Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Fiasco

Huge thank you to Michael Archibald and Jenny Fogarty for helping me piece together a portrait of what really went down at that warehouse in Scotland. You can follow them here! (Believe me, they deserve it). Michael Archibald: michael_a0705 (Instagram) He's also an INCREDIBLE artist and is open for commissions. Jenny Fogarty: jennyyy_hope (instagram) jenxdesign_ (Instagram) you can also check out here Etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/jenxdesign1/

I feel awful for the actors, the Oompa Loompa girls in particular - apparently they were doing their best to still give the kids a decent experience.

The obviously A.I generated art should’ve been our first clue that this was a bunch of nonsense.

"Oh, we're so diverse, we hired a black girl to play Willy!" and then immediately recasts her as the masked villain... I'm not the only one who feels that's kinda.... Icky?

Billy Coull: acts like a white savior over hiring a single black girl. Also Billy Coull: pays all female actors less, demotes the same black girl from main character to hidden background character, hides her race (which he previously praised himself for exploiting) behind a mask, and treats her the worst out of all the cast members. I'm disappointed in myself for being shocked at this twist.

What I find baffling is that the owner ACTUALLY WENT HERE. If you're gonna scam people don't stay to get punched in the face. I hope all the performers get job offers.

1 like to help remove the Unknown from inside the walls

Ah yes, Billy Bonka and the Non-Copyright-Infringing Manufacturing Site of Coca-derived Treats. My favourite Ronald Dali book.

Dude couldn't even do an apology without AI!

Power move from Michael pointing out the man in charge. Good on you, mate

Billy being present at the event after setting his actors up for a clear disaster, on top of denying them a lunch break, was a ballsy move. It was satisfying to see them throw him to the wolves when things went awry.

Any company that uses ai instead of real artists is the first red flag for anything. Cause it shows that 1. They dont value artistic work 2. They dont have enough or dont want to spend money

Michael was so big brained for talking to parents and pointing Billy out to them 💯 hats off to him (no sweaty hats tho)

And the funny thing is the first year of my architecture study we were tasked to made this immersive art exhibition in our studio using only cardboards, foams, and sheets and it was miles away better than whatever that was

Personally can’t wait for Wonka 2 Where wonka must fight the unknown

It’s so obvious that Billy was desperate for actors and hadn’t even read his own damn script. He just picked up the first 6 actors who responded, hired the two thin white girls as Oompah Loompah’s cause he’d already brought the Poundland sexy Oompah Loompah outfit and then threw everyone else into the role of Wonka even if it didn’t fit in the slightest. Then realised way too late that The Unknown existed (cause the actors likely asked him about it and he didn’t plan beforehand) and last minuet recast the one person who stuck out the most as Wonka. What a shambles

“What. Is. That. It’s The Unknown”

As someone who works in themed entertainment, location-based entertainment, and immersive experiences, this whole debacle infuriates me. There is so much time (at times years), money (in the millions), and labor (human, not AI) that goes into these experiences. These things give the industry a bad name, and an unfairly dark mark on all of these actors' CVs. I'm glad these actors are having their say.

I hope one day people catch a glimpse of Billy skulking around in the public and point at him shouting "What is that?! It's Billy Coull!!"

The gall of this man is incredible. 35 quid for this cowboy job when you can get into Cadbury World, an ACTUAL chocolate factory for cheaper, is hilarious to me.