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Also, again unimportant in the grand scheme, here's a cap from the DC '80 show from YouTube, but taken from the Japanese DVD of the show. The actual DVD still looks much better than this, but even this compressed YouTube clip looks better than what they put in the Disney doc:



The clips from the Japanese DVD also sounds *much* better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt2tvNzt1CU

Unimportant, but because I have a photographic memory of the 7/4/80 DC show, having watched it a million times over the years, it was kind of funny that this new doc actually cut in crowd footage (not even from the same song!) for "Darlin'" that includes the guy angrily flipping the camera off:



Here's a larger, less cropped version from a YouTube clip for context:

[It often seems to be incapable of stopping and playing more than 5 or 10 seconds of any given song.]

... Indeed, the doc barely slows down to play much of any extended piece of music. It often seems to be incapable of stopping and playing more than 5 or 10 seconds of any given song.

I'm about half an hour in (watching it in small bits each night as time allows) and this is my biggest complaint so far.

Our best hope at this stage is that after they let some time pass (for everybody to save face concerning this new doc), BRI/Iconic let Boyd go back in and do an extended re-cut of "Endless Harmony." They used "Endless Harmony" footage and audio over and over on this new thing. The only thing the new doc had that an EH re-cut wouldn't have is the new interviews with Mike, Al, and Bruce, (and the ten seconds with Blondie) and I'm sure Boyd covered more than enough in his 1998 interviews.

You can even see that for this new doc they re-scanned the EH interviews in HD. It's like an HD "Endless Harmony" doc is buried in there teasing us.....

I'd love for the phrase "this documentary wasn't made for us!" concerning this film to be retired. Saying this in defense of this film, you'd have to be pretty unfamiliar with the documentary film genre.

COUNTLESS documentary films (and series) have been made for wide/general audiences about a ZILLION topics (music, bands, wars, random events or people, competitive Scrabble, the list is endless) that manage to do the job well.

The problem with this new doc is not that it doesn't have enough footage or audio or information that hardcore fans aren't familiar with. The problem isn't any sort of nit-picking fandom pedantry.

It does a poor job of telling the story. Yes, detailed knowledge of the band's history informs some of that knowledge of what this film gets wrong. But again, this isn't nitpicky stuff. This isn't someone complaining that Hal Blaine's hairdo is off in "Love & Mercy."

This film tells an incomplete and regressive, oversimplified story. Even some novice non-fans have in many cases realized this. Reviews from rogerebert.com and Rolling Stone have noticed the incomplete nature of the film. I watched the film with a non-fan, and they noticed how rushed it felt after about 1967, noticed that it cut off in the early 70s, and then weirdly shows a clip from 1980, and that's it. They asked "Didn't they do a reunion like ten years ago?"

This film falls flat on its face even trying to tell the most simplified, streamlined version of some of these events. It even f**ked up telling the story of "Pet Sounds" and "Smile."

Oh, but Frank Marshall just HAD to make sure they got a Manson segment in there, complete with out of context picture of Dennis looking depressed as they explained how surely Dennis had to have felt guilty about the murders.

The doc can't explain how, despite their public image being what it was, they produced AMAZING music in the 1967-early 70s time period. But the doc went to great lengths to not just discuss that Dennis knew Manson, but actually told the whole story about how he met Melcher, and how the house had been the house Melcher had rented, etc, etc.

The Murry stuff was also confused and did nobody any favors. They weirdly conflate the issue of selling the catalog versus Mike not getting credit on some of the songs. Obviously, those things are not wholly unrelated, but they're two different issues. Then, after they've done their hack, surface-level examination and condemnation of Murry, they circle back around to Murry *again* near the end of the doc for no apparent reason.

Also, as I'm sure others have mentioned, the film mostly avoids discussing Brian's emotional/mental problems that pre-dated any drug use (the "Long Promised Road" doc accomplished this quickly and simply with some on-screen text), and thus feed into the regressive idea that Brian was just an eccentric druggie. They try to indicate Brian had emotional problems, but they don't do the minimum job they easily could have to explain and contextualize it.

Dennis segment? "Meh, f**k it and just play "Forever" and make sure it comes in under five minutes. Blah, blah blah."

I'll stop there for now.

I think the inclusion or exclusion of this song or that song in this doc is semi-moot, because it has more fundamental problems than that. Indeed, the doc barely slows down to play much of any extended piece of music. It often seems to be incapable of stopping and playing more than 5 or 10 seconds of any given song.

