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50th Anniversary Cinematic Special
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Yellow Submarine
Starring Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Directed by George Dunning
Released July 17, 1968 (UK); November 13, 1968 (US)
1969 Hugo Award nominee for Best Dramatic Presentation; 1970 Grammy nominee for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show
The Narrator said:
Once upon a time...or maybe twice...there was an unearthly paradise called Pepperland. 80,000 leagues beneath the sea it lay...or lie...I'm not too sure.
My current M.O. is to try to cover British releases by American release dates, but I had multiple reasons for making an exception here. First and foremost, it brings some additional 50th anniversary business to the Summer, rather than having it fall in the middle of a new TV season. Also, the film and its original songs were in production during the now-fading
Sgt. Pepper /
Magical Mystery Tour era, so it makes better sense to cover it closer to that time rather than waiting until the same month that the White Album is released. And on that note, it generally spreads major Fab Business out a bit better.
I was vaguely aware of the song as a child in the '70s without knowing or caring much about the Beatles at the time, but the film's influence was evident in those years, though I didn't know it. The thing that most struck me when I first saw the film in my teens is that the distinctive artistic style (for which art director Heinz Edelmann can claim credit) was very familiar to me from my elementary school workbooks, which must have been emulating it.
The film's Wiki page says that the animated Beatles are modeled on how they appeared in the "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane" videos, but to pick a Fab nit, they actually seem to more closely resemble the photos of the Beatles at the
Sgt. Pepper release party in May 1967.
The film opens with the Blue Meanie assault on Pepperland:
(Fifth Beatle George Martin was responsible for the film's instrumental score, which was featured on the second side of the original soundtrack album.)
The Dreadful Flying Glove has always been one of my favorite parts of the movie. And while I was thinking that there was something Joker-ish in the Chief Blue Meanie's OTT animated and vocal performance (the latter owing to Paul Angelis),
it seems that perhaps it's more a case of there being something Blue Meanie-ish in the Joker's animated and vocal performance....
Wiki said:
Mark Hamill has stated that the Chief Blue Meanie was an inspiration for The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, with his light yellow teeth, and high pitched, piercing voice.
I like how the Mayor is the only one who refers to Old Fred as "Young Fred". Fred is portrayed by Lance Percival, who'd also done the voices for Paul and Ringo in the Saturday morning Beatles cartoon.
The Lord Mayor said:
No time for trivialities!
On to the opening credits, which of course use the 1966 song that the film was based upon. Following that, we transition to animated Liverpool with the other side of the same single, "Eleanor Rigby":
In Liverpool we meet animated Ringo (also Paul Angelis, who additionally served as the Narrator and is credited for George, though reportedly Peter Batten did the latter for roughly the first half of the film, but went uncredited after he was arrested during production). After encountering the frantic Fred, Ringo takes him to the Beatles' seemingly infinite mansion full of random, psychedelic wonders.
Ringo said:
Can't help it, I'm a born lever-puller.
The next Beatle gathered is John (John Clive), who had been temporarily transformed into a Frankenstein monster. The party then proceeds to find George...
Ringo: What day is it?
John: Sitarday.
...standing on a mountaintop to the accompaniment of an excerpt from "Love You To".
George said:
The band comes together with the entrance of an applause-enjoying, bouquet-catching, and unflappable Paul (Geoff Hughes)....
Paul said:
What's the matter, fellas? Blue Meanies?
Once the Fabs are aboard, the Submarine begins its return voyage to the accompaniment of the orchestral crescendo from "A Day in the Life"...following which Fred's passengers acquaint themselves with the Sub in a sequence for the first of four songs original to the film,
"All Together Now".
But this voyage proves to be something of a Fab Odyssey, as Fred and the Beatles journey through a variety of trippy locales. The first is the Sea of Time, which causes temporal chaos in the Sub, leading to the sequence for
"When I'm Sixty-Four". It's a pity that a clip of the sequence from the film isn't available, as it's one of the more striking ones. I love the way that everything moves in time to the beat of the song...and the count to 64 with the variety of stylized numbers, viewed in chronological context, seems like a prophecy of
Sesame Street.
The Sub promptly proceeds into the Sea of Science, which showcases the most atmospheric of the film's original numbers, George's
"Only a Northern Song". After that , it's on to the Sea of Monsters. You have to feel sorry for the "really ugly" monster that they eject from the Sub...he's actually pretty cute. Immediately after this, Ringo presses the button that Fred just told him never to touch and ejects himself!
John: What are we gonna do?
Fred: Learn to sing trios.
In the band's effort to rescue Ringo, the Sub navigates its way through a gauntlet that includes Kinky Boot Beasts, the Boxing Beast (featuring a visual shout-out to the Rolling Stones in the form of a banner coming from the rear of the Sub), and the Dreaded Vacuum Cleaner Beast, which sucks in the entire background and then itself!
Appropriately enough, next up is the Sea of Nothing, where the Beatles come upon Jeremy Hillary Boob, PhD (Dick Emery, who also plays the Lord Mayor and the Chief Blue Meanie's underling Max):
In another great song sequence not available on YouTube, the Fabs christen the isolated, multi-talented workaholic
"Nowhere Man".
