July 25, 2009
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Your brother is not a tumor.
Produced by John Landis and directed by frequent Stephen King collaborator Mick Garris, the 1986 Wonderful World of Disney television movie Fuzz Bucket explores the horrors of adolescent insanity from the perspective of a troubled junior high school student named Mikey (Chris Hebert). As the beginning of the new school year rapidly approaches, our pint-sized hero suddenly befriends an invisible entity named, coincidentally, Fuzz Bucket. Naturally, his parents are perplexed, his sister is irritated, and the school principal is concerned about the boy's mental well-being. Is this hairy, strangely affectionate Alf/Ewok hybrid a figment of the child's overactive imagination? Are the adults too blinded by logic and reason to see that Fuzz Bucket is a living, breathing humanoid who lives within a system of twisty catacombs just beyond the city limits? Garris -- who also handled scripting duties -- doesn't give you a definitive answer, and that's the secret to the film's success. As a kid, I focused on how incredible it would be to have a friend like this, a secret pal that only I could communicate with. As an adult, however, I'm fascinated by Mikey's fractured psyche, his uncanny ability to immerse himself completely in a world of make believe. Even if you boldly deny the picture's mental health message, you can't overlook the homoerotic undertones buried in that touching relationship between boy and beast. Then again, maybe I'm just freak. You decide.
Recipe For Success: Garris' Touching Tale Of Interspecies Friendship + Chris Hebert + Phil Fondacaro As Fuzz Bucket
Today's Childlike Lesson: If your parents don't understand your outrageous behavior, run off into the woods by yourself.
Smooching hairy weirdos is also a good idea.
1 Spasms:
Love this movie, I have it. wilda-b@hushmail.com. Thanks for making this site, glad to see other fuzz bucket fans
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