The Smiley Smile Message Board

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-beach-boys-documentary-disney-unseen-footage-1234994454/

Nice to see David, Blondie, and (at least via audio) Ricky are part of this too!

I read in a different article that a soundtrack will be released as well, "featuring songs from the film" (but no mention of there being anything previously unreleased, to my knowledge)

I'm looking forward to seeing this. Especially interested in what unreleased footage they have used.

The documentary will go further than 1980, won't it? I'm askig because the new book will stop at the Washington show in 1980. I would love to get some new insights into the 90s and the 2012 reunion.

From what I can tell, it's being described as a "movie," vs. a series, so I assume it won't have the length to necessarily either go into too much depth and/or to cover the full entirety of their career? But I could be wrong, the info out today is minimal and I'm sure we'll know more soon enough.

Folks should be prepared for this to *not* be the thorough type of documentary people on this board would want.

Remember when John Stamos did that 2000 ABC miniseries movie about the Beach Boys and it stopped in like 1974?

Be prepared for the "coverage" scope so to speak on this new doc to be something more like that.

I'm honestly more intrigued with the soundtrack they're putting out.  Here's hoping they take a cue from the great Endless Harmony soundtrack and give us a lot of interesting unreleased content.  We certainly don't need another greatest hits rehash. 

^  Amen to that! 

That's too bad, HeyJude.  You'd think with (what I believe are) good directors like Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny, that would have been at least been a couple parts, maybe along the lines of Zimny's work on "Elvis: The Searcher."  It's unfortunate we won't ever get something Anthology-styled, though obviously it a) would have been difficult to negotiate relationship landmines within the group (even with IAG/Azoff involved, I guess) and b) would have to be somewhat condensed because of The Beach Boys' 60(+) years together(-ish) rather than 10(+ if counting Quarrymen years and their early lives) for The Beatles.

HeyJude, since Frank Marshall is involved, will it be something more similar to the all-too-brief-but-still-very-nice Bee Gees "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" documentary from 2020?

I hope its joyous, I hope its amazing and I hope it properly celebrates the greatest band of all time

Here's hoping the Soundtrack has a Dolby Atmos mix!

Considering they are not doing any type of physical release of the "soundtrack", I would expect that this will be a digital-only sort of comp, probably akin to a Spotify playlist of previously released stuff. If the stuff is pulled from something that already had an Atmos mix, then maybe you'd get that, but probably not. And either way, you would just go back to whatever the source originally was anyway.

I really think the most substantive thing coming out of all of the stuff coming out in the next weeks/months is the book. That looks excellent. The doc and the "soundtrack", well, let's just hope at least sticking *anything* on Disney+ will turn some new people on to the music.

Not an incredibly impressive trailer but it is just a trailer.
https://youtu.be/F_Rspu3Xoi4?feature=shared

FWIW, I *really* like the trailer. All the feels.

Same here!  It looks very promising and I'm sure it'll be on the Endless Harmony/An American Band level of greatness.

I wouldn't be so quick to assume.

Well, that's a poster....

(https://whatsondisneyplus.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/image003-71.png)

I can't not appreciate on some level some representation of the pudgy late 70s era for the band (though they subbed in a late 60s Dennis among the circa '79 Beach Boys), but it'll be a bit ironic when that era *isn't* covered in the doc.

They've apparently inadvertently gone for the vibe of one of those old 80s song books:

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kRykBCfBL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg)

I would not be surprised if the documentary concentrates on the same period as the book. Up to 1980. There is the Paradise Cove gathering but I expect little about 81-12 aside from the passing of Dennis and Carl, Kokomo and the C50.

As I mentioned before in another thread, remember that John Stamos 2000 TV miniseries that stopped in 1974?

It's a largely completely different team behind the film versus the book (though obviously both have the involvement of BRI/Iconic). They are of course happy to market both as they're coming out near each other. But I don't think the film or the book were made to "match" each other.

That trailer is so disappointing

Out of curiosity, I watched the official 'Get Back' trailer and this new 'Beach Boys' official trailer back-to-back. The former gave me goosebumps, and yeah I even teared up a little. The latter left me feeling almost zero emotion at all. The actual 'Get Back' movie left me speechless/excited/inspired after each segment. I am not at all getting those vibes from this Beach Boys doc.

I know they're two separate beasts, but I have to imagine that some creatively talented director could create something as...stimulating? Or breathtaking?...as 'Get Back' when it comes to The Beach Boys. But this looks like a complete run-of-the-mill, cookie-cutter, colored in all the spaces, documentary. No risk, seemingly no artistry or narrative that would get some buzz going. How can you create a documentary using an overused formula about a band that constantly broke the rules of formula?

