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The Simpsons predicted sad Willy Wonka-inspired experience

The Simpsons has done it again after fans noticed the eerie similarities between fictional events in the show and a real life disaster.

The Simpson's predicted the Willy Wonka event that had people call the cops. Picture: Fox
The Simpson's predicted the Willy Wonka event that had people call the cops. Picture: Fox

“The Simpsons” may have foretold this epic event fudging.

“Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Experience” has been mercilessly mocked after it failed to deliver on a promise to delight children with a recreation of Roald Dahl’s fictional candy factory.

Photos from the Glasgow, Scotland soiree, which cost attendees $45 per person, have gone viral online, with viewers stunned by the dismal warehouse setting, paltry props, and unenthused employees dressed as Oompa Loompas.

The ‘sad’ Oompa Loompa at the recent Glasgow Willy Wonka experience. Picture: X / TheVP
The ‘sad’ Oompa Loompa at the recent Glasgow Willy Wonka experience. Picture: X / TheVP
The ‘sad’ Oompa Loompa from a 30-year-old episode looks eerily similar. Picture: Fox
The ‘sad’ Oompa Loompa from a 30-year-old episode looks eerily similar. Picture: Fox

While kids were left crying and furious parents demanded refunds, some social media pundits proclaimed that “The Simpson” predicted the fiasco all along.

The Matt Groening-created comedy – which has been hailed as the “world’s most prophetic cartoon” – ran a 1993 episode featuring an eerily similar plot.

In the prescient episode, entitled “Bart’s Inner Child,” Homer Simpson buys a trampoline, which he plans to use in a backyard theme park for children.

While the fantasy never comes to fruition, the Simpsons patriarch does dream about a “Homerland,” at which guests pay $50 to pile onto the tiny trampoline, a play in a fort made from dirty mattresses.

The Simpson's predicted the Willy Wonka event that had people call the cops. Picture: Fox
The Simpson's predicted the Willy Wonka event that had people call the cops. Picture: Fox

When Bart’s friend Milhouse claims that the latter attraction “smells funny,” a deluded Homer retorts “no it doesn’t.”

But that’s not where the “Simpsons” similarities end.

In another episode from 2002, Homer encounters a sad, smoking Oompa Loompa that looks a lot like its cosplayer counterpart at the botched “Wonka” bash.

On X, pundits pointed out the similarities, with one remarking: “Holy s**t ‘The Simpsons’ did it AGAIN!”

Others said that “Homeland” still looked preferable to the Wonka event in Scotland.

“Still more fun than the Willy Wonka experience,” an X user commented.

Another wrote: “The crazy part is that Homerland unironically looks 10x better.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just visitors and internet gawkers who were appalled by the Scottish event’s shoddiness.

Actor Paul Connell, who played the part of Wonka at “Willy’s Chocolate Experience,” has spoken out, describing it as “an absolute mess”.

The Wonka-inspired experience promised a “paradise of sweet treats” but attendees were left bitterly disappointed. Picture: X@AlsikkanTV
The Wonka-inspired experience promised a “paradise of sweet treats” but attendees were left bitterly disappointed. Picture: X@AlsikkanTV

The Scotsman said the first “red flag” came when he was cast as the titular cane-twirling chocolatier and not an Oompa Loompa – a role he felt he was better suited for.

“Anyone who looks at me and thinks Willy Wonka and not Oompa Loompa is out of their mind,” he quipped.

Connell ultimately dubbed the event one of the “most embarrassing things” he’s ever seen, adding that it “was disrespectful to the families and us as promising actors.”

“I really hope that everyone gets their refunds that they deserve,” he declared.

The House of Illuminati, which organised the event, has since apologised for the fiasco on its Facebook page.

The Willy Wonka calamity is just one of many predictions by The Simpsons. The clairvoyant cartoon’s previously been credited with divining everything from the Titanic submarine disaster to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This story originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as The Simpsons predicted sad Willy Wonka-inspired experience

Original URL: https://www.themercury.com.au/entertainment/television/the-simpsons-predicted-sad-willy-wonkainspired-experience/news-story/c40c626b28b42d0262a9fbad9b05c5c4