Back on the Film Set

A film crew moves back in to the parking lot behind the Paleontology Museum. For three days straight you could see the lineup of lighting trucks, vending trucks, and a constant flow of actors going in and out. I learned something fascinating about movies filmed in Munich the other day. I knew that classic films like Das Boot, Cabaret, and The Never Ending Story were filmed in Munich. It was a complete surprise to find out that “Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory” was filmed in Munich as well. That’s right. The 1971 children’s classic about a poor boy who wins the possibility of a life-time supply of chocolate was filmed in Munich because it was much cheaper than the US, and the setting fit the original screenplay. The director said he liked the ambiguity and unfamiliarity of the location. The external shots of the factory were filmed at the Gasworks on Dachauerstrasse. Most of the factory interior scenes were filmed at Bavaria Film Works. And the closing sequence, when the Wonkavator is flying above the factory is footage of Nordlingen, 132 KM NW of Munich. I haven’t been to the town, but it’s one of only three in Germany that still has a completely established city wall. The other two being Rothenburg ob der Tauber (244 KM NW of Munich) and Dinkelsbuhl.