Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story is a 43 minute film about the life of Karen Carpenter. It was directed by Todd Haynes and released in 1987. It was withdrawn from circulation in 1990 after Haynes lost a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Karen's brother and musical collaborator, Richard Carpenter. The title of the film is derived from "Superstar", their 1971 hit song. The film covers Karen Carpenter from the time of her "discovery" in 1966 to her untimely death by cardiac arrest in 1983. The movie begins with a quasi-first person recap of her mother Agnes Carpenter discovering... Karen's body in her parents' Downey, California home on February 4, 1983, and then returns by flashback to 1966. The story touches on major points in Karen's life from 1966 on: An unusual facet of the film was that, instead of actors, almost all parts were played by modified Barbie dolls. In particular, Haynes detailed Karen Carpenter's worsening anorexia by subtly whittling away at the face and arms of the "Karen" Barbie doll.
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