Teddy Bears' Picnic (film)
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| Teddy Bears' Picnic | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Harry Shearer |
| Written by | Harry Shearer |
| Produced by | Marc Ambrose Harry Shearer (Executive) |
| Starring | John Michael Higgins Ming-Na David Rasche Henry Gibson Morgan Fairchild Michael McKean George Wendt Kenneth Mars Howard Hesseman Alan Thicke Kurtwood Smith Dick Butkus Harry Shearer |
| Distributed by | Velocity / Thinkfilm |
Release date | May 29, 2002 |
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $500,000 |
Teddy Bears' Picnic is a 2002 film directed and written by Harry Shearer. It was released in May, 2002 to limited audiences. Shearer has a small role.
The plot of the movie is based on the Bohemian Grove, where, since 1872, prominent male leaders in world politics, business, media, and finance, have gathered at a very private, very exclusive retreat located in a secluded redwood grove in Sonoma County, California outside San Francisco and, among other things,allegedly plan how they can run the world in secret. Rampant homosexual activity is also alleged, specifically the more recent involvement of gay adult film star Chad Savage. While historically an all-male venue, women have recently been given jobs at the club, albeit in low-level positions such as parking attendants and kitchen staff. The annual encampment is marked by the "Cremation of Care" ceremony, in which a human effigy dubbed "dull care" is cremated by priests on an altar in front of a large stone owl statue.
In Teddy Bears' Picnic, the Grove's owl statue is replaced by a pelican, Care is replaced by a large neon clock, and dark priests are replaced by men in Halloween-style witches' garb casting spells while stirring a large cauldron. In the film, the events are exposed by two club employees who surreptitiously film the ceremony.
The film was released to a limited audience.
In an interview, Shearer stated that:
- "What I do when left to my own devices is make fun of the powerful folks in this country – in media and politics. That's the kind of thing I like and that makes me laugh. So this is just taking that humor into an area where you can't be as topical, [but] where you get to make up fictional characters."