SALT LAKE CITY — A mashup of stormtroopers and B-list Hollywood stars thrown together in the late 1970s for a CBS Christmas special, what could possibly go wrong? Apparently, it was so bad it never aired again.
That is until the internet happened and one of the producers of the hit film "Napoleon Dynamite" became fixated on it.
“It’s this like fever dream of like old, elderly, CBS stars from the ‘70s mixed with like Star Wars before it knew what it was," explained Jeremy Coon.
Coon is now the Director and Producer of a documentary that's focused on the holiday special that was so bad it almost seems like a nightmare.
"Disturbance in the Force" explores the holiday film through a series of interviews with '70s variety TV stars including Donnie Osmond. Because of legal issues, there are only a few clips of the original holiday special included in the documentary.
"I just had so many questions when we started out on this, to do a documentary," he explained. "I was surprised no one made a documentary about it before.”
After airing once, the original film was relegated to the dark side, its memory an embarrassment to TV executives. However, the internet brought it back to life and Coon knew he had to get involved.
As an executive producer and editor of Napoleon Dynamite, Cook knew he could raise the money to create the documentary.
“When we pitched Napoleon dynamite, everyone thought it was the dumbest thing ever and they see it and go, 'Oh, this is great,'" he reflected. "Every film I’ve done it’s been that way and this one is no different."
Coon says Star Wars fan or not, his documentary will be a hit for everyone.
“If you’re a Star Wars fan you should love it, even if you’re not a Star Wars fan, it’s just a fun time capsule of what bad, 70s variety TV was like," he said. “If you weren’t alive during that time, you could see just how crazy and wild it was.”
Utahns are lucky because the new film will be screened Tuesday night for free at the Salt Lake City library. All you need to do is click here to reserve your spot and show up at 7 p.m. for the free screening.
Filmmakers are offering the free screening to the public as a gift during "Giving Tuesday" of the best worst holiday film ever made.
