Who was Allee Willis?
That’s a name you might not recognize, but you definitely know her work.
When you’re watching classic episodes of Friends, and The Rembrandts’ iconic theme song kicks in with, “So no one told you life was gonna be this way,” you can’t help but respond with the clap-clap-clap-clap. Allee Willis wrote that!
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When you’re at a wedding—especially one that happens to be in September—you can almost guarantee the Earth, Wind & Fire classic “September” will play and get everyone out on the dance floor. That’s another Allee Willis joint!
When you ask someone what they think is the most show-stopping Broadway 11 o’clock number of all time, odds are they’ll tell you it’s “I’m Here” from The Color Purple. And, yup, she wrote that, too!
That’s truly just scratching the surface. We could’ve also brought up The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield’s “What Have I Done to Deserve This?,” her Grammy Award-winning work on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, and so, so much more.
The point is: Willis’s impact on culture is pretty profound, and yet it’s only after her passing (she died of cardiac arrest in 2019) that it feels like the world is catching up to her genius and beginning to understand what a trailblazer she was, especially as a queer artist.
Thankfully, she had the foresight to record much of her life and work, dating all the way back to the ’50s. Today, those home movies provide an unfiltered look into her endless imagination, and have become the foundation of the documentary The World According To Allee Willis.
Filmmaker Alexis Spraic’s feature welcomes audiences into Willis’s world, reaching back to her childhood growing up around the Motown scene in Detroit, to her early days in LA as a songwriter, to her inspirational work as an art director and set designer, to her forward-thinking advocacy for freedom of expression in the digital space.
The doc also offers a peek into Willis’s eccentric Pee-wee’s Playhouse-like home just outside Hollywood (which, indeed, influenced the late, great Paul Reubens) and shares memories from the storied parties she’d frequently host there.
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That time Paul Reubens gave Pee-wee the gayest send-off possible—in the arms of Joe Manganiello
In many ways, Pee-wee’s final film feels like a nod to the character’s many queer fans.
Despite her extravagant style and reputation as a social butterfly, Willis privately struggled with fitting into society’s expectations of sexuality and gender. As the doc’s official synopsis puts it, “she buried herself in her work, until true love manifested her ultimate masterpiece: self-acceptance.”
In addition to the artists’ personal archives, Spraic also incorporates interviews with many of Willis’s contemporaries, fans, and closest friends, including icons like Lily Tomlin, Pet Shop Boys, Cyndi Lauper, Patti LaBelle, Sex And The City director Michael Patrick King, and Reubens himself in what will be one of his last recorded screen appearances.
The World According To Allee Willis premiered earlier this year at the SXSW Film Festival, and will soon hit theaters and digital services courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. It’ll begin playing in select theaters in NYC, LA, and Detroit (her hometown) on Nov. 15, before a special nationwide one-night-only screening on Nov. 19, and will be available on VOD platforms starting Nov. 22.
Check out the colorful trailer for The World According To Allee Willis below:
Related*
LISTEN: The lasting impact of Pet Shop Boys’ Duet with Dusty Springfield
Pet Shop Boys’ “What Have I Done To Deserve This?” featuring Dusty Springfield stands as a testament to intention and nurturing one’s community.
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