It can't be of any surprise that one of the biggest bands in the world had a movie, actually The Beatles had a couple movies mostly due to contractual obligations, but that's another story. Yellow Submarine was the third movie made under this contract, and it was also probably a major loophole too. The Beatles only took a minor role appearance wise in this movie as the animated Beatles were voiced by different actors. Considering the time period this movie was made in and the lack of involvement from the band, you'd think the movie would be a total mess. The end result however, is a psychedelic, bizarre and fascinating film.
Yellow Submarine is about The Beatles being taken to Pepperland to help stop an invasion by the Blue Meanies. As this movie is a musical, plot takes a back seat to the settings, which are mostly bizarre locations they go past in the titular Yellow Submarine. These settings include the Sea of Time, Sea of Monsters, Sea of Nothing and The Sea of Holes. Some of these encounters really only exist so they can have a musical number, like the Sea of Science where they do nothing except play "Only a Northern Song". That is not to say that some of these settings don't forward the plot in anyway, scenes like the Sea of Nothing introduce an important character to the film while also having their song number. It's kind neat how some scenes have their cake and eat it too.
As this is a musical starring The Beatles, it only makes sense that the soundtrack is comprised of their music. Aside from background compositions, each song in the soundtrack is taken from a previous Beatles album, including Rubber Soul, Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour and of course, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of my personal favourite albums ever.
Yeah, this is where I'm going to admit a bit of bias here as I love The Beatles. While I don't like all the group's music, the soundtrack to this movie is overall pretty solid. "Nowhere Man", "Elanor Rigby" and "Hey Bulldog" are great songs and could be considered for my favourite Beatles song, but the movie also has my favourite song by the band as well. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is not only my favourite Beatles song, but it also leads to a very visually impressive moment in the film. The soundtrack really isn't going to shock anybody, and it won't do anything for people that aren't fans of The Beatles, but I do think the selected songs work.
The art-style is a crazy mix, some abstract and cartoony designs, such as in the Sea of Monsters, and some rotoscope looking designs, like in England. One would think these styles would clash, but the movie reserves most of the more realistic designs for backgrounds after the band leaves England, leaving the cartoony and abstract designs in the forefront. It's more the animation where the film's visuals fall apart. Not to discredit the hours of hard work the many animators put into this movie, but there was still some stilted character movement and some animation errors, like a flower popping in and out of existence. The rest of the animation looks pretty smooth, although I can give this movie some leeway as this was made in the 1960s by a studio that wasn't Disney. In many respects, this movie might have been a huge gamble at the time. The song sequences are also very well animated. The segments for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Only a Northern Song" are psychedelic beauties to watch, and "Nowhere Man" is very creative with the characters leaving behind colours and patterns as they move around in this blank white world of nothing.
The characters are entertaining enough. The Beatles make a lot of dry remarks to each other and the settings, and Captain Fred is an energetic character. My two favourite characters are Jeremy Hillary Boob and the Chief Blue Meanie. Jeremy is a bizarre character who can do almost anything, writing with his feet, painting a playable piano and speaking in rhyme. He is introduced as this productive and happy being, but he has his moments of being sad, frustrated and embarrassed. He's an entertaining character to watch for sure, but the Chief Blue Meanie really steals the show. His voice acting and animation are done really well, and he is just a blast to witness. He yells and screams and laughs and he's just a lot of fun.
Yellow Submarine is a bizarre, strange and fascinating movie, and dare I say it, it's also very unique. I've never seen a movie like Yellow Submarine before, and it all comes down to the animation. Yellow Submarine really shows off the medium of animation and what you can achieve with it. It's one of those movies that would not work as a live-action film, and I don't think it would have worked as a 3D motion-capture remake either. For Beatles fans, this is a must see, for musical and animation fans, I'd also recommend this highly. Even taking the visuals out, the soundtrack is good, the humour is mildly amusing and the Blue Meanie alone makes this movie worth seeing at least once. Yellow Submarine is a bizarre, psychedelic and strange movie, and that is what makes it so wonderful and unique.
Yellow Submarine is about The Beatles being taken to Pepperland to help stop an invasion by the Blue Meanies. As this movie is a musical, plot takes a back seat to the settings, which are mostly bizarre locations they go past in the titular Yellow Submarine. These settings include the Sea of Time, Sea of Monsters, Sea of Nothing and The Sea of Holes. Some of these encounters really only exist so they can have a musical number, like the Sea of Science where they do nothing except play "Only a Northern Song". That is not to say that some of these settings don't forward the plot in anyway, scenes like the Sea of Nothing introduce an important character to the film while also having their song number. It's kind neat how some scenes have their cake and eat it too.
As this is a musical starring The Beatles, it only makes sense that the soundtrack is comprised of their music. Aside from background compositions, each song in the soundtrack is taken from a previous Beatles album, including Rubber Soul, Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour and of course, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of my personal favourite albums ever.
Yeah, this is where I'm going to admit a bit of bias here as I love The Beatles. While I don't like all the group's music, the soundtrack to this movie is overall pretty solid. "Nowhere Man", "Elanor Rigby" and "Hey Bulldog" are great songs and could be considered for my favourite Beatles song, but the movie also has my favourite song by the band as well. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is not only my favourite Beatles song, but it also leads to a very visually impressive moment in the film. The soundtrack really isn't going to shock anybody, and it won't do anything for people that aren't fans of The Beatles, but I do think the selected songs work.
The art-style is a crazy mix, some abstract and cartoony designs, such as in the Sea of Monsters, and some rotoscope looking designs, like in England. One would think these styles would clash, but the movie reserves most of the more realistic designs for backgrounds after the band leaves England, leaving the cartoony and abstract designs in the forefront. It's more the animation where the film's visuals fall apart. Not to discredit the hours of hard work the many animators put into this movie, but there was still some stilted character movement and some animation errors, like a flower popping in and out of existence. The rest of the animation looks pretty smooth, although I can give this movie some leeway as this was made in the 1960s by a studio that wasn't Disney. In many respects, this movie might have been a huge gamble at the time. The song sequences are also very well animated. The segments for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Only a Northern Song" are psychedelic beauties to watch, and "Nowhere Man" is very creative with the characters leaving behind colours and patterns as they move around in this blank white world of nothing.
The characters are entertaining enough. The Beatles make a lot of dry remarks to each other and the settings, and Captain Fred is an energetic character. My two favourite characters are Jeremy Hillary Boob and the Chief Blue Meanie. Jeremy is a bizarre character who can do almost anything, writing with his feet, painting a playable piano and speaking in rhyme. He is introduced as this productive and happy being, but he has his moments of being sad, frustrated and embarrassed. He's an entertaining character to watch for sure, but the Chief Blue Meanie really steals the show. His voice acting and animation are done really well, and he is just a blast to witness. He yells and screams and laughs and he's just a lot of fun.
Yellow Submarine is a bizarre, strange and fascinating movie, and dare I say it, it's also very unique. I've never seen a movie like Yellow Submarine before, and it all comes down to the animation. Yellow Submarine really shows off the medium of animation and what you can achieve with it. It's one of those movies that would not work as a live-action film, and I don't think it would have worked as a 3D motion-capture remake either. For Beatles fans, this is a must see, for musical and animation fans, I'd also recommend this highly. Even taking the visuals out, the soundtrack is good, the humour is mildly amusing and the Blue Meanie alone makes this movie worth seeing at least once. Yellow Submarine is a bizarre, psychedelic and strange movie, and that is what makes it so wonderful and unique.
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