Animated Documentary ‘The Donn of Tiki’ Expands to All Major Streaming Platforms

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Following a successful Apple TV bow and a 40-plus-city coast-to-coast theatrical roadshow tour, directors Max Well and Alex Lamb’s hybrid animated documentary The Donn of Tiki is making its wide digital debut across all major streaming platforms on Friday, August 28, 2026. A physical Blu-ray release is scheduled to follow later this fall.

Produced by Surf Monkey Films, the James Beard Award-nominated feature digs into the myth, history, and legacy of Donn Beach (born Ernest Raymond Gantt)—the eccentric, larger-than-life founder of tiki culture and creator of the iconic “Don the Beachcomber” bar and restaurant empire.

Unraveling the Legend Behind Don the Beachcomber

Starting with the 1932 opening of the world’s very first tiki bar, The Donn of Tiki sets out to parse fact from decades of heavily embellished fiction surrounding Beach’s life. The story crosses paths with Prohibition-era bootlegging, old Hollywood glamour, the Chicago mob, 1950s Hawaii, and the secret origins of classic cocktail culture—including the creation of Beach’s famous cocktail, the Zombie.

To anchor the narrative, filmmakers utilized a never-before-heard longform interview recorded with Donn Beach in 1986.

Nostalgic Animation Meets Historical Retrospective

Originally founded in 2009 by Lamb and Well, Surf Monkey Films spent years assembling the project, drawing early critical attention from outlets such as Vogue and WBUR’s nationally syndicated program Here and Now. Viewers can access the film across major VOD platforms starting August 28, with home video release details coming later in the season.

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