‘The Simpsons’ predicted disastrous ‘Willy Wonka Experience’ 31 years ago, fans say: ‘Holy s–t’

The Matt Groening-created comedy series was credited with predicting
The Matt Groening-created comedy series was credited with predicting "Willy Wonka's Chocolate Experience," the infamous Scottish event that had children crying and parents demanding refunds.
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“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.

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.

“The crazy part is that Homerland unironically looks 10x better,” said one X user while comparing “Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Experience” to “The Simpsons” counterpart. FOX
“The crazy part is that Homerland unironically looks 10x better,” said one X user while comparing “Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Experience” to “The Simpsons” counterpart. FOX

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.

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.

An Oompa Loompa even appears in The Simpsons episode “Sweets and Sour Marge,” the eighth episode of Season 13. FOX
An Oompa Loompa even appears in The Simpsons episode “Sweets and Sour Marge,” the eighth episode of Season 13. FOX
Actress Jenny Fogarty playing an Oompa Loompa — one of Willy Wonka’s tiny gobstopper-gobbling mavens — at the failed bash. Jenny Fogarty / SWNS
Actress Jenny Fogarty playing an Oompa Loompa — one of Willy Wonka’s tiny gobstopper-gobbling mavens — at the failed bash. Jenny Fogarty / SWNS

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 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 organized the event, has since apologized for the fiasco on their Facebook page.

“Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Experience” turned out to be a candy-colored nightmare. Jenny Fogarty / SWNS
“Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Experience” turned out to be a candy-colored nightmare. Jenny Fogarty / SWNS

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.