Where’s Buzzy? Stolen Kingdom Is the Definitive Doc on an Infamous Disney Heist
Part true-crime doc and part subcultural deep dive, Stolen Kingdom is a must-watch for lovers of theme parks, internet mysteries, and weird lore.
Sometimes, viral stories double as portals into subcultures that you’ve never heard of before, but need to know everything about as soon as possible. Remember the chlorine gas attack at Midwest FurFest in 2014? Or the liminal horrors of the DashCon ball pit? Or the time that an animatronic worth around $400,000 on the Disney black market went missing, resulting in a criminal investigation and dozens of YouTube videos obsessing over the character’s whereabouts?
If your first response to that information is, “hang on, did you say Disney black market?,” then Stolen Kingdom should be on your weekend watchlist. Co-produced by the popular YouTube channel Bright Sun Films, the documentary comes from first-time director Joshua Bailey, who spent years building connections within both the Disney collector and urban-explorer communities before starting work on Stolen Kingdom in 2021.
The scene of the crime.
It’s part true-crime doc and part subcultural deep dive, using the story of Buzzy, a beloved animatronic from EPCOT's now-shuttered Cranium Command attraction at Disney World, as the starting point for a larger exploration of the normally closed worlds of urban explorers — basically, people who like to break into abandoned buildings and document what they find there — and adult Disney fans. There’s more overlap there than you might think, which leads Bailey (and eventually us, the viewers) into the strange world of Disney-related crimes.
It all came together in 2018, when Buzzy’s headphones, hat, and jacket went missing, followed shortly after by Buzzy himself. The animatronic itself weighs around 300 pounds, making it much harder to steal than, say, a poster or a piece of clothing. Still, although Buzzy’s accessories were eventually recovered — they had been purchased for $8,000 by NBA player Robin Lopez, who was completely unaware that they had been stolen — the animatronic itself has never been found, and was presumably sold to a private collector who can never publicly admit to owning it.
‘90s camcorder warriors “Hoot” and “Chief” backstage at Disney World.
It’s a bizarre story, one that could only have come from one of the hyper-specific fan communities that flourish on the internet. But what’s really interesting about Stolen Kingdom are the personalities involved: With its family-friendly reputation, the Disney fandom is an odd place for criminals to congregate. And most of Bailey’s interview subjects don’t give off that impression at all. They seem like enthusiastic, obsessive people — nerds, in short — whose passion for exploring abandoned attractions comes from their deep love for the parks themselves. And then there’s Patrick Spikes, aka BackDoorDisney.
Spikes’ participation is what makes Stolen Kingdom a truly incredible watch: Even after taking a plea deal on charges of burglary and grand theft, Spikes — a former park employee who basically was the Disney black market up until his arrest in 2019 — is totally unrepentant, and talks about stealing ephemera from the park and selling it online with startling frankness. (He even coyly tells Bailey that he knows where Buzzy is, although he refuses to give details.) He seems desperate to be viewed as tough, while also having the naiveté and sense of wonder that mark a full-blown Disney adult. He’s fascinating.
Befitting its oddball subjects, Stolen Kingdom is taking something of an unconventional approach to its release: As well as a national roadshow tour that begins in Los Angeles on May 21 before circling all the way back to Florida in mid-June.
