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Fictional Commercial Properties: Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory

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Roald Dahl's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was published in the USA in 1964 and in Britain in 1967. A hit with young readers, the book also captivated adults with its dark humour and wild inventiveness.

The story has been adapted for the big screen twice, once in 1971 with Gene Wilder in the role of demented chocolatier Willy Wonka and once in 2005 with Johnny Depp in the part. 

Dahl's story about a young boy who finds a magic ticket that allows him entry into the mysterious chocolate factory originates in the author's childhood. In the 1920s, major British sweet manufacturers like Cadbury and Rowntree were in fierce competition with one another. It was not uncommon for companies to send spies into the factories of rival companies in order to uncover their secret techniques and recipes. Cadbury also sent boxes of sweets to children at Dahl's school in order to test new flavours. 

Inspired by the combination of secrecy and childlike enjoyment, Dahl conceived of a magical chocolate factory run by a strange, wizard-like genius. The result was the character of Willy Wonka, a man whose madness is eclipsed by the dreamlike wonder of his factory. 

History of the site

Willy Wonka's chocolate factory is a very secretive place. Employees are never seen to enter or leave, although the factory keeps turning out delicious treats. Early in the company's history, chocolatier Willy Wonka worked according to traditional methods. However, the prevalence of industrial espionage forced Wonka to close his doors until a way to counteract spying could be found. 

A promotion in which randomly selected children received “golden tickets” permitting them to visit the Wonka factory shone some light on the secretive Wonka and his methods.

The visitors to the factory were astounded to discover that Wonka's workforce consisted of a tribe of Oompa-Loompas, a diminutive people brought by Wonka from a distant country. The Oompa-Loompas lived in the factory, never emerging, and were unswervingly loyal to their employer. 

The factory itself included a variety of features not found in most chocolate factories. A river of molten chocolate ran through the space; Wonka transported his visitors on a boat made of spun sugar. Other unusual methods of transportation included a massive glass elevator apparently capable of travelling anywhere in the building, or even beyond.

In the factory, Wonka worked on new inventions, including bars of chocolate that could be transmitted over television signals to the sets of customers. It remains to be seen how this product would fare in a world of digital signal and DVRs. 

Like so many things about Willy Wonka, the exact location of the factory is unclear. While most people seem to think that Charlie is British, he bought the chocolate bar that contained his golden ticket using a ten-dollar bill.

The films have both portrayed the area around the factory as a mixture of elements from different times and places. 

Why buy?

State-of-the-art R&D lab
Extensive workforce housing
Unconventional but effective transportation options
River of chocolate 

The "real" Willy Wonka's chocolate factory

Real factories sadly lack the rivers of chocolate and armies of singing dwarfs seen in Willy Wonka's.

However, since 1971, there has in fact been a real Willy Wonka chocolate factoryOwned by Nestlé, The Willy Wonka Candy Company operates a factory in Itasca, Illinois producing genuine Wonka goodies. 

The factory in the 1971 film was represented by the Munich gasworks and the whole film was shot in West Germany whereas the Wonka factory in the 2005 film was completely constructed for the film at Pinewood Studios.

 


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