Stolen Kingdom (The theft and sale of Buzzy on the black market).

[OrlandoRising]

You jest but he was removed like ~4 months before they started work on gutting Wonders, there’s a good chance that yes he was just removed due to the EPCOT overhaul plans

For the last time, that's not what happened -- for this to be true, Disney would've had to knowingly let the police investigate, for MONTHS, a theft it had already determined didn't happen, including when police actually went to Central Shops over Dave Ensign's baseless take.

There's no good reason to indulge speculation that was already contradicted by police records I obtained years ago.

 

[communicorn96]

The Hoot and Chief stuff is sweet, but it was better covered in Remain seated please.
The doomsday guy hiding out on discovery island was engaging, wish there was more on him.

The doc doesn't offer any answers on Buzzy. Legally it probably can't. Lopez's involvement buried Buzzy in NDAs.
One interviewee claims Spikes had clearance to let vehicles backstage, then in a montage of screenshots the doc implies Spikes' search history included a budget rental truck and landscaping wagon.
My personal speculation, Spikes stole from a company that could afford it, and sold to a client rich enough to make it all disappear.

 

[Moth]

I'm sorry but I find the "Disney has it but forgot" hard to believe, a washing machine-sized animatronic from a building that was being actively eyed up for development work doesn't get taken out by the company themselves and they just let a police investigation happen looking for it.

I think the above theory is possibly what happened, definitely feels plausible.

My take is that someone tapped in the know at Disney knew they were eying WoL up and grabbed Buzzy before Disney could archive him.

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

I'm sorry but I find the "Disney has it but forgot" hard to believe, a washing machine-sized animatronic from a building that was being actively eyed up for development work doesn't get taken out by the company themselves and they just let a police investigation happen looking for it.

I think the above theory is possibly what happened, definitely feels plausible.

I think "forgot" is a strong word. The original police report came from someone from WDI, a division which wouldn't have any involvement with taking the figure. It's very possible the archives took him without saying anything, WDI guy panicked, and a report was filed before anything could be verified. Now seeing all the bad press that came from the original report, a Disney that has realized they had him the whole time would have no incentive to tell the police that because it ends up looking even worse. Kind of a rock and a hard place type of situation, you're looking incompetent either way. Best to let the story sink quickly and never mention it again. There are NDAs in place for the Disney people involved to ensure it sank fast and hopefully doesn't resurface.

My take is that someone tapped in the know at Disney knew they were eying WoL up and grabbed Buzzy before Disney could archive him.

If he was stolen then yes, a variant of this happened. It was an open secret in some circles that work on Wonders was imminent, and a much more open secret that the building was not secured at all.