Stolen Kingdom
Rating: 4/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
I have gone to Disneyland my entire life. I have always been a huge fan of the Disney theme parks and just a fan of Disney in general. I loved riding the same beloved rides and having such a great time with friends and family at the Happiest Place on Earth. When I was around 9 or 10, I started to find these YouTube videos that showed people sneaking into the rides at night when the Parks are closed; one that stood out to me was when one daredevil snuck into Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom and got a terrifying, close-up shot of the "Disco Yeti" that inhabits the ride. That is why Joshua Bailey's new documentary, Stolen Kingdom, stuck out to me so much. This documentary does a fantastic job of exploring the theft and mischief that took place during the Disney Parks after-hours, and how the theft of a classic animatronic named Buzzy led to a nation-wide manhunt for the person who stole from the Happiest Place on Earth.
Bailey's documentary features exclusive interviews with the likes of Matt Sonswa, Dave "Hoot" Gibson, Dan Bell, and Patrick Spikes, all of whom have inspired and changed this world of breaking into the Disney Parks or finding a way to get up close and personal with the animatronics and ride elements. Through these interviews, the documentary explores how this trend of going far behind the scenes at these Parks came to be, and how they progressively got more dangerous and illegal over time. Bailey gives us an inside glimpse into what caused these daredevils to commit these crimes and explore the Parks in these ways, using excellent archival footage that complements the interviews quite well from beginning to end.
The reason I adore this documentary so much is that this is such a niche and unexplored concept, one that I'm sure thousands of other Disney Parks fans, like myself, wanted to know more about. I was always intrigued in how they did it and what were the implications of these acts. Bailey does a great job of capturing these moments from these legends in this niche, and how they evolved their craft over time. He leads the interviews wonderfully, and I thoroughly enjoyed how he made the interviewees feel when talking about these events and what they went through while trying to show a wider audience the behind-the-scenes views of Disneyland and Disney World.
You can just feel the level of fun and absurdity these interviews contain. In many documentaries, the interviews start to feel the same and repetitive after a while; here, the interviewees are so unhinged and wild at times that it simply fits the themes of this documentary as a whole. I enjoyed hearing everyone involved talk about their time at the Disney Parks and it was interesting to see how all of their stories either supported or contradicted each other when they started to get into the more illegal happenings during these time periods. At the same time, he is able to find more emotional moments throughout these stories, such as when Dave Ensign started to talk about losing his friend and collaborator on these adventures, Ed Barlow Jr. Even in the absurdity in everything going on with this case, Bailey is able to find the humanity and moments that really tug on the viewer's heartstrings.
The documentary explores the broad scope of these acts and trends for the first half of this documentary, before we jump into the case of the missing Buzzy. The only real complaint I would have about this film is how Bailey attempts to touch on so much in only 74 minutes that it feels a little too convoluted and all-over-the-place at times in that first half. While I appreciate the effort in trying to cover everything that went on in this regard during those first few years, I think the film would have benefited as whole from having more time to really touch on these aspects individually and then tie them in together a little better. However, when we get to the case of Buzzy, the story takes an incredibly wild and fun turn, showing how this case sparked major backlash and even involved professional athletes. The second half of this documentary is a wild wide from beginning to end, and it truly may be one of the most fun I've had learning about such a criminal case in a documentary.
I also want to comment on the stylistic choices made throughout this film. Bailey was able to take this subject matter and really turn it into this documentary that explores a criminal investigation, and I adore how he was able to craft the archival footage and complement them with the interviews for this film. They work perfectly hand-in-hand to explore this perhaps unknown history of the Disney Parks, which opens the eyes to many viewers on how chaotic this was back in 2018 when it happened. Overall, I just had a really good time with how Bailey was able to set up this film, combining my interest in Disney and the Disney Parks with true crime cases like this one.
There is no doubt that Stolen Kingdom is truly a great time from beginning to end. We get to see this side of the Disney Parks that is usually unexplored and undocumented, and nearly everything Bailey does here works really well. From the interviews to the archival footage to the amount of fun this documentary is due to the absurd nature of it, it is a fantastic watch for anyone who has ever been to the Disney Parks. It really allows them to think about what they are seeing when they go to these amusement parks and how it may not seem as happy and cheerful as they are known for. This film just goes to show how even though you may be having fun at the Happiest Place on Earth, something sinister could be lurking in the shadows underneath you.
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