Yellow Submarine
During their decade of existence, the Beatles had many films made about them (Some out of contractual obligation, some were passion projects). probably the film that sticks out most from that time period is Yellow Submarine, an animated musical inspired by their song of the same name. The story tells of the Beatles traveling in Young Fred’s submarine to get to Pepperland, which has been taken over by Blue Meanies.
I love Yellow Submarine. It’s not just a great Beatles film, it’s a great animated musical. Previous Beatles songs were taken, then a plot was vaguely structured around them. I feel this is one reason people find this film so surreal; A lot of the film is just random musical numbers before they actually get to Pepperland. I feel this works quite well; though I understand why people would prefer a more structured musical. Four new songs were introduced due to this film, which were just as good as the rest of the songs in the film, with ‘All Together Now’ and ‘Hey Bulldog’ being great jams and ‘It’s all too Much’ and ‘Only a Northern Song’ being two great ventures from the band’s psychedelic period.
The animation for this film is wonderful, it’s quite simple and colourful making for a very family friendly feel. The animation for the ‘Eleanor Rigby’ is also brilliant. The designs of the locations and creatures are all very bizarre, so the great animation is not put to waste. I feel this film makes for great music videos for the songs featured, sometimes I enjoy a song much better if the music video is also as good.
The comedy in this films is quite reminiscent of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, with the Beatles making cheeky banter in a monotone voice throughout the film. Another way in which the film adds to its fun, surreal vibe. Even if the Beatles don’t voice themselves, the voice actors used do a good job.
A great animated musical even if you’re not a fan of the band.