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Post by David J on Feb 29, 2024 23:58:03 GMT
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Post by sph on Mar 1, 2024 0:05:19 GMT
Still more set than it had at Drury Lane though.
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6,318 posts
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Post by Jon on Mar 1, 2024 0:43:04 GMT
Am I a bad person for not feeling sorry for anyone who purchased tickets or were hired?
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Post by sph on Mar 1, 2024 0:58:47 GMT
Am I a bad person for not feeling sorry for anyone who purchased tickets or were hired? Seems to have turned into a nice bit of exposure for the actor/comedian hired to play Willy Wonka, so... every cloud and all that. |
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2,761 posts
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Post by ceebee on Mar 1, 2024 7:34:06 GMT
Poundshop Wonka. What did people expect? Hope the organisers are properly investigated and that people owed are reimbursed.
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Mar 1, 2024 8:55:51 GMT
Still more set than it had at Drury Lane though. I was thinking better than Tim Burton's Wonka |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 1, 2024 9:21:33 GMT
Still more set than it had at Drury Lane though. Not sure many would agree with you there. One thing that show did have was lots of set. |
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5,278 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 1, 2024 9:21:58 GMT
Am I a bad person for not feeling sorry for anyone who purchased tickets or were hired? Yes! |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 1, 2024 9:34:43 GMT
Apparently the actors were instructed to give the kiddies only a single jelly bean each, and a quarter of a cup of off-brand lemonade 🤭
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1,006 posts
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Post by David J on Mar 1, 2024 10:43:21 GMT
Am I a bad person for not feeling sorry for anyone who purchased tickets or were hired? They could have taken note of the lazily used AI images and spelling mistakes on the website (which I don't know how long it will be remain up for) willyschocolateexperience.com/index.html |
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2,761 posts
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Post by ceebee on Mar 1, 2024 10:49:32 GMT
To be honest, anything marketed as Willy's Chocolate Experience is a bit of an eyebrow raiser.
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6,318 posts
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Post by Jon on Mar 1, 2024 12:18:28 GMT
Warner Bros and The Roald Dahl Story Company need to either sue or order a cease and desist.
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2,761 posts
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Post by ceebee on Mar 1, 2024 12:38:34 GMT
Am I a bad person for not feeling sorry for anyone who purchased tickets or were hired? They could have taken note of the lazily used AI images and spelling mistakes on the website (which I don't know how long it will be remain up for) willyschocolateexperience.com/index.htmlThe 'trademarked' "Imagination Lab" with accompanying graphic entitled "Imagnation Lab" kinda sums this whole farce up. "Encherining Entertainment"... Sorry, what does this even mean?! House of Illuminati? More like the House of Illiterati. |
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5,588 posts
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Post by lynette on Mar 1, 2024 15:00:20 GMT
Leaves a nasty taste in the mouth doesn’t it …
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Post by jojo on Mar 1, 2024 15:50:30 GMT
Am I a bad person for not feeling sorry for anyone who purchased tickets or were hired? I feel sorry for the innocent staff. Or did, except now they have a great story to tell for years to come. I wouldn't be surprised if there were thousands of people claiming to have worked there by the end of the year. I'm less concerned for those who went. Partly because now they too have a great story to tell. But also the original story of Willy Wonka is that accepting a golden ticket is a dangerous thing, and less fun than you had hoped it to be. |
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Post by sph on Mar 1, 2024 16:14:41 GMT
Still more set than it had at Drury Lane though. Not sure many would agree with you there. One thing that show did have was lots of set. Oh sure! In the junkyard scene... That big reveal of the chocolate room when they enter the factory? Err... not so much... |
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Post by Dave B on Mar 1, 2024 16:17:34 GMT
Linus Karp, Rob Madge and others doing The Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience Quiz and Game Experience at Clapham Grand
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6,318 posts
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Post by Jon on Mar 1, 2024 17:12:13 GMT
To be honest, anything marketed as Willy's Chocolate Experience is a bit of an eyebrow raiser. I get that you can't trademark the word Willy (heh, Willy..) or Chocolate but to me the IP holders should really have shut this down. |
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Post by karloscar on Mar 3, 2024 13:16:01 GMT
The Dune 2 experience looks like a real money-spinner!
