Following the huge success of “Taylor Swift – Folklore”, Bille Elish’s “Happier Than Ever”, and Beyonce’s “Black Is King”, Disney has a new musical documentary about Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album, “Sour”.

This special is a natural fit for Disney+, with Olivia Rodrigo previously starring in the hit Disney+ series, “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” and the Disney Channel show, “Bizaardvark”.  She is the next generation of break out Disney Channel stars, following in the footsteps of Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Britney Spears.

“Driving Home 2 U” sees Olivia and her band going on a road trip from Salt Lake City, Utah, to LA, representing the two places she worked on her first album.   Olivia had been filming the Disney+ Original, “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” in Salt Lake City, and the whole album is pretty much her way of coping with the heartbreak from breaking up with the show’s lead star and her on-screen boyfriend, Joshua Bassett, who was also seeing fellow Disney Channel star, Sabrina Carpenter, though it’s important to note, she never refers to them by name.

There are two major elements of this documentary. One is the musical elements, as Olivia travels across the country, stopping at some rather odd places along the way to perform songs from her album.  Each song, has a different visual element. One is shot inside an aircraft junkyard, one’s shot on the beach, another at a gas station, etc.

Each performance is basically a simple music video.  If you enjoy Olivia’s music, then you’re going to love these performances.  One thing to point out, while some of Olivia’s songs do include the occasional swear word, they’ve been edited out in the documentary.

The documentary side of this film takes place in between each song performance, where Olivia gives us a little background on the next song, what it means, how she feels about it etc.  There is footage from when they created the album in her studio, plus from appearances on other shows etc.

Personally, I really enjoyed some of the performances, especially “Driving Home 2 U”, since it’s such a powerful song, and to become one of the biggest songs of 2021, it has to be really good.

This special really shows how someone can blow up and become a mega superstar.  It’s nice to see how grounded she is and why all of this success hasn’t really changed who she is.

Olivia represents how people, especially teenagers feel right now.  How social media influences them and makes them feel. Plus, her heartbreak just comes through the songs, and she has a beautiful voice.

I really hope we get to see more specials like this on Disney+ in the future, as it seems a perfect fit for modern artists to showcase their music and give us a behind-the-scenes look at how they create their work.

“Driving Home 2 U” is perfect for fans of Olivia Rodrigo, and if you don’t know who she is, this is an excellent introduction to this talented artist.   I certainly enjoyed watching it, and I’m sure fans of Olivia will be rewatching this repeatedly, so they watch these exclusive performances of this album.

Rating – 4 out of 5

 

“OLIVIA RODRIGO: driving home 2 u” is coming to Disney+ on Friday 25th March 2022

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Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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