The Compleat Al (1985)
August 7, 1985Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Currently The Compleat Al is available for streaming online, rent, buy or watch for free on: Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Freevee, Shout! Factory TV
Streaming in:🇺🇸 United States
This Movie Is About.
Cast & Crew.
'Weird Al' Yankovic
Self / Writer
Barry Hansen
Self (Dr. Demento)
Dick Clark
Self
Art Fleming
Self / 'Jeopardy!' Host
Don Pardo
Self / 'Jeopardy!' Announcer
Greg Kihn
Self / Man in Convertible
Wally Burns
Mr. Cafarella
Tress MacNeille
Francine / Lucy Ricardo
Frank Collison
Look-A-Like Salesman
Steve Jay
Self / Various
Jon Schwartz
Self / Various
Jim West
Self / Various
Mary Yankovic
Self
Nick Yankovic
Self
Steve Cropper
Self
Bill Martin
Narrator (voice)
Billy Selby
Mr. Nordquist
Jane Campbell
Mrs. Weidenbaum
Kevin Seymour
Barry Cohen
Gordon Gale
Karl Brickman
Peter James
Day Tripper
Kenneth J. Scherr
Frisbee Salesman
Bill Sehres
Jerry Neuman
Rick Derringer
Self
Phil Ramone
Self
Helen Kelly
Girl in Line
Harvey the Wonder Hamster
Self
Kathe Klopp
ProductionDesigner
Martha Quinn
Self (archive footage)
Robert K. Weiss
Writer / Director
Jay Levey
Writer / Director
Hamilton Cloud
Writer
Irina Irvine
Production Assistant
Bob Brown
Stunts
Derek Nakamoto
Music
Pat Regan
Music
David Lewis
Cinematography
Bruce Austin
Editor
John Carroll
Editor
Kurt Tiegs
Editor
Jeff Rosen
Casting Director
Media.
Details.
Wiki.
The Compleat Al is a mockumentary about the life of "Weird Al" Yankovic, from his birth in 1959, to 1985. It was partially written by Yankovic and directed by Jay Levey. An abbreviated version premiered on August 7, 1985 on the Showtime network before the full film was released on video on September 25, 1985. The title of the film is a parody from the 1982 documentary The Compleat Beatles.Although it is a mockumentary, it is roughly based on Yankovic's real life. For example, Yankovic was raised in Lynwood, California, and has a degree in architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. His real-life parents appear in the mockumentary, as does a picture of his real-life childhood house. Because of the mixture of Yankovic's real life and fiction, much of the film's fabricated information was accepted by fans as real, for example, the false information that Yankovic was born in a Saint Vitus hospital (the Catholic patron saint of comedy), or the film's pun which claimed his birth in an elevator signified his "rise to the top."
The mockumentary also contains clips from the first three AL-TV specials, and all of Yankovic's music videos up to 1985: "Ricky", "I Love Rocky Road", "Eat It", "I Lost on Jeopardy", "This Is the Life", "Like a Surgeon", "One More Minute", and "Dare to Be Stupid".
The parody also extends to the technical aspects of the film, such as the copyright warning message which starts routinely but escalates to warnings that copying the video may result in damage to your VCR, smoke may come out of your TV set, escalating to possible destruction of the planet due to the greed of the viewer.