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Croatia, Norway, Sweden · 2020
1h 18m
Director Johan von Sydow
Starring Tiny Tim, 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Jonas Mekas, D. A. Pennebaker
Genre Animation, Documentary
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The story behind American music legend Tiny Tim’s incredible rise to fame is a tale as improbable as it is captivating. Tracing his journey from outcast to star, this documentary uses archival footage, interviews with friends and family, and exclusive access to Tiny Tim’s diaries to recount the fascinating life of one of history’s most bizarre icons.
His singing voice and records remain the definition of acquired taste, and King for a Day won’t necessarily send you back to his songs the way other first-rate music docs can. But watching it, you feel glad that such a genuine oddball lived his particular dream and never revealed any public bitterness over the arc of his life. His legacy, it turns out, was the last thing from tiny.
The surprisingly conventional Tiny Tim – King For A Day mixes archival photos and film, and animation, to present an image of the man before and after he hit the pinnacle of pop culture by getting married to first wife Miss Vicki live on The Tonight Show.
San Francisco Chronicle by Joel Selvin
Swedish documentarian Johan von Sydow lets Tim tell the story, mixing plentiful musical performances with narration drawn from Tim’s diaries (read solemnly by Weird Al Yankovic), illustrating the details with animation and a feast of vintage stock footage.
Los Angeles Times by Noel Murray
King for a Day is never less than riveting.
The last act of Tiny Tim: King for a Day is about Tiny’s descent, which the film portrays with a haunted majesty worthy of a Larry Karaszewski/Scott Alexander biopic.
Von Sydow paints a compelling and very entertaining portrait of a showbiz original who found a niche, made his mark with an act famed for its shock value, and yet dabbled in most every musical style to come along after he broke big because he could and would try anything.
RogerEbert.com by Sheila O'Malley
More than anything else, Mekas' footage gives a glimpse of the fascinating aura that Tiny Tim projected.
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