Twitter Thinks The Simpsons Predicted Glasgow's Willy Wonka Event Fiasco In 1993
People who keep tabs on the weirder end of the news spectrum may be familiar with Glasgow's Willy Wonka event, which horrified kids nearly as effectively as some parts of the original "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" movie. Some X (formerly known as Twitter) users have found the incident somewhat familiar and pointed out that the lackluster Willy's Chocolate Experience was predicted by "The Simpsons."
In 1993, the long-running animated show's Season 5, Episode 7 — "Bart's Inner Child" — featured Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta) acquiring a trampoline from Krusty the Clown (Castellaneta) and dreaming up a decidedly low-budget experience called Homerland, complete with attractions like a funky-smelling mattress fortress and a huge mud pit. In fact, the animated series has managed to preemptively skewer the Glasgow Wonka event more than once. Apart from Homerland, "The Simpsons" Season 13, Episode 8 — "Sweets and Sour Marge" — features a throwaway gag about a sad Oompa Loompa smoking a cigarette, whose disillusioned vibe seems to match that of an Oompa Loompa performer at the Glasgow event whose photo went viral.
"The Simpsons did it again," @putasinghonit tweeted, complete with a side-by-side comparison of screenshots from the show and images from the event. Meanwhile, @Criminalsimpson merely posted a slew of Homerland images, letting the masses draw their own conclusions. "Still more fun than the Willie Wonka experience," @DarwinsOutcasts said of Homerland.
The Simpsons has a long history of seemingly predicting real-world events
The Willy Wonka event is just one of the many times "The Simpsons" has managed to somehow freakishly predict the future. This has grown into a recurring joke since the show has simply covered so many things over the years that reality can't help but match its storylines every once in a while.
In 2023, for instance, "The Simpsons" stunned fans who discovered the show had "predicted" the missing Titan submarine's destruction in Season 17, Episode 10 — "Homer's Paternity Coot." In the Wonka case, the show was so hilariously accurate that it even got the admission price nearly right. Homerland's hefty entrance fee is $50, while the Glasgow event charged £35 (slightly over $44).
Of course, it's worth noting that Homerland is simply a fleeting daydream that even Homer Simpson didn't actually try to turn into reality. Meanwhile, Willy's Chocolate Experience was as real as it was underwhelming, received a massive backlash, and had visitors demanding refunds. Chalk it all up to the truth once again being stranger than fiction.