Yellow Submarine (1968): Still Outa Sight!

A few months ago, the 1968 film Yellow Submarine, based very loosely on the titular song, was briefly re-released in theaters here in the US. Anticipating the 50^th anniversary of the movie’s original US release (November 13, 1968), I went back a few days ago and watched Yellow Submarine for the first time in decades. The film has been cleaned up and the sound improved over the years:  It was first restored for DVD in 1998 and re-released in theaters the following year; it was remastered again in 2012, translated frame by frame to a 4K digital version for BluRay and DVD; and for its re-release this year, the soundtrack has been remixed in 5.1 stereo surround sound. It remains a visual and musical delight. In fact, with the restorations and digitalization, it is looks and sounds better now than ever.   

[Full disclosure: To suit the occasion, I allowed myself a slight herbal alteration of consciousness (completely legal, I should add, for those living in less enlightened locales). This added to my enjoyment no doubt, but nevertheless I believe my observations, recounted below, to be accurate and reliable.]

The song Yellow Submarine was written as a children’s song by Paul McCartney with some assistance by John Lennon. The lead vocal, of course, is sung by Ringo Starr. It was originally included on the Beatles’ Revolver album in 1966, and also released as a single, which to everyone’s surprise became a big hit (the flip side being Eleanor Rigby– also a hit). The idea to make a movie about it, came from producers Al Brodax and George Dunning, both of whom had previously been involved with a tv cartoon show also called the Beatles. Although the tv show was disliked by the band., they agreed to the animated feature as an easy way to fulfill their contractual obligation to make a third motion picture following A Hard Day’s Night and Help!. The Yellow Submarine movie was directed by animator Dunning; and the Beatles themselves had very little to do with the it. For example, although the characters of John, Paul George and Ringo are central to the story, the Beatles themselves did not do their voices; their dialogue is supplied by actors loosely impersonating them.  

When the project was finished, however, the fab four actually liked the picture, and contributed a little coda at the end. 

Let’s start with the phenomenal animation. The look and style of Yellow Submarine could be dismissed as just Sixties’ psychedelia, if one hasn’t seen the movie in a long time; but if you divorce yourself from the stereotype and take a fresh look, I think you’ll agree that it is simply spectacular: whimsical, creative, refreshing, clever, funny and, for this viewer, smile-inducing. I don’t recall having seen another animated film, of any length, that is as artful. It would probably be pretty cool even in black and white, but of course that’s not the case. No, in fact the movie is saturated with eye-popping color.

The colors! They just leap off the screen. As enumerated in the tune “All Together Now” that closes out the picture, the hues include “black, white, green, red” . . . [and also] “pink, brown, yellow, orange and blue (I love you.)”. It’s an incomplete list, to which we must add lavender, purple, magenta and more. Actually, limiting the discussion to such categorical labels doesn’t do the color palette justice. For example, “blue” is manifested as navy, turquoise, royal, teal, sapphire, azure and other dazzling shades. Yellow is represented by canary, gold, lemon, blonde and more, and the category “orange” includes amber, sand, bronze, rust and of course tangerine and marmalade. None of this is noirish or murky. It’s all sharp, bright and invigorating. 

The animation comes in a mix of styles. Most notably, there are blends of animation with collage (similar to but years ahead of the type of thing used in the intros to Monty Python’s Flying Circus and the PBS series Mystery, back in the day), as well as some snazzy rotoscoping (animating live action film) – particularly memorable in the Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds sequence. The overall effect is surrealistic, yet very approachable. Some of the bits are funny. Some are visually pretty astounding – like a couple minutes in which the boys are stuck in a mind boggling “Sea of Holes”, or the shimmering landscape that accompanies George Harrison’s Only A Northern Song. 

There’s little I can say about the plot. It’s simple enough for relatively young kids. Here it is in a nutshell: Pepperland, a beautiful place that exists deep under the sea, is populated by happy people whose lovely world is infused with beautiful music. But the evil Blue Meanies hate music (and freedom and fun) and so - aiming to silence the music, mute the colors, and drive all joy from Pepperland, the Meanies invade – with artillery that shoots lightening-like bolts turning people into frozen statues; leggy, armless creatures that stomp; giant flying gloves that gleefully shoot, pound and harass; and other highly inventive, fantastical evildoers. A surviving Pepperlander called Young Fred hops aboard a little (yellow) submarine to seek help from the calvary, i.e. the charming and magical Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. They eventually save the day, of course, bantering and punning charmingly all the while. Along the way, they meet a few characters such as the delightfully erudite yet clueless Jeremy Boob, PhD., the nowhere man.   

The story is certainly insipid by the standards of a grown-up audience. But really, it’s just a frame to allow the insertion of as many tangentially relevant Beatles tunes as possible – which is what we really wanted anyway. And in fact, the songs and the animation that accompanies them are the greater part and the best part of Yellow Submarine. 

Speaking of the music, if you haven’t seen this movie in years, your ears will be in for a nice surprise. At least if you have some decent speakers or a nice sound bar or similar. Keep in mind that the film originally came out with monaural sound, not even stereo. In the restorations for DVD, the producer got permission to remix the audio.  The engineers went back to the original 4-track tapes and reassembled each of the songs for clarity, adding some neat stereo effects and, for systems with the capacity, a great 5.1 surround sound. In some songs, the instrumental tracks are enhanced and separated out, adding a pleasing new dimension. Hey Bulldog is a great example.

The four new songs are: Only A Northern Song, All Together Now, It’s All Too Much and Hey Bulldog (left out of the first US release but added to the 1999 version). In addition to the title song, six other Beatles songs are included pretty much intact: Eleanor Rigby, When I’m Sixty-Four,Nowhere Man, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and All You Need is Love. There are also excerpts from several others, including A Day in the Life, Think for Yourself, Baby You’re a Rich Man, and others. Even the lesser songs are pretty damn good.

Looking back at what I’ve just written, I have to admit that my bounding enthusiasm may perhaps owe a little something to my (slightly) altered state while watching the film. But not much. It really is a stunner, even after fifty years.  Turn up the sound, turn down the lights and check out Yellow Submarine. I think you’ll quite enjoy it.  (Herbs are totally optional.)

89 minutes

Grade: A

Available streaming on Amazon Prime Video (free for Prime members), pay per view from iTunes; or on DVD from Netflix.