “causing excitement and wonder among the audience.” Surely, you can’t blame the AI Fever dream generator highly skilled scriptwriter if the audience doesn’t follow their stage directions.
Wouldn’t he have to pay some sort of licensing fee to the Dahl estate or whatever entity the IP rights wound up at? Guy better lawyer up.
From the Wikipedia article (originally created on 27 February):
A photograph of [Kirsty] Paterson playing an Oompa-Loompa at a table covered in scientific equipment became a significant depiction of the event. The image became a meme and was compared to a picture of a “meth lab”.
The photo:
I want some sweet teats.
Oompha loompha doopity do
I have a special warning for you
Oompha loompha doopity dollocks
The Willy Wonka Experience is a load of bollocks
But, but, it’s Legally Distinct Willy McDuff.
That’s a dictionary picture for the phrase “questioning one’s life choices”.
“To W.W. My star, my perfect silence.” Huh. I mean, who do you figure that is, huh? Woodrow Wilson? Willy Wonka? Walter White?
The organizers say something. Hopefully there will be an English translation soon.
I recently took my kids to an event, the Rabbit Hearty Party - itself a spin-off of Afrikaburn, ( I live in South Africa) which is in turn a spin-off of Burning Man, but this party was completely aimed at kids. They had mermaid actors in the pools. They had pirates willing to duel with kids armed with balloon cutlasses. They had wandering magicians. They had at least 3 different activities every hour, from “silent disco” to clay work, to a shadow puppet show, and much much more. Bouncing castles. Dressed up characters all over.
I paid, roughly US$30 (total) for myself, and two children to get in. Full day entertainment for both of them.
I do not think the organisers (if you can call them that) of the OP complaint made any effort.
I have been involved in set building and party decor, my god that was shoddy
Not to criticise @Maus_Magill - this is just a reply
But…was it enough to avoid legal trouble? They did…something. Was it technically enough for them to say they delivered on their promise?
I am not defending these guys. I am legit wondering if they tried to do the very least possible while technically meeting their obligations.
ETA: On another note, I’d be surprised if they got licensing from whoever owns the Willy Wonka IP to do this. So, I would expect the owners of the IP to go after these guys.
You’re being modest. Afrikaburn is the largest sanctioned regional event outside the big show and with the diaspora after 2012, that’s saying something. It’s no surprise to me that burners know how to pull off something magical better than this pogue does.
Just out of curiosity: (a) was it advertised as a “chocolate experience”, and (b) was there any chocolate?
You are right, in my opinion. It was a bunch of Afrikaburn participants who have children who created this child-first party. So not “really” an offshoot, in that this is unofficial.
I loved it. Other than the occasional nudge to “get out the pool, we’ll miss the puppet show”, I let my two kids chose activities. So my only job was timekeeping.
A lovely insight into their decision making and interaction, just letting them decide.
The fact that there was anything at all at the venue is curious. It seems obvious this was a scam from the start, but if you’re going to scam people out of money for tickets to a future event, why even bother making a quarter-assed attempt at set dressing? I have two thoughts…
It may be that the sparse collection of props we see in the news articles was, prior to the event, clustered in the reception area of the unopened venue. This would mean that anyone who was suspicious of the thing, and local enough to visit, would peer through the glass and see what appeared to be a wonka-themed something-or-other, and their suspicions would be quelled, and they would not blow the whistle.
Alternatively, the real scam may be loan fraud. The event organiser may have sought a loan or other funding, and the payout staging of that funding might have required some sort of tangible evidence of a work in progress - which might have been satisfied by hiring an empty warehouse, lining up a few actors (with no intent to pay them) and ordering a few samples of props and set dressing.
Not chocolate as far as I can tell, but certainly there was a promise of exarserdray lollipops and a pasadise of sweet teats. Catgacating for sure.
The movie and book rights are owned by two separate entitities but from what I’ve seen, this event is beholden to both. The event website itself tries to tiptoe carefully around mentioning Wonka (except in a disclaimer saying ‘Any resemblance to any character, fictitious or living, is purely coincidental. This experience is in no way related to the Wonka franchise, which is owned by the Warner Bros. company.’ ), but the ‘parent’ site explicitly calls the event ‘the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Experience’