Learn what went into crafting Willy Wonka’s personal riverboat, the S.S. Wonkatania, as Senior Model Designer Laura Perron highlights the importance of composition in a LEGO set like 21360 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and the collaboration needed to achieve it.
21360 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is the latest set from LEGO Ideas, originally conceived by LEGO fans Roberto Ceruti and Jody Padulano, then carefully adapted by Senior Model Designer with support from Design Manager Jordan Scott. To ensure the set looks the part, they had to consider how to incorporate the S.S. Wonkatania into the set to ensure the balance of the model is just right.
It’s standard procedure for the LEGO Ideas team to adjust and retool fan projects when they get approved for release as official LEGO sets; the fan models, while always impressive, have to be brought up to the LEGO Group’s specific requirements for sets, so that the product is easy for any fan of the brick to pick up and build.
Oftentimes, this results in cutting down or scaling down some elements of the fan design due to restrictions surrounding price or piece count. But in the case of 21360 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, the official set went in the opposite direction, adding in the S.S. Wonkatania to sail along the chocolate river, as seen in the 1971 film.
The whimsical little boat was considered for the initial concept, as revealed by Jody: “We were thinking that it was too much, that the project was already full of stuff, and we removed it in early concepts, but it was an idea we had talked about.”
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But when it came time for Laura to redesign the project, the S.S. Wonkatania ended up back in the discussion as she narrowed down the source material to the 1971 film starring Gene Wilder.
“We decided on the 1971 version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, so that informed a lot of the design decisions made for this model,” Laura explains. “How can we stay true to the 1971 layout? The first sketch model that I built was very linear and it just felt very flat. It wasn’t very exciting. So pretty early on, we decided to angle it to make it more dynamic. And once we angled it, a key feature we wanted to keep was the bridge.
“So now we have the bridge and we have the angled layout, but now there’s an empty space under the bridge, so that’s how the Wonkatania came into play. Because it was like, ‘well, if we’re going to have this bridge and this negative space, let’s bring in the Wonkatania, this beautiful boat.’”
The white and blues of the Wonkatania make it a perfect choice to fill the space, adding a splash of colour to an area that is otherwise dominated by the brown river. But when it came time to figure out just how the boat could be built in LEGO bricks, it turned out to be a reminder for Laura about the importance of collaboration.
“Sometimes I’m like, ‘no, I’ll do everything myself.’ And I forget to collaborate as much as I should,” Laura says. “But this project helped me collaborate a lot more. Shout out to [Senior Designer] Markus [Rollbühler] with the boat, because there came a point where the base took a lot longer in the design process than I was anticipating, I was feeling quite stressed about the time ticking on it.
“So I was like, ‘Markus, can you help me with this boat? I’m running out of time.’ And then he just completely smashed it. We were able to work together and collaborate. And collaboration makes for better products because you have more minds on it.”
“Markus works in Speed Champions,” chimes in Jordan. “So this is almost like a Speed Champions boat, if you will, because it’s built with five modules, with crazy, weird connection points and stuff.”
“I know we had an issue at one point with the top because we had a previous version where the awning was tilting backwards so that you could put the figures in, but that wasn’t working,” Laura continues. “So we ended up with this solution, having the cross axle lift up more easily so that you can put your figures in there. I know that was a challenge.”
Fitting all the necessary characters on the boat was no easy task, either, thanks to the adorably wacky proportions of LEGO minifigures. But Laura and Markus’ collaborative work resulted in an elegant vessel worthy of Willy Wonka, and one that feels right at home in the chocolate river of 21360 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
If you’re eager to take a cruise in the LEGO Wonkatania, consider purchasing 21360 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory via our affiliate links to help support the work we do at Blocks, online and in print.
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