The Big Picture
The 12-minute documentary Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song is now streaming on Disney+ and tells the story behind the making of the previously unreleased song. The song, which started as a demo by John Lennon in the 70s, posed challenges in completing it due to technological difficulties with Lennon’s vocals. The documentary features interviews with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Sean Ono Lennon, and Peter Jackson, and aims to honor the legacy of The Beatles and their impact on modern youth culture.
Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song, a 12-minute documentary film, is now available to stream on Disney+. The short documentary depicts the making of the song, which will finally be released to the public on November 2 through Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe. “Now and Then” began as a demo by John Lennon back in the 70s. The Disney+ short film features interviews with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Sean Ono Lennon, and Peter Jackson. Jackson directed a music video for the previously unreleased song, and it will be available to stream on Disney+ beginning November 3.
Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song is written and directed by Oliver Murray. Murray recently released a statement regarding the short documentary, where he discussed the importance of honoring such a legendary band. “The legacy of The Beatles set one of the most important foundations for modern youth culture,” Murray said. “It is a great honor to be given the responsibility of telling this story and I think it will conjure up a lot of different emotions for people as we all have a very personal relationship to the band’s work. Now and Then is a story of musical archaeology and a brotherly bond between four guys that gave the world some of the most popular entertainment in history.”
The History Behind “Now and Then”
The Beatles have worked on releasing the song “Now and Then” for five decades now. Paul, George, and Ringo all contributed to the John Lennon demo in 1995, but it remained unfinished. One of the main reasons the song was difficult to complete was because of technological difficulties involving Lennon’s vocals, which were originally recorded in the 70s. However, in 2022, director Peter Jackson and his team developed software that was able to uncouple Lennon’s vocals from his piano part. Jackson also released a statement regarding what he wanted to accomplish when it came to his music video for “Now and Then.” He said:
“We wanted the music video to bring a few tears to the eye, but generating emotion using only archive footage is a tricky thing. Fortunately, the simple power of this beautiful song did a lot of the work for us. I have genuine pride in what we made, and I’ll cherish that for years to come.”
In addition to Now and Then — The Last Beatles Song, several other Beatles documentaries are available to Stream on Disney+. These include the docuseries The Beatles: Get Back and the documentary film If These Walls Could Sing. You can watch the documentary short via YouTube below or find it streaming on Disney+.
Watch on Disney+