Barefoot Bandit’s story retold in documentary that uses animation

EVERETT — It’s 8 p.m. on Wednesday in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, and independent filmmaker Andrew Gray hasn’t eaten dinner.

His mind is lost in a comic book at the studio he and his brother, Adam, run together.

Andrew isn’t reading about Batman or The Flash, his childhood favorites. Instead, he’s following an opus about a totally different character, one who in real life came to be known as the Barefoot Bandit.

That was the nickname given Camano Island teenager-turned-outlaw Colton Harris-Moore. His nine-state, three-country crime spree grabbed international attention when he broke into homes and businesses and stole cars, boats and airplanes before his July 2010 arrest in the Bahamas.

The Colton comic book is aimed to promote the Gray brothers’ feature-length documentary, “Fly Colt Fly: Legend of the Barefoot Bandit,” which premiered at a Toronto film festival earlier this month and in Canadian theaters Friday.

The Gray brothers directed, shot and edited “Fly Colt Fly,” spending several weeks on Camano Island and in western Washington while Harris-Moore was still on the run. They followed the fugitive’s footsteps to the Bahamas — the end of the line for the lanky teen.

The brothers initially stumbled onto the Harris-Moore story while doing Internet research for a film script on Billy The Kid, the 19th century trigger-happy gun slinger. Although Harris-Moore hadn’t committed violent crimes, the two outlaws often attracted comparisons for their youth and the way their exploits captured the imagination. Harris-Moore had tens of thousands of Facebook followers. His face appeared on T-shirts, and songs were written about him.

Harris-Moore began committing a string of burglaries when he was 10. By age 15, his face appeared on wanted posters distributed by Island County Sheriff’s deputies. He broke out of juvenile detention in 2007 and stole his first plane in November 2008, teaching himself to fly — and land — by trial and error. He later crashed a stolen plane near Granite Falls and set off a manhunt that included SWAT teams, the FBI and helicopters.

The directors said their film is about how public fascination with Harris-Moore made him attempt to become the folk hero his fans wanted him to be, and how his growing fame became his downfall. His story, they say, is as much about myth as it is about fact.

The film melds documentary interviews with graphic novel-style animation action scenes.

“Animation was something new,” Andrew Gray said. “What was really important to us was to tell the tale that was told through the media, which was the legend of the bandit, as opposed to what happened. Over the course of two years and all of the false information that would come out on the Internet, it was such a complicated story and the truth would often get lost… Everyone sort of used their imagination.”

That comes through in the film, said Jackson Holtz, a former Herald crime reporter who covered the Harris-Moore story from start to finish and wrote the book, “Fly, Colton, Fly: The True Story of the Barefoot Bandit.”

“They did a good job of bringing together both the real story of Colton Harris-Moore and the parallel story of how Colton Harris-Moore became the Barefoot Bandit, a figure in the lore of American outlaw folk heroes.”

Holtz was interviewed in the film and was listed in the credits as a story consultant.

“I hope that it gets picked up in the greater Puget Sound area,” Holtz said. “I think people here would enjoy seeing the film.”

The Seattle International Film Festival is a possibility, Andrew Gray said.

Their film doesn’t include interviews from Harris-Moore.

That wasn’t something they realistically expected.

Harris-Moore signed a $1.3 million deal with 20th Century Fox with the money earmarked towards restitution to his victims. Harris-Moore is serving a seven-year prison sentence.

A call for an update on the big-budget film project was not returned last week.

Andrew Gray said the film tries to strike a balance for its audience.

“I hope they get a little more than entertainment,” he said. “We didn’t want to come across as condoning a criminal, but we didn’t want to preach about it either. I hope that people will learn a little more than the headlines gave them and if they do want to learn more they will be inspired to do so.”

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.