The Compleat Al
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| The Compleat Al | |
|---|---|
 The Compleat Al VHS cover |
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| Directed by | Jay Levey Robert K. Weiss |
| Produced by | Robert K. Weiss |
| Written by | Robert K. Weiss Jay Levey Hamilton Cloud "Weird Al" Yankovic |
| Starring | "Weird Al" Yankovic |
| Music by | Derek Nakamoto Pat Regan "Weird Al" Yankovic |
| Cinematography | David Lewis |
| Editing by | Bruce Austin John Carroll Kurt Tiegs |
| Distributed by | CBS/Fox Fox Video |
| Release date(s) | August 1985 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | UHF (1989) |
| IMDb profile | |
The Compleat Al is a mockumentary about the life of "Weird Al" Yankovic, from his birth to 1985. It was partially written by Yankovic and directed by Jay Levey.
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. 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, many of the film's fabricated information was accepted by fans as real. A notable example is the film's pun which claimed his birth in an elevator signified his "rise to the top".
The mocumentary also contains clips from Al TV, 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," "Dare to Be Stupid," and "One More Minute."
[edit] Trivia
- According to the mockumentary, Yankovic was born in Saint Vitus hospital. Saint Vitus is the Catholic patron saint of comedy.
- The Compleat Al was released at roughly the same time as the book The Authorized Al (ISBN 0-8092-5133-7), which is essentially a book version of the video.[1]
- The film was released in VHS, Betamax and laserdisc formats.
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