Beach Boys Disney+ 2024 Documentary Review 

Mike Love is/was a square. He dismissed Brian's best and most adventurous music because it was too "melancholy." It's called being real, Mike. He's one of those guys that thinks music has to be fun all the time to be good. It's such a shallow way to consume music, really. Yes, fun should be part of it, but there are worlds of emotion to be explored through the medium. I also hate how the documentary completely glossed over so much of their classic output. No mention of Wild Honey, Friends, 20/20, Sunflower, Surf's Up, Holland, Love You, etc. It was like, the band was creating a California dream and then Brian had a nervous breakdown, made Pet Sounds, everyone hated it, Smile was shelved, and Brian retreated into depression for the next decade until Endless Summer revived their career. There's soooo much more to the story than that. If they really cared about the band and their legacy they would have made it into a three-part documentary, 6-8 hours in length, and tell the whole story without Mike Love jumping in all the time.

"Am I happy? I don't know, not really." Same, dude. This video was my thoughts exactly.

California Girls has the most beautiful instrumental intro of any pop song I have ever heard but the lyric which follows is Mike Love at his worst:”I dig a French bikini…to the cutest girls in the world”. California wins the cute girl competition.

What a fascinating honest review! Kudos.

Mike Love from all accounts tried to stop Pet Sounds and put the thumbs down on Smile.. Brian Wilson is the genius and creative force. Listen to Wild Honey and the Mike Love lyrics! compared them to Pet Sounds and Smile ypu be the judge!!!!

Your review of this documentary confirmed my skepticism about it being told largely through Mike Love’s eyes. When it was being promoted in May 2024, Mike Love was the only original Beach Boy being interviewed about the documentary. Yeah, Bruce Johnson has also been interviewed about the documentary, but he was not an original member of the band. And yes, you are totally right: he HAS been bought! Mike Love is not the only original surviving member of The Beach Boys, regardless of the fact that he owns the legal rights to The Beach Boys band name and still performs the music live on tour. Love already wrote his memoir in 2016 and was able to tell his side of The Beach Boys’ story in full. But egomaniacs are never ever satisfied! There is no Beach Boys without Al Jardine and Brian Wilson. I think that Mike Love jumped at the opportunity to create this documentary because he knew that Brian Wilson couldn’t object to it or Mike due to Brian being diagnosed with dementia and being in a fragile state. And Al is not a Wilson nor a relative of the Wilsons I.e. Mike Love being Brian, Dennis and Carl’s cousin. And yes, I totally agree that The Beach Boys: An American Band is a far superior documentary. It is levelheaded, focuses on each band member’s individual special talents in addition to the group dynamic, and gives the viewer that authentic American family feeling and California cultural vibe all throughout. Since that documentary was made one year after Dennis died, one would have thought the new documentary could have spotlighted Carl due to his having passed 15 years later. I guess not. It seems like Mike Love is stopping at nothing to prove his false notion that he was the reason for The Beach Boys’ success. 😞

I need to re-watch it, because I didn't see the "re-writing of the story" probably because I knew that there was only one genius in the band, only one who wrote the music and created the harmonies. And as matter of fact, the lyrics of song that I like the most were not even written by Mike Love, but they have been written by Tony Asher

He doesn't mention Alan Boyd's fine "Endless Harmony" doc, a glaring omission.

it was a fun surface level doc i saw them in 2012 with Brian Wilson in Calgary

I too enjoyed An American Band. But at the time as I was growing up, I think the best up-to-date program was A&E's BioGraphy on Brian Wilson, which originally debuted on his birthday in 1999.

i've seen, if not all, almost all BB documentary films out there. i suspected that this new one would be exactly what you are describing right now. mike has been trying to sell his version for years. they were all important and necessary, of course... but we all know who made things work in a progressive way. i will always appreciate kokomo... but will never be as good vibrations and before that. i'll be skipping this documentary for now. thanks for the honest feed.

I haven't seen the documentary, but I have to wonder how many more media production companies out there are going to keep milking the subject of The Beach Boys? Hasn't there been enough video compilations done on the group over the past 60 years to satisfy the public?

Nice review. My thoughts with the doc were pretty much the same. I was really upset with the paradise cove stuff. Hasnt brian given us enough? Considering his health and what he has been through for 60 years, cant we just let him be?.

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I don’t believe Disney had a hand in the production. They just bought it.