Arthur Jones’ “Feels Good Man” seeks to have animator Matt Furie reclaim his creation “Pepe the Frog,” an animated amphibian that has become a symbol of rebellion for many within the “alt-right” movement.
Unfortunately for Furie, he will never get back his prized possession. You see, back in 2016, during the US Presidential Election, the image of Pepe the Frog was hijacked by the internet, more specifically, anti-establishment Trump supporters, and was ensuingly mass-shared among Redditors and Chan4 users.
In the trailer for the upcoming documentary, “Feels Good Man,” which I saw at Sundance 2020, we are introduced to Furie, who was a non-political underground cartoonist before he found himself going through a hellish legal battle for the soul of his animated character. The problem is that when trolls on the Internet take something and make it their own, good luck getting that back.
The film currently has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I dug it when I saw it at Sundance. This was a sweet and uniquely funny take on a miserable animator. Director Jones uses archival footage, testimonials as well as creatively slick animation to tell the unfortunate story of how one artist’s creation slipped through his fingers and fell into the giant rabbit hole of the internet.
“Feels Good Man” arrives on September 4 in VOD form.
Alongside Blanchett, the film features a wildly eclectic ensemble including Dave Bautista, Lily-Rose Depp, Riley Keough, Léa Seydoux, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Chris Pine