A doc would not even live or die by including "Kokomo" and not including "Surf's Up" or "'Til I Die", but that certainly is a *symptom* of a larger issue with this documentary.

One thing I loved about the Brian Wilson Songwriter documentary was that it picked a song or two from each album/era and truly examined it (both musically and culturally). I realize that Disney probably didn't have the budget to make a documentary on par with that one (yes sarcasm), but goodness, 5-10 seconds on any given song? AND IT'S FOR A STREAMING SERVICE! They didn't need to trim the time down for a large-release-theater viewing. They didn't need to trim time down because of blu-ray production costs. It's them slapping this up on a server and letting the world see it. I realize these documentaries take time & money to create, but it's Disney. Last year, Disney made a gross profit of $29,679,000,000. You can push a little more funds into a movie about America's Band, right?

Aside from Kokomo did they play any song entirely through during the doc?

I really just need to get it over with and watch this thing already. *grabs bottle* sigh

the director also used Kokomo as a tribute to Jimmy Buffett who was one of his best friends. the words 'For Jimmy' appear just as the opening lyric plays: "Off the Florida Keys..."

Maybe someday Frank Marshall will pay apt tribute to the Beach Boys. If only there were a project where he could have been given a shot to do just that....

If they included Kokomo - as mentioned a song with absolutely no historical connection to the timeline nor subject matter covered by the film - but couldn't include 'Til I Die or Surf's Up which are key to the years covered in the film on the soundtrack...there's a major problem here.

I'd also like to hear the backstory of how Kokomo got hammered into the film's content, and which parties may have pushed for it. Any guesses? (sarcasm, there, btw).

Huh?

No historical connection?  As Rocker mentions it's their last number one hit and one of their most recognizable songs like it or not.

The fact that the song was just thrown in during the credits should actually dismantle that this was some scheme by Mike the villan which you're insinuating here.   The song and its story would have been part of the actual documentary---as it should be. 

I'm not saying Mike suggested it be included. But the song being laid over the credits doesn't make me think that scenario is any less likely.

I could easily see a scenario where a bunch of bad decisions and politics led to the project kind of floundering, leading to the decision to cut the doc off early in the late 60s/early 70s, and any number of people (including possibly Mike) pointing out that this time frame would negate the inclusion of "Kokomo", and then someone saying "oh yeah, okay, we'll put it over the credits."

I think the inclusion or exclusion of this song or that song in this doc is semi-moot, because it has more fundamental problems than that. Indeed, the doc barely slows down to play much of any extended piece of music. It often seems to be incapable of stopping and playing more than 5 or 10 seconds of any given song.

A doc would not even live or die by including "Kokomo" and not including "Surf's Up" or "'Til I Die", but that certainly is a *symptom* of a larger issue with this documentary.

the director also used Kokomo as a tribute to Jimmy Buffett who was one of his best friends. the words 'For Jimmy' appear just as the opening lyric plays: "Off the Florida Keys..."

Sure, anything is possible. It's possible Van Dyke Parks called in a favor and asked for "Kokomo" to be included (he played the accordion after all).

I just don't think it's very likely that nobody else brought it up, and somebody at Disney (does anybody working at Disney in upper management in 2024 even remember that "Kokomo" is a soundtrack song from a Disney-owned movie?) insisted on including the song, and did so *because* it's a "Disney song." To what end would this gain Disney anything? It wouldn't gain them any money, as they'd be paying *themselves* to license the composition (and that's assuming Disney full owns the publishing; it indicates as such in the credits of the doc, but old pressings of the song show multiple publishers representing the other writers). They almost surely had to *put out* some amount of money to include the song.

It's not impossible that they made a list of songs that Disney or BRI/Iconic owned, and for which sync rights could theoretically be cheaper.

But there are a zillion logical reasons the directors or some band members would think to add the song to the credits. I'm not even complaining about it. I'm not a detractor of the song. I've always said it's a catchy song and was a great shot in the arm for the band in 1988. It *should* be part of the story!

I do think it's kind of weird to put in at the end of the doc in that it only serves to draw attention to eras they *didn't* cover in the doc, but it's not a big deal that it was in the doc. But I don't think Disney would have insisted on the song being in there.

If Disney really had a burning desire to remind the world that "Kokomo" is a Disney song, then you'd think they would have pushed in the editorial stage for the era in which the song was released to be covered in said doc!