Yellow Submarine (film)
The land falls under a surprise attack from the music-hating Blue Meanies, who live beyond the mountains. A music-proof glass globe imprisons the band and drains the entire countryside of colour. In the last minutes before his capture, Pepperland's elderly Lord High Mayor sends Young Fred to get help. He travels to Liverpool where he follows a depressed Ringo to The Pier. This building sits on top of a hill and serves as a meeting point for the group. Ringo collects his mates John, George, and Paul to return to Pepperland with him. They pass the Sea of Time and the Sea of Science during their journey. The Sea of Monsters appears next, where Ringo presses the forbidden panic button. He gets swept out of the submarine by a vacuum creature that sucks away the whole sea. John, Paul and George manage to save Ringo with a rescue button. They crash land in the Sea of Nothing after the disaster. There they meet Jeremy Hillary Boob Ph.D., a short and studious creature. The Boob repairs the submarine's tiny motor so they can continue. They arrive at the Foothills of the Headlands but are accidentally separated from the submarine and Fred. They find themselves in the Sea of Holes where Jeremy is kidnapped by a Blue Meanie. Ringo picks up the hole that Jeremy was previously stuck in and puts it in his pocket. When he steps on a green hole, it turns into the Sea of Green. This path brings the group back to Pepperland.
The film's art director was Heinz Edelmann who pioneered a unique visual style alongside contemporaries like Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast. Animators Robert Balser and Jack Stokes were hired as the film's animation directors. Charlie Jenkins served as one of the key creative directors for the entire Eleanor Rigby sequence. A large crew of skilled animators including Alan Ball, Ron Campbell, and Dianne Jackson worked to bring the animated Beatles to life. Ted Lewis and Chris Miles handled animation cleanup while background work was executed under Alison de Vere and Millicent McMillan. George Dunning supervised over 200 artists for 11 months during production. Edelmann's surreal visual style contrasts greatly with efforts from Walt Disney Animation Studios released at the time. The film uses a style of limited animation that paved the way for Terry Gilliam's animations for Monty Python's Flying Circus. It also influenced early seasons of Sesame Street and The Electric Company. Only one of the animation staff of Yellow Submarine, Ron Campbell, contributed subsequent animation to the Children's Television Workshop. The Beatles' animated personas were based on their appearance during the Sgt Peppers press party at manager Brian Epstein's house on the 19th of May 1967.
The Beatles were not enthusiastic about participating in a new motion picture after being dissatisfied with Help! directed by Richard Lester. They saw an animated film as a favourable way to complete their commitment to United Artists for a third film. Many fans have assumed that the cartoon did not meet the contract's requirements but Let It Be was not connected to the original three-picture deal. The Beatles make a live-action cameo appearance in the final scene which was filmed on the 25th of January 1968 shortly before the band's trip to India. This was done primarily to fulfil their contractual obligation to United Artists to actually appear in the film. The cameo was originally intended to feature a post-production psychedelic background and effects. Time and budget constraints left a blank black background in the final film instead. While Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney still looked the same as their animated counterparts John Lennon and George Harrison had changed physically. Both were clean-shaven and Lennon had begun to grow his hair longer with mutton-chop sideburns. The original story was written by Lee Minoff based on the song by Lennon and McCartney. Erich Segal penned part of the screenplay alongside four collaborators including Roger McGough who wrote many puns.
The film's instrumental music was an orchestral score composed and arranged by George Martin. One of the film's cues heard after the main title credits was originally recorded during sessions for Good Night. That cue would have been used as the introduction to Don't Pass Me By. The same cue was later released as A Beginning on Anthology 3. Several complete or excerpted songs were used in the film including All Together Now and Eleanor Rigby. Baby You're A Rich Man first appeared as the B-side to All You Need Is Love in June 1967. Only a Northern Song was originally recorded during sessions for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Hey Bulldog was cut from the film before it opened in the US but restored for the 1999 reissue. The original soundtrack album comprised four new Beatles songs plus two other Beatles songs and orchestral pieces by George Martin. The orchestral pieces were also used in short NASA Apollo 9 mission films which were part of a series that NASA made for every mission. Another soundtrack was released in 1999 containing all of the Beatles' songs from the film except A Day in the Life. On the 14th of September 1999 United Artists and Apple Records digitally remixed the audio for a highly successful theatrical and home video re-release.
