No, Corey Feldman did not bring Michael Jackson's chimp Bubbles to the set of 'The Burbs'
It’s all an urban legend, a myth, totally apocryphal. Corey Feldman insists that no, he never brought Michael Jackson’s pet chimpanzee Bubbles to the set of the 1989 horror-comedy The ‘Burbs… which means, no, Bubbles never deficated all over Feldman’s trailer.
It’s a claim that’s lived in infamy on the internet, and was repeated by the film’s own helmer, Joe Dante, when he visited Yahoo Studios to shoot a Director’s Reel interview in 2015. “Bubbles was not big on hygiene, and so one day they went in to clean the trailer, and it was completely covered in monkey s**t,” said Dante, who had previously directed Feldman in Gremlins.
According to the 46-year-old Feldman, who stopped by Yahoo recently for a Facebook Live interview, it’s all what he calls “A Joe Dante Special.”
Let the actor clear the record: “The guy who played by neighbor [Nicky Katt] – he’s got this big, bouffant crazy hairdo – he had a pet spider monkey,” Feldman remembered. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love monkeys. I would love to have my own monkey. I want a monkey.’ And he was like, ‘Dude, I’m gonna be honest with you. They’re a pain in the ass.’”
To prove his point, Katt brough the monkey to the set, according to Feldman’s version of the story. “So I’m thinking Joe is mixing up the fact that this kid who was one of the actors in the movie had a pet spider monkey that he brought to the set a few times,” he said. “And I think in Joe’s mind, because he knew I was so fascinated with Michael during Gremlins, and later became friends with Michael during Goonies… so he probably thought it was Michael’s monkey.”
Ah, one of those classic Hollywood monkey mix-ups.
But “for the record, it was NOT Bubbles,” Feldman added one more time for emphasis.
Watch our full Facebook Live interview with Corey Feldman:
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