Also very tired of seeing modern "artists" gush about this band in interviews in these documentaries. Like how insecure are we about the music that we need Ryan Tedder to explain to us the appeal of the music? Or why do we need to hear thoughts on band dynamics by the person who brought us the cerebral, apex-of-modern-intellectualism-song that is 'Water Slide'?

I wish the documentary all the best, and I hope I'm proven wrong about my initial reaction to the trailer. But good grief, this band's music deserves better.

I know what you mean but let’s wait and see-this could be great.  Obviously-it can’t be Get Back because that was a crazy revelatory experience using hours of footage no one suspected would ever surface….the equivalent would only occur in Beach Boys land if 12 unseen hours of the Boys working on Smile surfaced! So obviously you have to lower your expectations

I do agree that they are "two different beasts" - but I feel like it can't be impossible to create something on a 'Get Back' level, at least in regards to the narrative of the documentary. I guess I liken it to how 'Love & Mercy' could've been another 'Walk the Line' but instead it was done in a style that made it stand out so beautifully from other biopics. I would love to see that attention to narrative in a documentary about The Beach Boys.

I'm a big space nerd, so I watch a lot of documentaries on the Apollo program. Two documentaries from two different eras come to mind; 'For All Mankind' (from 1989), and the recent 'Apollo 11'. 'Apollo 11' is like the 'Get Back' of space films because the creators unearthed vintage IMAX-level quality film of the Apollo 11 launch. But 'For All Mankind' uses grainy/shaky footage and is almost just as impactful because it was created in a way that shows it as art and not an extended 60 minutes informative piece (which this Beach Boys documentary seems to be).

Anywho, sorry for the rambling haha. I do agree that we need to wait and see. We could be pleasantly surprised.

Snap! Between this and The Beach Boys, we’re 60s tragics obviously. 👍

I don't know if "Get Back" is something worth holding up to any potential BB doc.

What I do think is that a great BB doc could *absolutely* be as emotionally affecting, and perhaps more so, than "Get Back." The story is such a huge, sprawling, epic thing.

And I don't even think it would need like 8 parts or anything.

I think three or four 90-120 minute parts, so something in the 5-6 hour range, would effectively tell the story and allow everything to be covered and for the film to have both scope and an epic nature and emotion.

As I've been saying in a few threads, without going into too much detail, I would just say fans should not set their expectations too high for this new doc. And I think the trailer kind of lines up with what I've been hearing and saying. It's not going to have the scope I think people would want, and I guess it remains to be seen how moving/emotional it might be. I think parts of the story are *unavoidably* emotional, and I think the Paradise Cove reunion will be emotional even if it's also awkward or weird.

Keep in mind that while the film is of course done with BRI/Iconic, the team making the doc is a different team from the folks who have been putting together the top-notch archival releases of the last 7-10 years (and beyond including "Smile Sessions", etc.). While the music/audio side of things has finally reached "what we've been asking for for decades" status, I think this film was done by a different group with a different prompt. I have no reason to doubt that *any* attempt at a documentary on the BBs, or *any* project for that matter, is not an easy undertaking. But I also think, at the end of the day, we might find some cool things in this new doc but also be going back to "Endless Harmony" to scratch the doc itch.

Was this the last opportunity to do a "Beatles Anthology" level doc on the band? I don't know. Maybe. I mean, there's enough banked interview footage that they could do an "Anthology" kind of thing even if all the guys were gone. I guess we'll have to see.

But, it's true that getting a Beach Boys *thing* on the front splash page of a streaming app like Disney+ with a hundred million subscribers (or whatever it is) will result in some good in turning people on to the music.

Right?! What I'd give to be laying on a Florida beach listening to 'I Get Around' on the radio watching a Saturn V take off ;D

Tickets for The Beach Boys: Imax Live Experience Featuring Q&A with Filmmakers and Special Guests on Tuesday, May 21, Available Now

Here are the cities (no Atlanta, alas):

* AMC Lincoln Square, NY
* Regal Houston Marq*E, Houston, TX
* AMC Northpark, Dallas, TX
* AMC Boston Commons, Boston, MA
* AMC Metreon, San Francisco, CA
* AMC Tyson’s Corner, Washington, DC
* AMC Thoroughbred, Nashville, TN
* AMC Highlands, Denver, CO
* Regal City North, Chicago, IL
* AMC Mission Valley, San Diego, CA
* AMC Woodlands Square, Oldsmar, FL
* AMC Rolling Hills, Torrance, CA

More here:
https://press.disneyplus.com/news/disney-plus-the-beach-boys-imax-special-advance-screening

Hopefully this will wind up as bonus material on a Bluray/DVD release....

