INFLUENCE

232 How the VHS Kids Movie "Creating Rem Lezar" Found New Life Online


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In 1989, VHS home viewing was on the rise, and Blockbuster was dominating the movie rental business, with one caveat: They had yet to acquire many kids' movies.

At the same time, a 23-year-old film director set out to create a movie musical for kids about an imaginary friend who comes to life. For a brief period of time, the very low budget "Creating Rem Lezar," was one of the only kids movies on Blockbuster shelves across the U.S. When video stores started carrying Disney and the like, the blue-haired, tights-wearing hero was largely forgotten. Or was he?

The cultural memory of this strange musical B-movie persisted, with memes appearing on eBaum's World in the early 2000s, and was later covered by the Found Footage Festival, an online community that excavates VHS ephemera from the pop culture dustbin.

People around the world began to remember Rem Lezar, and popular Twitch streamers and YouTubers began referencing it in their videos. The direct-to-VHS kids musical had gained a second life (and cult following) on the modern Internet.

Alli and Lindsey speak with Joe Pickett, co-creator of the Found Footage Festival, Jack Mulcahy, the actor who played Rem Lezar, and Scott Zakarin, the film's writer/director, about this strange renaissance, and the future of the film.

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INFLUENCEBy Matt Silverman

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