So…whatever happened to Buzzy? Let’s go back a few years, to the beginning of a Disney mystery that has gripped the internet for years…
Buzzy was the main character of the animatronic show, Cranium Command, in Epcot’s Wonders of Life Pavilion. The show opened with the pavilion in 1989 and ran through 2008, when the Wonders of Life was shuttered (and remains closed after the planned PLAY! pavilion never materialized). Throughout the 2010s, trespassers had documented that the attraction lay frozen in time, including Buzzy’s animatronic.
In 2018, news reports began circulating that someone had stolen Buzzy’s hat, headset, and leather jacket. Former cast member Patrick Spikes was eventually convicted of the crime. Soon after Spikes stole the figure’s clothes, Buzzy was gone. At some point, the several-hundred-pound animatronic had been cut free and removed from the shuttered attraction, leaving behind a pool of hydraulic fluid. The internet was set ablaze, with speculation circulating… what happened to Buzzy? Did someone pull the Walt Disney World equivalent of Ocean’s 11? Or did Disney finally pack up Buzzy after a long decade of limbo to begin work on their upcoming PLAY! pavilion?
That’s the core mystery that led director Josh Bailey to create Stolen Kingdom, a feature-length documentary tracing the history of Disney urban exploration and how one participant, Patrick Spikes, eventually took things far beyond documentation in pursuit of fame and fortune. Stolen Kingdom is Bailey’s directorial debut, and what a bizarrely spectacular way to start out with an incredibly niche true-crime documentary.
Much of the archival footage has been publicly available online for years. But the film shifts the focus to the explorers themselves, trespassing off-limits and documenting what regular guests don’t usually see. What would lead someone to jump off an attraction? Swim to the long deserted Discovery Island on Bay Lake? Furthermore, what made people so interested in purchasing Spikes’ stolen Disney goods?
Despite the subject matter, for a movie so obviously inspired by punk rock documentaries, it still has an abundance of admiration and reverence for the parks. There’s no shortage of reminders that the stories being told are illegal and that the audience should not do it themselves. The variety of interviews builds a compelling clash of perspectives.
One of the interviewees, Dave “Hoot Gibson” Ensign, clarified the point by noting that removing a piece of an attraction strips away the context that makes it special. The juxtaposition of Spikes’ braggadocio attitude about his burglary displays a fascinating conflict between the different characters, and Patrick Spikes is indeed a character. That was made apparent during the Q&A after the film, where director Josh Bailey, editor Matthew Serrano, and Patrick Spikes all appeared.
If the film’s unhinged interviews with Spikes and the absolutely humiliating footage of his arrest, which the filmmakers were able to pull from public records, weren’t enough embarrassment for the former thief… Josh and Matthew went into detail about the absurdity of the contents of his phone live on stage. His habit of documenting the robberies in detail led to some great visuals of the breadth of his crime spree (also great evidence in the police case against him), but there were some unfortunate inclusions. Josh and Matthew explained that Patrick’s phone was full of unintended screenshots created by some sticky side buttons. Josh was especially intrigued by the juxtaposition of searches such as “box truck,” “large wagon,” and “how to hire a woman for the night.” Those images, including Spikes’ unfortunate screenshots, made it into the film.
Stolen Kingdom began production almost immediately after the news of Buzzy’s disappearance broke. The team grew over time, with director Josh Bailey adding filmmakers like Matthew Serrano to help narrow down the story. They landed on a structure after several generations of urban explorers, starting with the team behind Mesa Verde Times, a group originally formed to share unsanctioned documentation of the Horizons attraction at Epcot. The next group was fueled by the rising popularity of social media, which eventually influenced Patrick Spikes.
Director Josh Bailey saw these as three distinct generations of unauthorized exploration, each with their own unique goals. While “Hoot” was interested in documenting how everything worked, Matt Sonswa was more interested in visiting increasingly dangerous locations. The director originally envisioned this project as a series of three 45-minute to hour-long episodes, each chronicling a generation. At some point, it became clear that it would work best as a feature-length documentary, originally clocking in at over two hours long. The current version was the result of very aggressive cutting and story work.
Perhaps one day we’ll see an extended director’s cut. The team said they cut quite a lot of stuff for time, but also because some of it just didn’t fit the story they were trying to tell. This included a lot of silly stories with “Hoot” about what he and his co-conspirator, Ed “Thunder Chief” Barlow Jr., were up to beyond the Horizons documentation. They even shot soft recreations of stories told by various interviewees, including one about a bucket of green army men and a lot of chewing gum.
Josh, Matthew, and Patrick spoke about many other topics that I would consider “you had to be there.” The filmmakers confirmed that they plan to release a physical Blu-Ray. Maybe some of those stories will show up there, as I hope to see some deleted scenes and more information about how this seven-year journey came together. Stolen Kingdom is currently available to rent on the Letterboxd video store as a pre-order ahead of the wider digital release on June 16th. Josh and his crew are also continuing their roadshow, as well as setting up additional screenings around the US (The Frida has already scheduled an encore presentation). Additionally, they have an ARG you can play at FindBuzzy.com
…I’m sure everyone’s still dying to know. What did happen to Buzzy? There’s no official word on his whereabouts. Stolen Kingdom leaves that up to the audience (or maybe a future Stolen Kingdom 2?).
Patrick Spikes had no qualms telling everyone that his own research indicates Buzzy is safely stored in the Disney Archives. Of course, Stolen Kingdom spends nearly two hours documenting why Patrick Spikes may not be the most reliable narrator.
Whether you believe him is up to you.
