WINNEBAGO MAN reveals the story of Jack Rebney, an unlikely folk hero whose outrageously funny outbursts were caught on tape during the making of a Winnebago sales video in 1988. The outtakes reel mysteriously circulated on dubbed VHS tapes for years before turning into a full-blown Internet phenomenon on YouTube in 2005. Today, the “Winnebago Man” has been seen by more than 20 million people worldwide and is regarded as one of the first and funniest viral videos. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer sets out on the seemingly impossible task of tracking down Rebney, who has been living a hermit-like existence on a mountain top, and until recently, had no idea that the outtakes even existed. Rebney turns out to be more intelligent, sharp-tongued and charismatic than anyone could have imagined–in short, he’s a star. WINNEBAGO MAN is a smart, funny and unexpectedly poignant tale of one man’s response to unintended celebrity.
Source: Amazon.com
Directed by: Ben Steinbauer
I was amazed at how much of an emotional roller coaster this documentary was. Much like many of you, I’ve seen the Winnebago Man video from 1989, on the youtubes, and again like many of you, I identified with his anger and situational responses. They certainly set Jack Rebney up to be something of a hot head, then the script flipped a couple times and at the end of the film, yeah, he’s a damn prick of a man with anger issues, but it turns out that I agree with about 99% of what the guy says.
This was a good film with an excellent ending, though I wonder what’s happened to Jack since the end of the film. According to Redding.com he lost his home in a huge regional fire back in 2012, so with nearly 3 years since then I hope he’s as cantankerous as ever.