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Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 3, 2024 16:06:19 GMT
Not sure many would agree with you there. One thing that show did have was lots of set. Oh sure! In the junkyard scene... That big reveal of the chocolate room when they enter the factory? Err... not so much... Conveniently forgetting all of the set for every single other scene 🤣 |
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2,761 posts
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Post by ceebee on Mar 3, 2024 16:18:49 GMT
Oh sure! In the junkyard scene... That big reveal of the chocolate room when they enter the factory? Err... not so much... Conveniently forgetting all of the set for every single other scene 🤣 I must admit I was scratching my head about the set comments - I recall that the Drury Lane set was sumptuous. The big Oompa Loompa factory that descended to the stage, the "bad nut" machine, the Mike Teevee studio, the factory itself, the ramshackle house/grandparents bed etc. I thought it was great! (The glass elevator lift was an issue as we know, but this was still a production I enjoyed hugely!) |
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Post by sph on Mar 3, 2024 18:45:33 GMT
Oh sure! In the junkyard scene... That big reveal of the chocolate room when they enter the factory? Err... not so much... Conveniently forgetting all of the set for every single other scene 🤣 The opening chocolate room in the show is supposed to be the big "wow" moment and it just... wasn't. Clearly that's the vibe the organisers of this event hoped for too and obviously they did not deliver. None of the chocolate factory sets really stood out as much as the Act 1 sets in the musical. But please, do continue to beat my minor comment to death I cannot describe to you how much it genuinely THRIIIILLLLLS me. |
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Post by criticalprole on Mar 3, 2024 19:19:04 GMT
It sucks for the legitimate entertainment groups based in Scotland. The prop hire company have released a statement for example, and are getting hit with 'hilarious' hire requests from the general public. They also do 'wonka theme' stuff for weddings and kids parties, etc, so they've gotten some of the splashback here. Same goes for folk like Northern Frights, who are having to work hard to avoid people cancelling on them in a panic that their events might also be a scam.
The general public are stupid.
The bloke behind this fiasco is apparently Billy Coull, a peddler of dodgy scams, anti-vax books and other low-effort, potentially harmful computer generated crap.
All that said; "I can't believe it's not Harry Potter' / Wizard School style events aren't uncommon in Scotland, and I can see how whipping something up online then bunging a load of props in a room sounds easy on paper.
Joe Public looks at stuff like Comic-Cons, 'Wizard School' events and Santa's Grottos and assume that it's raking it in. They don't consider the skills needed. The idea of something as simple as a rehearsal or safety briefing wouldn't even cross their minds.
Seriously, more kids need to do theatre and events stuff growing up. It wouldn't have stopped Billy Coul but maybe less people would have gone to the event.
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Post by sph on Mar 3, 2024 19:32:35 GMT
The individual props at this event were actually of a decent standard, they were just strung together in a very underwhelming way. If I needed similar props for a party or something, I'd happily hire them.
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5,278 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 4, 2024 9:50:25 GMT
The individual props at this event were actually of a decent standard, they were just strung together in a very underwhelming way. If I needed similar props for a party or something, I'd happily hire them. You need an eye test I think🤣 |
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Post by sph on Mar 4, 2024 19:25:25 GMT
The individual props at this event were actually of a decent standard, they were just strung together in a very underwhelming way. If I needed similar props for a party or something, I'd happily hire them. You need an eye test I think🤣 If what criticalprole said above is true, the props came from a prop hire company, who don't really deserve backlash for renting out props for an event for which their props were not suited. If you look at the individual props (giant chocolate bars etc), they themselves are not of bad quality, but they certainly do not work in an immersive/event theatre setting. For a party or something, fine, for this particular outing, no. They were also just strewn randomly around an empty warehouse, I mean it was all put together so badly. My eyes do not need testing, they are just discerning enough to notice the things that you didn't. |
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Post by erik24601 on Mar 5, 2024 16:12:25 GMT
The fact that their website is still up, with no statement or apology on it...
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Post by jojo on Mar 5, 2024 16:25:27 GMT
You need an eye test I think🤣 If what criticalprole said above is true, the props came from a prop hire company, who don't really deserve backlash for renting out props for an event for which their props were not suited. If you look at the individual props (giant chocolate bars etc), they themselves are not of bad quality, but they certainly do not work in an immersive/event theatre setting. For a party or something, fine, for this particular outing, no. They were also just strewn randomly around an empty warehouse, I mean it was all put together so badly. My eyes do not need testing, they are just discerning enough to notice the things that you didn't. Between the chuckles and the memes, there are two big learning points from this. The first is that set design, and making things look good takes more skill and thought that most people realise and should be appreciated. I'm sure that will be quickly forgotten by the general public, but I like to think that some professionals are enjoying a brief period of appreciation. The second is a good lesson on the use and abuse of AI in advertising. The promotional images were obviously AI, but some people didn't notice, or didn't realise that their connection with reality was near non-existent. As well as providing lots of good meme material, they are going to feature in a lot of future study material for advertising, ethics and AI. Hopefully the examples will help at least some people think twice and therefore avoid falling for the kind of scams where people lose their life savings. |
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Post by criticalprole on Mar 5, 2024 21:19:11 GMT
The prop company is Event Prop Hire Creative. They've issued a statement (on TikTok no less) that they didn't partner / collaborate with the Wonka fiasco. Looks like it's mostly props for corporate events.
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4,962 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Mar 16, 2024 14:03:55 GMT
Channel 5 tonight at 7.35pm (and repeated on Tuesday at 7pm).
Apparently, this is "the scandal that rocked Britain".
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