If you’ve ever wondered about the life of a carnie, the totally charming documentary short “Alive: Giant Hong Kong Rats” has some answers.
The film, which plays the Amarillo International Film Festival on Friday, takes just eight minutes to cover decades of carnival lore. It’s the very abbreviated family history of the film’s director, Rick Wilcox, who co-wrote it with his filmmaker friend, Jeff Justus.
Wilcox’s grandfather first got into the carnival business when he sold 10,000 tickets to an attraction at a Fourth of July celebration in Downtown Amarillo in the 1940s. Amarillo, a Texas panhandle city on Route 66, is still steeped in Americana, shining like the period neon signs that light downtown’s Polk Street.
Wilcox’s short similarly fires up nostalgic feelings in a way you can’t fake: He spent his entire life recording his family’s carnival escapades on silent 16 mm home movies. “Alive: Giant Hong Kong Rats” shows him carefully loading a reel onto an old viewer to edit it into the very documentary we’re watching. Boxes of now-discontinued Kodak film fill his workspace.
Justus, who narrates, recounts how Wilcox’s family would always try to up their game with ever-more exotic attractions, like the Moon Rocket ride and German Fun Haus. But their efforts arguably climaxed with an attraction of Wilcox’s own invention, the exhibit that gives the film its title.
We asked Wilcox and Justus about the carnie life.
Rick Wilcox and Jeff Justus on ‘Alive: Giant Hong Kong Rats’
MovieMaker: Rick, I loved hearing about your family’s history with carnivals — and its roots in Amarillo. For those who don’t know, how did you family get into the carnie life?
Rick Wilcox: Right after World War II, my grandfather built his miniature train, called the Streamliner, and got into the amusement business. Pretty soon the whole family was involved, and that’s what I grew up around.
MovieMaker: It made me laugh that you chose to call your rodents “Hong Kong rats.” Why did you choose Hong Kong, since these “rats” were considerably more local? (I don’t want to spoil what they actually were.)
Rick Wilcox: I think we were looking for a way to really grab people’s attention.
MovieMaker: This doc felt like it could have been much longer, but I applaud you both for keeping it short and sweet. Was it hard to tell this story in under 8 minutes?
Rick Wilcox: The story kind of revealed itself to us. We had limited footage and a few artifacts — it just all came together. It was so much fun to tell. It was really so personal. All of my kids and family love it because it’s our family history.
MovieMaker: Jeff Justus says in the film that this is the movie you always wanted to make. So does that mean you’re done? No more films?
Rick Wilcox: No! We are not done. It’s so much fun making stuff.
MovieMaker: I go to a lot of carnivals and county fairs and I’m always impressed by the quality of the attractions — you really have to be sharp to stay one step ahead of a vast general public. Is there anything about carnivals that would blow our minds if we knew the truth?
Rick Wilcox: Jeff, what do you think we should tell him?
Jeff Justus: Well, Lobster Boy was actually a pretty good card player and corn dogs don’t really cost $12.
Seriously though, carnies come from all walks of life, and it was amazing for me to see a family thriving in the atmosphere where I thought most carnies were just runaways or people on drugs.
“Alive: Giant Hong Kong Rats” plays in the documentary shorts block of the Amarillo International Film Festival on Friday. You can read more of our film festival coverage here.
Main image: “Alive: Giant Hong Kong Rats”
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