Was the Bigfoot Film Rehearsed?

On October 20, 1967, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin filmed Bigfoot at Bluff Creek, on a camera the police were looking for. Fifty-nine years later, a reel from a safe, said to be the film's 1966 rehearsal, turned up in the documentary Capturing Bigfoot. So who was in the suit, and who got paid? This is the money story of the most famous Bigfoot film: the loans, the $2 roadshow, the partners who fell out, the rights split, the confessions, and the $30,000 licensing fee paid by the documentary that says it's fake. The 1966 reel and its "rehearsal" reading are the documentary's claims; critics dispute them, and Bob Gimlin has never publicly said the film was faked. Drawings in this video are illustrations of what sources describe, not footage. 00:00 Two men, one minute of film 00:59 The Bigfoot salesman 02:38 Bluff Creek and a wanted camera 04:18 Bigfoot Enterprises: $2 a ticket 05:27 The other Bigfoot 06:20 Who owns Bigfoot? 08:08 Two confessions, two suits 09:25 The reel in the safe 11:17 What it proves, and who never got paid Key sources: Greg Long, The Making of Bigfoot (Prometheus, 2004), via Wikipedia, "Patterson–Gimlin film": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patters... AP / Seattle Times, "Bigfoot filmmakers had backing from Yakima businessman" (1999): https://archive.seattletimes.com/arch... The Washington Post via HeraldNet, Bob Heironimus (2004): https://heraldnet.com/news/1967-bigfo... The Wall Street Journal on Capturing Bigfoot (2026): https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-n... Wikipedia, "Capturing Bigfoot": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capturi... Full source list and per-file credits are in the pinned comment. Credits: the Patterson–Gimlin film (1967) and frame 352 via Wikimedia Commons, where they are tagged public domain. Archive photos and film: U.S. Air Force (1961), Night Rodeo (1951) and American Cowboy (1950), all Prelinger Archives; True magazine masthead (1959, Internet Archive); U.S. National Archives (EPA DOCUMERICA); USDA and U.S. Forest Service (Salt Palace, 1978); Eureka Humboldt Times (1960); Charles Gemora's gorilla suit (1947); horsehide workshop (1918, U.S. National Archives); Grover Krantz's footprint casts (1977, Alan King); asphalt paver (U.S. Forest Service); Planet of the Apes (1968) teaser; all public domain. Bigfoot Discovery Museum by Librarybell and asphalt paver by Daderot (CC0); clapperboard by Bernd Schwabe, Moviolas by HaeB and Tangerineduel, WTLV studio (1975) by Florida-Georgia Television Company (all CC BY-SA 4.0); 1967 patrol car by Greg Gjerdingen (CC BY 2.0); ticket roll by Caxton (CC BY 4.0). Seattle Municipal Archives (CC BY 4.0); National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian, photo Godot13 (CC BY-SA 4.0); 1967 half dollar by James St. John (CC BY 2.0); Kodak ad scan by dok1 (CC BY 2.0); "Greetings from Yakima" postcard by Steve Shook (CC BY 2.0); Bangkok 1971 by wilford peloquin (CC BY 2.0); Bigfoot crossing sign by Gnashes30 (CC BY-SA 3.0); VHS tape by LoMit (CC BY-SA 4.0); film vault by JoyArchives (CC BY 4.0); 16 mm reel by DiscoA340 (CC0); Anefo / Nationaal Archief (CC0); fire, projector and moonlit-woods clips from Pixabay. Front and back covers of Roger Patterson's Do Abominable Snowmen of America Really Exist? (Hancock House edition) shown for commentary. Illustrations, animation and explainers: snardito. Music: original score made with Google Lyria. #bigfoot #capturingbigfoot #weirdhistory