After Jeremy fixes one of the propellers, the Sub takes off without him and the Beatles, and they find themselves stranded in the Foothills of the Headlands, where they encounter
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (another unavailable sequence, notable for its use of rotoscoping).
From the Headlands, the Beatles find themselves propelled into the particularly visually disorienting Sea of Holes:
Jeremy said:
Enough to fill the Albert Hall!
Jeremy is soon covertly snatched by the Chief Blue Meanie, while Ringo picks up a hole for his pocket (which comes into play later in the story and also ties in with the appearance of the live action Fabs at the end). The Beatles proceed to enter Pepperland, where they find all the residents under the Meanies' influence. Fred and the Sub arrive just after them, and the Fabs perform a brief excerpt of "Think for Yourself" to revive the Lord Mayor. The Beatles say that they lost their instruments in the Sea of Monsters, but I don't recall ever seeing their instruments, and the Sub is with them at this point.
The Beatles bear witness to some of Pepperland's occupiers, including the Apple Bonkers, the Butterfly Stomper, the Snapping-Turtle Turks, the show-stealing Flying Glove, and of course, the Chief Blue Meanie....
Paul said:
He reminds me of my old English teacher.
The Fabs manage to sneak around the Meanies to find both instruments and the Band's uniforms. Donning the latter, they do indeed look just like "the Originals". Extra-Timely Sign: Ringo breaks into a brief rendition of "Tip-Toe Thru the Meanies"!
After conning their way past a Blue Menial...
The Storm Blooper said:
Are you Bluish? You don't look Bluish.
...the Fabs get the Meanie-shrinking started with a performance of
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (complete with transitional excerpt of "With a Little Help from My Friends"). Confronted by the Glove, the Beatles drop the G and break into the sequence for
"All You Need Is Love". They then free the "original" Pepper Band using Ringo's hole, accompanied by a brief excerpt from "Baby You're a Rich Man".
John said:
At this point, the film commences into a sequence that was cut from the original American release (but restored for the 1999 home video re-release), with the Beatles meeting their alter ego men and the two bands teaming up to the accompaniment of the original song that fans on this side of the pond only got on the soundtrack album,
"Hey Bulldog". This sequence was reportedly felt to have been anticlimactic, but having originally seen an earlier video release of the film that excluded it, it had always seemed to me that there was a beat missing from the climax...and it turns out that there literally had been!
After routing the Meanies' four-headed canine, the Fabs free Jeremy, who commences to get the better of the Chief Blue Meanie by employing some Flower Power.
Chief Blue Meanie: It's no longer a blue world, Max. Where could we go?
Max: Argentina?
In what could be seen as the moral of the story...
Jeremy said:
Yes! Ah, "yes" is a word with a glorious ring! A true universal, euphonious thing! Engenders embracing and chasing of blues! The very best word for the whole world to use!
As the Blue Meanies turn over a new petal, we're treated to the final animated song sequence, for the last of the film's original numbers, George's
"It's All Too Much" (though the film version features a verse that's not in the soundtrack version).
From there, the film transitions to...the flesh-and-blood Fabs! According to Wiki, this was filmed on January 25, 1968, just prior to the band's trip to India. The live-action Beatles close the film by initiating a singalong reprise of "All Together Now". Echoing the satellite broadcast debut of "All You Need Is Love" in June 1967, the words "All Together Now" appear onscreen in a variety of languages.
And there we have it, the Beatles' latest cinematic feature 50 years ago today. Despite the Beatles themselves barely having anything to do with it (the four new songs having been castoffs from the recording sessions for their last two albums), it's a strikingly stylistic work of art in its own right, and a much more watchable and enjoyable outing than the Fabs' self-written, -directed, and -produced
Magical Mystery Tour TV film, or their eventual cinematic swansong, the dreary documentary
Let It Be.
Odd trivia note: I was always intrigued by the suggestion that (aided no doubt by the effects of the Sea of Time) the Beatles themselves would go on to found Pepperland (aided by "another quartet"), thus presumably becoming the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band that resides there in the film.
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Yeah, classic Beach Boys.
It seems that the Beach Boys were thinking along the same lines as the Beatles and Stones at this point...taking a "back to basics" approach following their foray into psychedelia. But while the Stones found a new signature style, and the Beatles continued to explore and push boundaries in different ways, the Beach Boys feel like they're pining for lost glory to me. It's a good song in its own right, but it has nothing on the earlier classics that it's emulating.
I don't remember this one. Not exactly captivating.
Again, a nice song in its own right, but relatively indistinct...it ain't no "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
This might be okay when they finish it.
I know they're bubblegum, but I'm not even seeing what the appeal would have been to the younger crowd in the day. There's much better pop being put out by other artists.
"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I'm here all week."
It has a nice sound, and songwriter Robby Krieger was appreciative of the successful cover. It's noteworthy that this is entering the chart exactly a year after the week that the original hit #1. And look for the original to enjoy a modest bump back onto the chart in the wake of this version's rise.
It means I'm giving you a hard time about the bad pun.
Ah...well the pun was sublime, so it must just be you.
I guess I didn't understand when he was wearing the glasses. If he was nearsighted, he'd need glasses to read his instruments (like you and me), but still might be good at spotting submarines (unlike me).
Come to think of it, he does routinely watch for incoming planes outside the tower with binoculars but no eyeglasses.
But we can still agree on something.
