Bucky and the Squirrels

(dramatic music)

The documentary

you're about to see

is based on an incredible

true story.

Some have said it's more

incredible than true,

and,

to tell the truth,

that may or may not

be true.

But, while not all

of it may be,

or may not be, true,

most of it is.

Oh, okay, "most" might be

an exaggeration.

Let's just say that

a great deal

of this incredible

true story is true.

How much

is hard to say.

A number of the events

that happened,

or might

have happened,

in, uh, this

incredibly true story

certainly

could have happened,

and they may have.

We just

can't prove it.

However,

one thing's for sure.

While the events

in this incredible true story

may or may not have

happened as shown here

in this incredible

true story,

there are definitely

several elements

in this incredible

true story

that have

definitely happened.

Somewhere.

To someone at

one time or another.

Therefore, it is

with great pride

that the producers...

not all of them,

but some of them...

well, at least one

of them...

is, or are, proud

to present the

following incredible

and quite possibly

true story.

I'm Steve Schmidt for ANC News

on the campus

of Lawrence University

in beautiful

Appleton, Wisconsin.

This is where everything began

for Appleton's own

Bucky and the Squirrels,

the one-hit-wonder rock group,

who,

back in the 1960s,

skyrocketed to the top

with their number-one dance

hit, "Do the Squirrel."

Tragically,

in the winter of 1968,

while on their maiden

European promotional tour,

the chartered plane that

carried Bucky and the Squirrels

vanished, never to be seen

or heard from again.

That is, until today.

Here, live from Switzerland,

is Mitchell Friedman

with more

on this developing story.

Mitchell?

Mitchell:
Uh, thank you, Steve.

As you can see, or maybe not,

I'm here in the middle

of a raging blizzard

six kilometers north

of the famed Zermatt ski resort,

where, only hours ago,

the storm uncovered

what has just been

positively identified

as the remains of the plane

that took the lives

of the American rock group Bucky and

the Squirrels. (loud background noise)

I... I apologize

about the noise.

What you hear in the background

is snow removal equipment

working to free

the partially buried wreckage,

which, as I understand,

remarkably,

is in near pristine condition.

(indistinct shouting)

Okay, thank you, Mitchell.

For Bucky and the Squirrels,

it all began here

in beautiful

Appleton, Wisconsin.

Amber:
Appleton, Wisconsin,

is located here,

in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Before the Squirrels

were alive,

Appleton was known for three

really awesome things:

Lawrence University,

the second-oldest

co-educational

boys and girls college

in the United States

of America,

and for being

the hometown

of writer Edna Ferber

and escape

artist Houdini.

Houdini is the man

on the right.

Edna Ferber, or "Edna"

as her friends called her,

was a short story writer.

Edna wasn't short,

her stories were.

Except, of course,

for the ones that were long.

Anyway, in 1968,

all that changed about

what Appleton was famous for

when the Squirrels had

an awesome dance hit.

The Squirrels were

Phillip Westerbrook,

Randy Cunningham,

Douglas Wilson,

and Thomas

"Bucky" Fuller.

And they became

childhood friends

when they were children.

Here's a picture of them

back then.

Over the years,

they grew older.

And in addition

to the many awesome things

they had in common...

like being friends and like

being from Appleton

and being in high school

together and stuff...

they shared a love

of rock-and-roll music

and formed

a rock-and-roll band.

They decided to call the band

the Appletones, so they did.

They played locally

at local clubs.

But they were so bad

that they not only

had to play for free,

they even had to pay

to get in, too,

which really sucked.

After a couple of years,

suddenly they met a talent

agent named Mort Fishbeck,

who was a talent agent.

Because many successful bands

back then had animal names,

such as...

...Mort changed their name

from the Appletones

to the Squirrels.

Then they wrote

"Do the Squirrel,"

which was an original song

they wrote themselves.

They probably would have

written some more,

but they couldn't

because they died first.

A big thanks

to Harvey Weinstein,

whose father does videos

for weddings

and Jewish bar mitzvahs,

who helped me

put this thing together.

Thanks again, Harvey.

People let me tell ya

'bout my best friend

He's a warm-hearted person

who'll love me till the end

People let me tell you

'bout my best friend

He's a one boy cuddly toy

My up, my down,

my pride and joy

People let me tell ya

'bout him

He's so much fun

Whether we're talking

man to man

Or whether we're talking

son to son

'Cause he's my best friend

Yeah, he's my best friend

La-ba-daba-daba-wa

Ba-daba-daba-wa

Ba-dabada-wa

Wa-da-bada-wa

(scatting)

You already know that they

died in a plane crash.

Well, something almost

worse happened to them

before they died.

When they were performing

at a club,

someone put something

into everyone's drinks,

and a couple of months later,

a waitress said

one of the Squirrels, Phil,

knocked her up.

Everybody was

so out of it.

Nobody could remember.

So Phil married her.

Here's the wedding invitation

they used to invite people.

Once that was over,

Mort got the Squirrels

on a local TV teen dance show

in Appleton,

hosted by host

Dave Madden.

(cheering)

Let's hear it for

our guests today,

Bucky and the Squirrels.

(applause)

No offense, but how the heck

do you talk with these things?

Uh, those are fake

and these are real.

Good point. Now, which one

of you is Bucky?

Only kidding.

Bucky, how about introducing

the rest of the band?

Oh, sure.

Phil, this is Randy.

Randy, this is Phil.

Doug, Randy, Phil.

Nice to meet you, Randy.

If you don't mind, I'd like

to ask you a question.

Now, many groups, bands...

groups, if you will...

have members who are

related to each other.

Brothers, sisters, cousins.

Are any of you related?

All:
No.

Okay.

I understand one of you

just got married.

Which one of you is Phil?

(girls giggling)

(clears throat)

That's me.

Oh! So who's

the unlucky girl?

Only kidding.

Who's the lucky girl?

Ah, don't be shy.

Tell us all about it.

Well, not all about it,

because we are on TV.

Let's start with how

you met.

It's a very long story, so...

probably don't have enough time,

we should probably skip that...

(whispering)

He knocked up a waitress.

Phil:
...a little bit.

Girl:
I wonder why.

Tell us.

So, um...

So, uh...

Oh, how about favoring us

with a performance, Rocky?

It's, uh, Bucky.

Uh, right, um,

I was confusing you

with Rocky

the Flying Squirrel.

You know,

Rocky and Bullwinkle?

"Hey, you wanna see me pull

a rabbit out of my hat?"

That's Bullwinkle.

Um, I believe it's Rocky.

- No, it's Bullwinkle.

- It's Bullwinkle.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes