A deep dive into whether Willy Wonka from Wonka: The Golden Ticket is based on a real person

Willy Wonka is the fictional character that we all know and love from The Chocolate Factory film, and they’ve now made a whole reality TV competition out of it for Wonka: The Golden Ticket. Gene Wilder is the guy who acted as Willy Wonka, but was he based on a real person?

While Willy Wonka is most definitely not a real person, there was loose inspiration drawn from author Roald Dahl’s childhood. When he was a school pupil, there were certain things going on in the chocolate industry, when Cadbury’s and Rowntrees brands had a huge row. 

When Roald was at Repton Boarding School, the students would get chocolate packages in return for reviews, which is believed to have planted a seed in his mind about the invention room, which competitors Bryce and Taylor joked they have PTSD from in the show.

TIL – When Roald Dahl attended school, the nearby Cadbury chocolate factory would occasionally send boxes of new chocolates to the school to be tested by students. It is believed that this likely inspired him in writing his third children's book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
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Essentially, Cadbury’s were testing products out on the kids before they’d get sent to market, from 1930 to 1934. The school believes this sparked a lifelong love of chocolate culminating in Roald’s world-famous story, leading him to write Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.

John Golding, house master at The Priory, told the BBC: “In a rather marvellous move, Cadbury decided they would have a blind testing facility at Repton – something I am sure the pupils would love to have now. We like to think this was what inspired Dahl to write Charlie.”

“In fact he had a lifelong love of chocolate as a result, I think,” he said. It’s thought that Roald wondered what it would be like to create a new chocolate bar for Mr. Cadbury himself, while he also had a passion for sweet shops while growing up in the 1930s.

He also went on a school trip to a Cadbury’s factory in Birmingham, which was also the inspiration behind the film. Now, people are competing to win a lifetime supply of money on Wonka: The Golden Ticket, which features 24 contestants who received a golden ticket.

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