Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns (2002)

Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns (2002)

Directed by: AJ Schnack

Starring: John Flansburgh, John Linnell, Dan Miller

I remember seeing this movie in an indie theater back in it’s short theatrical release. I’m pretty sure it was the first time I’d been in a tiny theater like that. You know, the kind with posters for French movies and that serves expensive, terrible beer. Good times.

Gigantic is a documentary about the band They Might Be Giants, and is composed of interviews from people who’ve worked with them, as well as the band themselves. It goes all the way from the elementary school the Johns attended together to the release of their newest album (at the time), Mink Car. There are also some poetic readings of some of their lyrics by people like Andy Richter, Michael McKean and Janeane Garofalo, which are damn hilarious.

It’s really interesting to see this documentary, as it was made before TMBG got their current popular success in the form of the educational children’s albums they’re making for Disney now. Still, if you like the band, you should definitely check out this documentary. Not only is it interesting and informative, it’s also damn funny (and has an early Drinky Crow cartoon in the middle of it, which is really weird). The best thing about doing a TMBG documentary is that you can include several full songs over the course of it and not take away all that much time from the rest of it, haha.

If you’re not familiar with They Might Be Giants, they’re… well, I have no idea how to explain it. They’re a very unique band with an amazing range of songs. Here, check out their YouTube channel. Most of the videos are newer material (and more kid-oriented), but there are some older goodies on there like Purple Toupee and Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head. You see, nobody can be… told what They Might Be Giants is. You have to hear it for yourself.