I have to laugh about all these documentaries that have current bands raving about (take your pick of legendary 60s bands), like they're a big influence on (name current popular band).
We really need a documentary that is the Beach Boys BY the Beach Boys. I don't want to hear from outsiders, unless it's someone like Fred Vail, Van Dyke Parks, or the children of the BB's.
We're never gonna get a BB's documentary that goes beyond surf, sun, cars and girls, and Pet Sounds/Smile.
But I hope I'm wrong.

Tickets for “The Beach Boys: Imax® Live Experience” Featuring Q&A with Filmmakers and Special Guests on Tuesday, May 21, Available Now


https://press.disneyplus.com/news/disney-plus-the-beach-boys-imax-special-advance-screening?



(https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/unknown_b62733d0.jpeg?region=0,0,422,625)

Al Jardine spills the beans again:

“There is some really wonderful footage of our performing,” Jardine said. “But unfortunately, Carl and Dennis are gone, so you don’t have their point of view. You have the narrative, according to Mike Love, and you have me in there somewhere in between, going, uh-hmm, sure. The truth is, we didn’t have enough content the way I would have liked to have done it. The producer did what he could, with what he had.”

https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2024/05/beach-boys-cofounder-reflects-on-career-future/

I'm sure they're rushing to make a new poster for the documentary so they can put that Al quote on it.

Doc is 1 hour, 53 minutes:

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GNAmOtUbcAAK0ok?format=jpg&name=large)

I'm withholding a lot of opinions for now because it hasn't been streamed yet, but if Al is correct in his words and this film is the narrative according to Mike Love, is that really what fans have been waiting for, or is that what fans can already get from various sources and outlets? We've already seen and heard the narrative according to Mike, and part of that was the "official" bio-pic "An American Family" produced by John Stamos that ran on ABC back in 2000, which was a complete farce.

Side note - From the same interview, Al said this: "Later in life, Brian and I went back on the road together. He loved it. He called me, ‘come out and join me.’ Neither of us were working with Mike (Love) anymore. It was a natural fit.”

He loved it. So much for a miserable Brian being forced to tour all those years, as we were told in another "narrative" that wasn't factual.

I don’t think I have read much to indicate ‘Endless Harmony’ being knocked off its perch as the definitive Beach Boys documentary to be honest.

Do we know if Al actually saw the finished product? It's not uncommon that the artists only see the actual movie at the premiere and before that only get to watch some snippets.

It's certainly unknown precisely which cut he has seen. But I have to say, his comments about the film make sense in light of the things I've heard about the film over the past weeks and months.

I think the filmmakers (remember, a totally different team of course than the people who work on the audio/music/boxed set releases) ran into some of the common pitfalls that occur when working with the Beach Boys/BRI political apparatus (even now with Iconic involved as well), and there was probably a point at which they had to just finish the thing and get it out the door and done. That might be part of why the thing cuts off in 1974.

I also suspect perhaps part of what Al is talking about in that interview is the likely lack of ability of the filmmakers to do much of any substantive new interviews with Brian.

Ya I'm 99% sure this doc goes up to present day.  Otherwise 1974 is such a slap in the face to fans, like wtf!?

I haven't seen the film, so I can't say anything with 100% certainty. I think it's quite possible key events from the later years are covered very briefly via some sort of epilogue or on-screen text or something.

But you're not going to see post-1974 covered in any detail. Certainly you're not going to see detailed discussion of Dennis' demise, the Landy situation, Carl's death, the 1998 splintering, the 2012 reunion, etc. As far as I'm aware.

In all honesty, the part of that interview that caught and held my attention were comments about new music from Al:

Jardine has four new songs that he hopes to release soon. “One is a beautiful song about a soldier going off to war. Neil Young is singing on it with me. He’s the soldier. I want to get it out pretty soon before we go to war. Then there’s another song called ‘Islands in the Sun,’ which is my follow up to ‘Kokomo.’ I invited Mike to be on it several times, and neither time did he show any interest. I came up with a hell of a song. It’s all about drifting among the islands and the Caribbean and losing oneself. I’ve got Bruce (Johnston) and my son Matt and I singing the Beach Boys’ harmonies. It sounds just like the real thing.

I know Al's productivity (or lack thereof) can be something of a joke among some fans, but I would be more excited for a new Al Jardine EP featuring Neil Young & Bruce Johnston than ANOTHER documentary about The Beach Boys.

I had the same reaction -- I too hope he can get these songs out in months and not years.