Wonka's Fantastical Factory

Framestore teamed up with award-winning commercial director Daniel Kleinman of Rattling Stick and creative agency BBDO San Francisco to bring the fantastical world of Wonka to life for cloud computing platform ServiceNow.

Effects Simulation

Visual Effects Supervisor

While his world might be fictitious, the campaign highlights how ServiceNow can bring organisation and efficiency to any operation through digital workflows. Even one as famously eccentric as Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Consisting of nine unique commercials, each explores a variety of challenges that Wonka faces as CEO -- from marshmallow pillow supply issues, to spy butterflies and coconut snow explosions.

Framestore’s team in Los Angeles was responsible for all VFX across the campaign, as well as final color grade, working closely with the Roald Dahl Story Company to ensure the authenticity of Wonka’s representation. Collaborating with Kleinman and BBDO for months prior to the shoot, and maintaining the original 1971 film as a key reference point, the team updated Wonka’s factory by leaning into vibrant colors, enormous scale and playful architecture.

Framestore sent VFX Supervisors to set in Prague to oversee the shoot, while in LA the team focused on asset creation in order to hit the ground running as soon as the plates landed. Teams led by Head of CG Christian Nielsen brought to life giant geese, a massive chocolate fountain, and a candy-filled garden inside the factory that measured several football fields in scale. In tandem, Creative Director Alex Thomas worked consistently to push the visuals in line with the visions of the Roald Dahl estate, agency and director.

“Framestore has a long history of collaboration with Daniel Kleinman, which inevitably made this project a positive and synergistic creative experience,” said Thomas. “As always he brought his unique vision to the party, inviting Framestore to take the vision and run with it -- and since we were effectively creating worlds, there was certainly latitude for vast creative exploration. Corinne Goode and Kate Catalinac from BBDO were also enormous fun to work with, bringing huge passion and character to every visual nuance and always serving the narrative. The scale of the project was challenging given the variety of assets required, but every stage was an enjoyable collective journey.”

Wonka’s digitally transformed factory seamless can be seen on broadcast and digital in the U.S., UK and Germany all thanks to ServiceNow.