“Come with me, and you’ll be, in a world of pure imagination…”

With those wondrous words, the eccentric confectioner Willy Wonka welcomed five young children on a journey filled with sweets, surprises, and a few scares.

The year was 1971, and the film “Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory” instantly became a classic. This past June, the film celebrated its 50th anniversary. The movie remains just as popular as new generations of fans watch the antics of Augustus, Veruca, Mike, Violet, and Charlie Bucket.

The film features Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, the main character in Roald Dahl’s 1964 book “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.”

Although Dahl’s book is geared towards the playground set, the film has legions of fans of all ages from around the globe.
Here are a few tidbits of trivia about the Wolper Pictures Production Company creation:

The famous line Wonka says when Augustus is trapped in the pipe of chocolate, “The suspense is terrible, I hope it lasts.” is a quotation from Oscar Wilde.

The picture was filmed in Munich, Germany, and the entrance to the chocolate factory was The Munich Gas Works.

Dahl’s 1964 book on which the film is based has the title “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” but the title for the 1971 film was changed to “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” Producers of the film thought the name change sounded more interesting.

The film includes a TOE winning actor, Jack Albertson (Grandpa Joe) won a Tony, Oscar, and Emmy,

Many of the Wonka Bars were made of wood since real chocolate would melt quickly.

Although Wonka’s Everlasting Gobstoppers sounded interesting, over the years, several candy companies have created some really odd candy like the ones listed below.

Here are just a few sweets that turned sour from the era the film was first released:

Flying Saucers

Certainly, one of the worst tasting, oddest candies ever created.

This creation was first manufactured in Antwerp, Germany, and were tasteless wafers with candy beads inside. Was it a toy, or was it a candy? If you’re ever constipated and lacking in laxatives, a handful of these will do the trick.

Circus Peanuts

A glorious example of food created in a science lab. Orange-hued marshmallow-shaped peanuts that tasted like bananas. That’s the power of artificial flavoring and coloring.
Anise Bears, black licorice, Good & Plenty, black jelly beans, and licorice allsorts

On what planet did young children hoot and holler for anise candy? In any shape or form, anise was the candy of choice for your really old relative who loved playing the organ and eating sauerkraut.

Wax Coca-Cola Bottles

Tiny, flat-shaped Coca-Cola Bottles filled with some chemical liquid that at best tasted like melted popsicles.
Necco Wafers

Ever see the 1973 futuristic film Soylent Green starring Charlton Heston? I need to say no more.

Wax lips

I never understood if you ate these things, played with them, or use them as crayons to draw on the walls.

Jujubes

My teeth actually ache, thinking of these tiny squares of chemicals. Best of all, Jujubes had a yummy taste of mineral oil.

Candy cigarettes

Besides encouraging kids to start smoking at an early age, these nasty cigarette-shaped things looked like white charcoal but tasted worse than real charcoal.

Pixy Stix

Every sugar-crazed, hyperactive child’s dream candy, Pixy Stixs, is nothing more than straws filled with artificial flavored and colored sugar. Simply pour said sugar into one’s mouth, and you’ll be bouncing off the walls.