Yellow Submarine received widespread critical acclaim upon its release in July 1968. The film grossed $993,385 in the U.S. and $282,158 in other countries for a total of $1,275,543 worldwide. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film for its creative animation and screenplay giving it three and a half stars initially. He later upgraded the film to a full 4 stars hailing it a masterpiece of animation. Time commented that it delighted adolescents and aesthetes alike. Filmmaker John Lasseter has credited the film with generating wider interest in animation as a serious art form. Half a century after its release it is still regarded as a landmark of animation. The Beatles celebrated the release of the film in July 1968 with a submarine-themed disco at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in Bayswater London. Guests all wore yellow to attend the event. In a 1980 interview John Lennon said of the film I think it's a great movie it's my favorite Beatle movie. Sean loves it now all the little children love it.
With the dawn of the home-video era came an opportunity to release Yellow Submarine on VHS and LaserDisc. However it was held up by United Artists for some years over music-rights issues. Coinciding with the CD release of the soundtrack album MGM/UA Home Video issued the film on home video on the 28th of August 1987. To the disappointment of fans in the UK the film was presented in its US theatrical version omitting the Hey Bulldog scene. The video was discontinued around 1990 and copies were considered collectables for many years. On the 14th of September 1999 then-rights holders Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Apple reissued the film for the first time on DVD. The sound was remixed to Dolby 5.1 and the film was re-edited to its European theatrical version with the Hey Bulldog number restored. This version went out of print once the rights reverted to Apple Corps. For the 50th anniversary of the movie in 2018 it was screened in the UK and Ireland for one day on the 8th of July 2018. Amazon negotiated exclusive streaming rights via Prime Video starting the 13th of July 2018 under a deal with Apple Corps.
In August 2009 Variety reported that Walt Disney Pictures and filmmaker Robert Zemeckis were negotiating to produce a computer-animated remake. Motion capture was to be used as with Zemeckis' previous animated films The Polar Express and Beowulf. Disney hoped to release the film in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Comedian Peter Serafinowicz was cast to voice Paul while Dean Lennox Kelly played John. Cary Elwes voiced George and Adam Campbell played Ringo. David Tennant was in talks to voice the Chief Blue Meanie. California-based Beatles tribute band the Fab Four performed the performance capture animation for the animated Beatles. In May 2010 Disney closed Zemeckis' digital film studio ImageMovers Digital after unsatisfactory box-office performance of A Christmas Carol. On the 14th of March 2011 Disney abandoned the project citing disastrous opening weekend results of Mars Needs Moms. Criticism toward motion-capture technology was also a factor. By December 2012 Zemeckis expressed that he had lost interest in the project stating it's probably better not to be remade. In 2021 footage of the remake surfaced online revealing potential soundbites from the original.
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Common questions
Who directed the 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine?
George Dunning supervised over 200 artists for 11 months during production of the 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine. The film's art director was Heinz Edelmann who pioneered a unique visual style alongside contemporaries like Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast.
When did the Beatles make their live-action cameo appearance in Yellow Submarine?
The Beatles made a live-action cameo appearance in the final scene which was filmed on the 25th of January 1968 shortly before the band's trip to India. This was done primarily to fulfil their contractual obligation to United Artists to actually appear in the film.
What year was Yellow Submarine released theatrically?
Yellow Submarine received widespread critical acclaim upon its release in July 1968. The film grossed $993,385 in the U.S. and $282,158 in other countries for a total of $1,275,543 worldwide.
Why was the Hey Bulldog song cut from the original US theatrical version of Yellow Submarine?
Hey Bulldog was cut from the film before it opened in the US but restored for the 1999 reissue. To the disappointment of fans in the UK the film was presented in its US theatrical version omitting the Hey Bulldog scene when first issued on home video.
Who voiced Paul McCartney in the cancelled computer-animated remake of Yellow Submarine?
Comedian Peter Serafinowicz was cast to voice Paul while Dean Lennox Kelly played John in the cancelled computer-animated remake of Yellow Submarine. Cary Elwes voiced George and Adam Campbell played Ringo in that project.