Yellow Submarine (film)
"Yellow Submarine" is a 1968 animated musical film that features the iconic music of The Beatles, though the band members only appear in the final scenes. The film is characterized by its psychedelic artwork and innovative animation style, which contrasts sharply with traditional Disney productions. The plot follows a fantastical journey set in the underwater paradise of Pepperland, which is threatened by the music-hating Blue Meanies. As Old Fred seeks help, he recruits The Beatles, who embark on an adventure through surreal landscapes, each accompanied by a Beatles song.
The film includes a number of classic tracks, such as "All You Need Is Love" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," alongside a few unique songs. The animation, primarily directed by Heinz Edelman, reflects a vibrant and surreal aesthetic that became emblematic of the late 1960s. Despite its comedic and fantastical elements, "Yellow Submarine" also touches on cultural themes of peace and transformation. It achieved critical acclaim and commercial success, leaving a lasting impact on both music and animation, and continues to be celebrated for its colorful artistry and memorable soundtrack.
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Yellow Submarine (film)
- Release Date: 1968
- Director(s): George Dunning
- Writer(s): Roger McGough; Jack Mendelsohn; Lee Minoff; Erich Segal
The music of the Beatles and psychedelic artwork distinguish the 1968 animated movie, Yellow Submarine. Although the members of the Beatles themselves do not appear in the film until the very end and actors provided their voices for the animation, Yellow Submarine would not exist except as a "Beatles movie."
While no one would claim that the comedic fantasy Yellow Submarine is the best Beatles film (A Hard Day’s Night universally gains that honor), the animated movie is an entertaining, intriguing, different sort of musical. Like many other musicals, the songs dominate. Yellow Submarine is philosophically more like the Disney masterpiece Fantasia than The Music Man, but the Beatles movie follows a plot line that frames the presentation of the group’s songs. Some of the songs are unique to the movie, but the majority are drawn from previously released Beatles albums.
The film is also noted for its Peter Max-like psychedelic images. Famous for his distinctive style in the late 1960s, Max was initially contacted to create the images, but he balked at the idea of leaving his family for more than a year to work on the movie in Europe. The art direction was done by Heinz Edelman, an artist also well known for his interpretation of the Peter Max style. Edelman consciously created a surreal style and "limited animation" that was in sharp contrast to the slick productions of Disney.
Plot
Voice-over narration at the film’s opening tells the audience that Pepperland is a peaceful, artistic paradise beneath the sea. Pepperland is protected by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The yellow submarine itself sits atop a pyramid on an adjacent hill. The horizon is edged by the Blue Mountains.
The peaceful scene is destroyed by an invasion of the music-hating Blue Meanies who assault Pepperland from beyond the Blue Mountains. The Blue Meanies use Splotch Guns to drain color from the psychedelic landscape and characters.
Old Fred, the conductor of the Lonely Hearts Club Band, manages to escape. He is sent in the yellow submarine to seek help and sails to Liverpool. There he first meets Beatles drummer Ringo, who helps him recruit the other Beatles to save Pepperland. They all board the yellow submarine.
John, Paul, George, and Ringo go on a "modyssey" with Old Fred. Their journey takes them through psychedelic worlds: the sea of time, the sea of science, the sea of monsters, the sea of green, the sea of holes, and so on.
In each sea, a Beatles song characterizes the location. For example, in the Sea of Time, time flows both forward and backward while "When I’m Sixty-Four" is heard. In the Sea of Nothing they gain the alliance of the Nowhere Man to the tune of the song "Nowhere Man." The Sea of Holes is composed of multidimensional and multishaped black holes that transport them instantly through time and space. Ringo puts one of the holes in his pocket.
A giant sneeze sends them through the Sea of Holes and back to Pepperland. The Beatles help rally the rebellion against the Blue Meanies by singing "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band." The Blue Meanies fight back with the Dreadful Flying Glove, but John drives it away when he sings "All You Need Is Love."
The black hole in Ringo’s pocket is used to free the original Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the Blue Meanies are set in full retreat. The Nowhere Man helps transform the Blue Meanies into peaceful citizens of Pepperland, and a huge party is accompanied by the song "It’s All Too Much." In the end, everyone lives happily ever after in the beautiful, psychedelic Pepperland.
At the very end the actual Beatles make a live appearance in the movie. They have souvenirs of their adventure, as if they have transformed from their animated selves into the human beings now on the screen. Through a telescope John sees a new threat from new Blue Meanies, and he says there is only one way to go out: Singing! "All Together Now" is reprised and ends with translations of the song’s title in many different languages.
Significance
The impact of Yellow Submarine is primarily cultural, ranging from its contributions to the ideas of "flower power" when it was released to a more sinister connection, when in 1970 the so-called Zodiac Killer, a California serial killer, referred to police officers as "blue meannies," misspelling the name of the villains in the movie. Although countless young people watched the movie while under the influence of drugs, it never compared to the space/time sequences of 2001: A Space Odyssey as an icon for the psychedelic drug culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Regardless, the movie arrived to critical acclaim in 1968 and it was a box office success. The images in the movie are highly creative and lavishly colorful, and they are rendered in a style that came to define an era in America and Europe.
But of course, the main draw of the movie was, and is, the soundtrack comprised mainly of Beatles songs. The title song, "Yellow Submarine," had been released in 1966, and it became a hit. Other previously released Beatles songs in the movie includes several from the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band ("A Day in the Life," "When I’m Sixty-Four," "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds," "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band," and a scrap from "With a Little Help from My Friends"). Also featured are songs from the albums Revolver ("Eleanor Rigby" and "Love to You"), Magical Mystery Tour ("All You Need Is Love" and "Baby You’re a Rich Man"), Rubber Soul ("Think For Yourself"), and Yesterday & Today ("Nowhere Man"). Only a few of the songs in the movie are unique to it.
For the music alone the movie has enduring interest, but it also captures a visual style that reflects an era in its colorful vibrancy. Decades later, it remains energetically entertaining.
Bibliography
Brodax, Al. Up Periscope, Yellow: The Making of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine. Lafayette: Limelight, 2004. Electronic.
Carr, Roy. Beatles at the Movies: Stories and Photographs from Behind the Scenes at All Five Films. New York: Harper, 1996. Print.
Glynn, Stephen. The British Pop Music Film: The Beatles and Beyond. London: Palgrave, 2005. Electronic.
Hieronimus, Robert. Inside the Yellow Submarine. Iola: Krause, 2002. Print.
Neaverson, Bob. The Beatles Movies. London: Cassell, 1996. Print.
Reiter, Roland. The Beatles on Film: Analysis of Movies, Documentaries, Spoofs and Cartoons. New York: Transcript Verlag, 2008. Print.