Update (Aug. 19, 2015): It’s official, "Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors" is set to air on NBC, Thursday, Dec. 10, from 9-11 PM!
Update (May 11, 2015): NBC confirms first in series of made-for-TV movies will be "Coat of Many Colors."
Read more about the movie on NBC.
In early January 2015, Dolly and NBC announced their joint plans to make a collection of two-hour television movies based on Dolly's life and songs. Not only will Dolly produce the films, she will also reunite with Bob Greenblatt on the project. She remarked,
"I am so excited to be involved with my friend Bob Greenblatt, who produced the Broadway version of '9 to 5: The Musical' with me, and my longtime friend and former agent Sam Haskell. We want to create projects for NBC that are both fun and inspirational with a family audience in mind."
The network noted the films will incorporate Dolly's always-present positive outlook on life which has inspired her fans and those around her. In a release, NBC Entertainment chairman, Robert Greenblatt said,
"I don't know anyone in the world who doesn't love Dolly Parton, and the idea of developing television movies inspired by her incredible life and the stories she has sung about for decades is exciting to all of us at NBC."
Dolly wrote many of her hit songs based on personal experiences from her childhood and from other times in her life. Songs like "Coat of Many Colors," "My Tennessee Mountain Home" and "I Will Always Love You" were inspired by real events. Through these songs and many others, Dolly builds strong emotional connections with her fans. Now these beloved stories are set to play out on the small screen for loyal fans and new audiences alike.
Christmas came early for Dolly in 2013 as she filmed part of the Lifetime movie "A Country Christmas Story" at Dollywood. The movie highlights the story of a young bi-racial girl following in her father’s footsteps to become a musician as she participates in a singing contest held at Dollywood. Dolly wrote some of the songs featured in the movie and said,
“It’s a sweet original movie, and I like just being able to play my music, be part of whatever I’m doing. I did write some of the music for this little show. And I enjoy getting to act a little bit. It’s just fun. I do different stuff.”
The story reunites a family--Grace, her grandmother Sarah (Mary Kay Place), her estranged musician father Danny (Brian McNight) and her mother Jenny (Megyn Price)--through music and showcases some of the musical history of African-American contributions to country music. Dolly plays herself as the emcee and host of the singing contest at Dollywood. She also wrote two original songs-- "Fiddlin' Around" and "Miss You, Miss Me" --which are performed in the movie.
Dolly recorded "Miss You, Miss Me" on her 42nd studio album, "Blue Smoke."
Dolly appears as herself and contributes several songs to the 2011 film, "Hollywood to Dollywood"
"Hollywood to Dollywood" is a 2011 documentary about identical twins who travel across the U.S. to deliver Dolly a script for a movie called "Full Circle" which they wrote and includes a part for her. One of the movie’s central themes is the twins’, both of whom are gay and Southern, concern about how the film will be received back home. The twins travel from Los Angeles to Dollywood and eventually meet Dolly and present her the script after dealing with tornadoes and floods on their journey.
Dolly commented on "Hollywood To Dollywood,"
“The movie is a documentary about these twin boys. They’re gay and their parents kind of turned them out, and they did come to Dollywood. I did meet them, and I allowed them to use some of my songs. They’re sweet, sweet, precious boys, and the fact that I was an inspiration and someone they kind of leaned on. You never know how God works to help people. We’re all God’s children no matter what. So there was a lot of love and understanding and I think they felt that.”
Directed by John Lavin, the film played at 60 festivals between 2011 and 2012, winning 24 awards, including several for best documentary. "Hollywood to Dollywood."
Lavin said of the movie’s themes and Dolly’s participation,
“...as we traveled, more and more references to the 'Wizard of Oz' seemed to magically occur, culminating with Dolly as Glinda the Good Witch and the Wizard rolled into one. If there is an overarching theme of the film, it’s courage: the courage the guys had in taking the trip and making the doc; the courage to be oneself that Dolly seems to inspire in everyone we met; and the courage the guys have to live their lives honestly.”
In addition to many Dolly classics like "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You," the documentary includes two previously unreleased songs, "The Sky is Not the Limit" and "Celebrate the Dreamer in You." The twins financed the movie’s musical royalties with their winnings on the TV game show "Wipeout."
“I have a lot of gay fans because they know that I just accept people as they are. That’s not my place to judge. I ain’t God, and I ain’t runnin’ for office. But I was proud to be part of that. It makes you feel good.”
Songs in "Hollywood to Dollywood:"
All songs written and performed by Dolly Parton
After the untimely death of Whitney Houston on February 12, 2012, Dolly said,
“Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song, and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, ‘Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.’”
Dolly’s song "I Will Always Love You" has been performed by many artists since it was released by her in 1974, but none more memorable than the version recorded by Houston for the soundtrack of the 1992 hit movie "The Bodyguard."
Hearing Whitney’s version of the song played at her funeral was particularly affecting for Dolly,
“I thought my heart was going to stop. It just pierced me like a knife. It’s just - I can’t explain that feeling, to think that was so final for her and that was my words and my feeling - I would forever be so connected to her."
Dolly presented Houston the GRAMMY award she won for singing the song in 1994.
Dolly starred in the Warner Brothers movie "Joyful Noise." In 2012, during a decade when small towns faced a variety of economic problems, Dolly felt it was high-time for a feel-good movie about "a little town that's going through their problems, like everyone is these days."
Dolly plays G.G. Sparrow in "Joyful Noise," which focuses on a choir member at odds with the choir’s current director, played by Queen Latifah, at a church trying to win a national choral singing competition.
She was particularly excited to work with Queen Latifah.
“I always thought it'd be fun to work with her because everybody just loves her. And she is so cool and she's so funny. We really get along great. There's a great chemistry, which we hoped there would be, and it really comes through. There's a lot of magic in it.”
Many of the funniest parts of the movie are verbal battles between Latifah and Dolly, filled with classic "Dollyisms" like "God didn't put plastic surgeons on earth to starve." Amid the humor, the movie underscores the prevailing theme that people need to come together during hard times.
Dolly wrote three songs for the movie-- "Not Enough," "From Here to the Moon and Back," and "He’s Everything."
