In 1979, Trent Harris was testing out a new camera outside of his work at a Salt Lake City news station when he was approached by an enthusiastic young man who identified himself as "Groovin' Gary." Excited about the prospect of being on television, Gary launched into his repertoire of celebrity impressions. After their encounter, Gary kept in contact with Harris and invited him to his hometown of Beaver to film the local talent show where he would be performing as "Olivia Newton-Don." Gary's interview and performance were compiled as
The Beaver Kid.
Two years later, Harris hired a then-unknown Sean Penn, fresh from the set of
Fast Times, to star in his dramatic remake of
The Beaver Kid, cleverly titled
The Beaver Kid 2.
In 1985, Harris decided to turn his story into a proper short film. This third installment was titled
The Orkly Kid and starred Crispin Glover.
Trent Harris and Crispin Glover later went on to create
Rubin and Ed in 1991, which is probably the funniest movie ever made about trying to bury a dead cat.