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The Internet’s First Star
You’ve seen Winnebago Man: The YouTube Video, now see Winnebago Man: The Movie
Legally, we’re not allowed to print what he just said. (Photo: Kino International)
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“And here, under the hood, we’ve stored something that’ll really come in handy, if it doesn’t fall off and break my leg.” That’s about the only thing Jack Rebney, a.k.a. the “Winnebago Man,” said in his now-famous video that we can quote without including “NSFW.”
In 1988, Rebney was just trying to sell some RVs. He brought in a crew to record a commercial for the new Itasca Sunflyer, a true beauty of a mobile home. Although a usable advertisement was eventually edited together, there was a lot of footage that didn’t make the final cut. A lot of foul-mouthed footage. The crew found the outtakes so hilarious that they put it on a VHS tape and passed it amongst their friends, who showed it to their friends, etc.. In the years that followed, more and more people saw Jack Rebney get really mad at really big automobiles.
And then came the internet.
The video was uploaded onto YouTube in 2005 and “Winnebago Man,” as Rebney was now known, soon after became a cult hero for millions—20 million to be more precise. He’s been quoted on 30 Rock and Spongebob Squarepants. Conan O’Brien and Spike Jonze are big fans. There’s even a parody in Iron Man 2. Jack Rebney became one of the internet’s first stars; his rage, poor salesmanship and mouth of a sailor helped make YouTube into the billion dollar website it is today. Without “Winnebago Man,” there’d be no “Obama Girl,” “Chocolate Rain” or “Dramatic Chipmunk” (whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you).
After watching the video, Ben Steinbauer, a filmmaker/teacher living in Austin, Texas, became fascinated by “Winnebago Man,” or, more specifically, Jack Rebney. Steinbauer wondered, What’s he doing now? Is he aware of his fame? If so, does he hate it? Those questions led to Winnebago Man, which he directed and wrote with Malcolm Pullinger. Their goal: To find the infamous Rebney. We won’t give away if they succeeded, but we will say: Since the film’s premiere in 2009, it has won multiple Best Documentary awards from various film festivals and currently has a perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In an age when people will do anything to get noticed (Chris Crocker and his awful screeching, for instance), it’s refreshing to see a movie about someone who never asked to be famous —even if this person does say “fuck” a lot. Oops: NSFW.
Winnebago Man opens this Friday, July 9, at AMC Empire 25 and Landmark Sunshine Cinema. For more information, click here, including how you can actually meet the “Winnebago Man,” er, Jack Rebney.