Follow the Red Brick Road

Wicked, the latest release in the Wizard of Oz universe, is out, and people are LOVING it. What else do people love? Fan theories! Especially ones connecting two of their favorite movies: Willy Wonka and Wizard of Oz.

In what I’m assuming is an expired tumblr post from an obsolete user from the site, and something I had to resurrect using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, lies one of the most interesting theories about the Oz franchise ever. Except for the theory at the end of this theory, of course!

The Red Brick Road Theory, which unfailingly and brilliantly connects the Wonka and Oz universes, begins with this simple question: where does the red brick road go?

We all know where the yellow brick road goes, but what about the red?

Here’s where it leads:

It's Willy's Chocolate Factory!

That’s not the end of it, though. The theory introduces the idea that Willy Wonka is the Wizard’s son. Willy gets his start in a small town making candy, and soon word spreads of his amazing creations, so he decides to expand. Around the same time, his father gets carried away to Oz one day while in his hot air balloon, and crash lands there, stranding himself. The father desperately wants to go home, so he starts building a magical glass elevator.

Years pass, and not much more is heard about Willy. But eventually, he decides to start searching for his father. During that search, Willy gets sucked up in a tornado Oz- & Dorothy-style, and ends up in Oz, surrounded by munchkins...and candy. What do you do when you’re in a strange magical place, and need help? You go see the Wizard in the Emerald City. Wonka does this, and unbeknownst to him, finds his father.

In the meantime, the Wizard has decided he loves it in Oz so much, he doesn’t want to go. So, when Wonka reaches him, the Wizard stays behind his curtain so Wonka doesn’t know it’s him, and he gives his son the blueprints to the elevator. Kind of like the gifts he’ll eventually give to three singing, witch killing visitors he’ll soon meet.

Wonka builds and then uses the elevator to go home. He brings some Munchkins with him, rebranding them Oompa Loompas to protect their identities and the location of the magical land of Oz, and employs them in his candy factory. During his time in Oz, he saw that the Munchkins were struggling and jobless, thanks to most of the attention in the land being drawn to the construction of the Emerald City.

With the secrets he learned from the Lollipop Guild, he made the most amazing candy on the planet. In return for their hard work and sharing the wild candy of Oz, Wonka took very good care of the Munchk...er...Oompa Loompas.

What about the Oompa's orange colored skin, you might ask? The prolonged exposure to the chocolate in Willy's factory is to blame, of course. The green hair was a trademark Willy wished his workers to have, and another means of hiding their identity as Oz-landers.

Years pass, and traveling back and forth between Oz and home, Wonka decides not only help build up Munchkin Land, but to also build two roads leading from Munchkin Land to two places. One yellow road to the Emerald City, and one red road that leads to his factory.

Did you like that? Then you’ll LOVE this Theory to Blow You Back to Kansas!