The Life and Times of Pablo Esco-bear
March 7, 2023
https://www.cocainebear.movie/gallery/ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-real-story-of-cocaine-bear-b2290895.html
Move over slashers, the newest horror sensations have been blood thirsty bears. Cocaine bear is the second bear based slasher of the year and it has many asking what the story is based on. This article is spoiler free for the movie, but not for the real life story. Way back in the year of 1985, a small plane transporting an unknown amount of cocaine was traveling across the lower United States when due to unknown circumstances the plane crashed. In a driveway in Tennessee the pilot of the plane, the son of a wealthy horse breeder in Kentucky and ex lawyer and narcotics officer, Andrew Thorton was found in night vision goggles, a bulletproof vest, and Gucci loafers. According to Independent News UK, it is assumed Thorton was killed after hitting his head on the back of the plane as he jumped out. Several months later,In the Chattahoochee forest in Georgia, there was a bear found dead on the g with a duffel bag that was once filled with cocaine packets on the ground near him surrounded by the now empty packages.
The bear ended up eating 70 lbs of cocaine, which seeing as the bear was only 175lbs it ate 40% of its body weight. “‘Its stomach was literally packed to the brim with cocaine. There isn’t a mammal on the planet that could survive that,’ the medical examiner who performed the bear’s necropsy told the company’s founders.” Unlike the movie, the bear didn’t kill anyone but itself. According to the same website (Independent UK News) “Cerebral hemorrhaging, respiratory failure, hyperthermia, renal failure, heart failure, stroke. You name it, that bear had it.” The bear was taxidermied, and then had a very interesting journey. First, he was named “Pablo Esco-bear” (Named after Pablo Escobar a notorious Colombian drug lord), then he was donated to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Center, until it went into storage after a fire. From there it somehow ended up in a pawnshop in Tennessee, and then supposedly was bought by Waylon Jennings and gifted to a friend who lived in Vegas. When the friend died it was bought by a man named Zhu T’ang. AFter his death, the Kentucky For Kentucky building offered to buy the bear from T’ang’s widow who agreed as long as they covered shipping. The bear now resides in Lexington Kentucky, at the previously mentioned Kentucky For Kentucky Building, where they put fun little hats on him. He was featured on a red carpet at the main movie theater in Lexington wearing a tiny tophat for the premier of his new movie.
Knowing this information beforehand, the movie was viewed differently. The movie has a total runtime of 95 minutes not including ads and previews. Emily West attended the Friday night showing and had this to say “It was absolutely amazing! It was chaotic and felt like it went by super quick.” The movie starts out slow but within the first five minutes the absolute chaos begins. The movie is extremely outlandish and follows the real story very loosely. The movie is absolutely brutal at several points, but does not take itself too seriously. The movie shows that Thorton was the son of a drug lord, and the story takes place in part from the point of view of the drug runners working for the Thortons. There is also a story line about two kids who wanted to paint the waterfall in the woods, but end up finding copious amounts of cocaine, as well as the bear. The movie is now in theaters, and has been said it’s worth the watch. It’s not a long time, but it is definitely a good time.
