Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. it is a small world after all.

Rarely do I give credence to the fact that I ahve a “local audience”, so when I get a screener for something playing out of my market, i still put it up, because blind people are everywhere. They don’t congregate in Orlando. Although, we do have theme parks, so I can understand should you choose to do so.

I spent some of my formative years in Florida, which meant I went to Disney, quite a bit. One of my super specific childhood memories only I have, and no one else, is going into this little room they had near the gates of Magic Kingdom (inside, not out), to listen to an animatronic owl tell me about the impending opening of Disney MGM Studios. It wasn’t a ride. It was an advertisement, albeit one with an animatronic. growing up, I also really loved EPCOT. The Wonders of Life pavilion was my second favorite thing, right behind checking out Figment. The odd thing is, I don’t remember Cranium Command very well, but I loved me some Body Wars. I preferred blasting that splinter more than Star Tours.

Stolen Kingdom talks a lot about things I’m aware of, which is sneaking behind the scenes. I worked for Disney for a brief time, and it definitely is really cool. To be at Magic Kingdom after you’ve been under it. The whole park is actually built up above. it is grand planning on Walt’s part, as he knew the cast would need to move about behind the scenes, and made it possible for them to do so. The imagineers that continue to build the park have to keep finding ways of having cast slip around, which also lets intrepid risk taking tourists paths to go where they shouldn’t.

Stolen Kingdom interviews people who are urban explorers, and have gone where they shouldn’t, but also dives into how Buzzy from Cranium Command went missing.It is kind of amazing how people will talk to a camera and say just about anything. incriminating or otherwise. As a fan of Disney, and someone who before losing vision would watch people like Adam The Woo sneak into places on YouTube, I did find this interesting.

But, when you’re working with people who are trying to fly under the radar, it also reminded me a lot of Exit Through The Gift Shop, which is just an exceptional documentary on navigating things you aren’t supposed to be doing. That is probably one of my top 10 favorite documentaries of all time, if I’m being honest, and Stolen Kingdom had a tall order to live up to. This felt a bit more like the recent Ruby Red Handed, where it became less about the artistry or craft of the crime, and more about finding Buzzy.

it doesn’t really paint these urban journeymen in the best light, though their content is what gets the views on YouTube. I don’t know why anyone would want to go on discovery Island except someone crazy enough to do it. You have to swim to it. it is an actual island, and if you’re camping at Fort Wilderness, it is still a pain in the ass to get to. even back when I worked for Disney, it had been taken over by birds, and smelled terrible as you passed it in a boat. Also, fun fact, it is just off of Bay Lake, and while Disney tries to monitor the alligator population, they can’t totally prevent gators from being in Bay Lake, which has turned tragic. So only a crazy YouTuber would ever think of going to Discovery Island. And that’s the Exit through The Gift Shop approach. The people willing to go somewhere like that, and finding all the reasons why.

At Universal Islands Of Adventure, I always thought of doing it, because of the Triceratops encounter being so poorly blocked off. When I saw video of it being mostly still there, it really is just a hop over a fence. At least, it was.

But, we need to find Buzzy, and hey, I get it. Someone removed an entire animatronic. There’s apparently a market for stuff like this, and people go in and take things to sell to the highest bidder.

Stolen Kingdom is endlessly interesting, but in some ways left me feeling like I needed or wanted more. It circled topics I was already familiar with, and as it juggles several different aspects of stealing the kingdom, it waters down the content a bit. A deeper dive into the psyche of these thrill seekers and opportunists would have been appreciated.

But, most Disney fans will find this fascinating. I’m sure this is one of those films the mouse would rather you not watch, but do it anyway.

If you’re going to steal the kingdom, you might as well exit through the gift shop.

Fresh: 7.3/10