There have been hardcore Disney World fans for just as about as long as there's been a Disney World. There are the pin collectors, the D23 conventioneers, and the roving gangs who stroll around Toontown in denim vests with back patches. Most of the time, it's all in good fun, just a bunch of folks coming together to celebrate the magic of Disney and talk about how "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" is honestly kind of fucked up.
But there are a few bad apples out there, a few Disney obsessives with some not-so-magical intentions—and it sounds like one of them snuck into Epcot and stole the clothes off of a beloved animatronic robot, NBC affiliate WESH 2 reports.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department confirmed to WESH that a thief broke into an abandoned section of Disney World's Epcot Center in Florida called "Wonders of Life" and stole the green hat, red jacket, and even the goddamn hands of a character named Buzzy for some unknown reason. The robbery reportedly happened back in August, and cops have already investigated at least one suspect—but so far, the case of the missing robot is still unsolved.
"There’s a huge market for Disney collectors to get props or items from any attraction," a Disney fan who goes by DreamfinderGuy on Twitter told Gizmodo in an interview about the theft. "Some people would want to steal such things in order to flip them for a profit, ignoring the whole legal issue. Other collectors would be fine with paying a premium for the stolen goods just to say they own a piece of history."
From 1989 to 2007, Buzzy helmed an attraction called "Cranium Command," where he captained a 12-year-old's brain with help from different personified aspects of the mind—sort of like a proto-Inside Out with more science and less Amy Poehler. The exhibit has been closed to the public for about a decade, though according to a few videos Disney explorers have uploaded to YouTube, it isn't too difficult to sneak inside.
News of the theft sent shockwaves through the Disney fan community, or at least the faction that cares about an unused robot in a long-defunct section of the park. Now, an army of outraged Cranium Command fanatics are trying to help track the thing down using the hashtag "#FindBuzzy."
Please, Buzzy thief: For the love of all that is holy, return Buzzy to his rightful place at the controls of Cranium Command. The world may be an increasingly dark and depressing place, but the Magic Kingdom is still a shining beacon of hope and childlike wonder. Stealing a piece of it to sell on the Disney black market or whatever is truly wretched. The Buzzy piloting your brain better steer shit back on track.
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