by Nick Nitkowski

It must be spring in Central Florida, Maitland to be precise, because it’s time once again for The Florida Film Festival to start on April 11th, the 34th to be clear, and the opening night film is a documentary that cuts a little too close to home for a lot of Florida residents. It also pulls back the curtain on “The Happiest Place on Earth” as they say. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows in the sunshine state when it comes to Disney and it’s parks. Stolen Kingdom is that film and your in for a big surprise with film.

The name “Disney” is universal. Most of us have probably been to one of the Disney Theme Parks at some point. Whether it be Disneyland in California, Disney World in Florida, or maybe even one of the many Disney Parks overseas. But have you ever wondered what happens when one of their attractions close down? Or what happens to the stuff inside? Well, there are those that have thought about those things in the past and took it upon themselves to explore those restricted areas and “Stolen Kingdom” explores the individuals who’ve done it.

“Stolen Kingdom” interviews a couple of individuals who have either snuck into the parks for various reasons. People stemming from simple trespassing on the grounds after hours or jumping off moving rides both of which take video and photos, to those who stole items from abandoned attractions for profit or keepsakes. All of whom inspired others to do something similar over the years which ultimately led to Disney upping their security to prevent occurrences like this from happening again on their properties.

Being a local Floridian most of my life, I actually remember seeing news articles in newspapers and on TV about these incidents back when they happened, which only caused me to be that much more interested in viewing this documentary. It was very fascinating to me, who is a massive fan of the Disney movies and theme parks, to get more details of these stories from the point of view of those that did it while also seeing some of the footage they captured along the way, some of which I actually remember seeing on YouTube.

In terms of how the documentary is presented, it’s pretty much your standard documentary style. No unique visual style or fancy editing tricks. It’s just the standard interviews with documented footage and photos for authenticity. That’s pretty much what you’re there for. You want to hear these crazy stories that actually happened and perhaps get an idea as to why these people did what they did. The subject matter, in my opinion, is intriguing enough. You don’t need anything fancy to go with it.

Overall, I enjoyed “Stolen Kingdom”. I was interested in the subject matter, due to partial biases as a fan of theme parks, and I was captivated by the stories and the footage that was captured. The stories are crazy and the things that these individuals did are definitely dangerous for a multitude of reasons. I would recommend this film to any Disney fan while also discouraging them from attempting any of these actions for obvious reasons. With only an hour and fifteen-minute runtime, you will not feel as though this Kingdom has Stolen your time.

4 stars