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None of the voices (except for the live-action bit at the end, and the music)
are the Beatles. They were too busy to get together, and it was holding up
production: according to John Coates in the commentary, because they needed to
know how the voices went before they could animate the lips moving! I think that
kind of quality doesn¡¯t exist too often in cartoons today. (The Internet Movie
Database has a different reason for the Beatles not showing up; they just didn¡¯t
care, and didn¡¯t want to be a part of it, until the end when they were impressed
with what had been done.)
¡°Yellow Submarine¡± is a weird collection of in-jokes, bad jokes, and funny
jokes. Some of the jokes are almost Henny Youngman-style, yeah, Frankenstein, I
think I went out with his sister, Phylis. Bits of Beatle songs are worked into
the dialogue even if the actual songs don¡¯t appear in the movie. The blackest of
the few pieces of dark humor has to be towards the end, when the Blue Meanies
have lost, and the Chief Blue Meanie asks Max where they can go no that it is
¡°no longer a blue world¡±. Max replies: ¡°Argentina?¡±
The Beatles themselves are most interesting in the movie¡¯s opening, before
they get caught up in the plot. They live in this strange apartment building on
the docks where all sorts of acid-produced creatures live with them. But once
they get into Pepperland they become fairly straightforward, somewhat of
necessity to move the plot along in order to save Pepperland.
Jeremy Hillary Boob, Ph.d is the most interesting of the characters, and
steals the scenes he is in. He enters with ¡°ad hoc, ad loc, and quid pro quo, so
little time, so much to know!¡±. He¡¯s a real ¡°know-where¡± man...
The animation style varies from simple (almost to the point of being bad) up
to innovative and wild. Some of it is clearly inspired by the ¡°acid¡±
generation¡¯s art and desires. Much of this style is in the trip between England
and Pepperland, as they pass through the intermediary worlds. Some of it is very
beautiful, all is wild. Other parts use photographic images composited over and
under the animation, but this is done differently than any other such use I¡¯ve
seen. It melds much better with the animation, not seamlessly but
artistically.
The animation is sharp and bright, and not something you¡¯re going to want to
watch on VHS. If you¡¯re a fan of the movie and want to buy it on home video, do
yourself a favor and get into DVD.
There is a restored scene in this version, a song called ¡°Hey, Bulldog¡±. I
can¡¯t imagine why they chose that bit to cut from the original, it is the best
song bit in the movie. Also, this is the American version, in which the Blue
Meanies (or at least the Chief Blue Meanie and his assistant) are rehabilitated
in the end. Apparently in the European cut, the Chief and his assistant leave
with all the other Blue Meanies.
The trailer is apparently pretty cool, although the first time I played it
either I somehow accidentally turned the sound off, or something on the disk or
player screwed up for me. Second time around, though, it played fine, and it has
some good extra shots of the Beatles themselves ¡°watching the movie¡±. The
commentary is interesting, by animator John Coates. He rambles on wonderfully
about the making of the movie, about the atmosphere around the making of the
movie, and about the attitudes of the time. Great stuff.
The interviews with two of the voices are very short but nonetheless
interesting. The included documentary, ¡°A Mod Odyssey¡±, is really cool not
because it provides lots of information (it doesn¡¯t, really), but because it was
made very soon after the movie was made. It gives us some insights into how the
movie was viewed then and how the makers wanted it viewed. It also repeats some
of the same things that animators and cartoonists are saying today about the
¡°acceptance¡± of cartoons by adults. According to ¡°A Mod Odyssey¡±, the Beatles
were trying to prove that cartoons could also be for adults--something that we
apparently have to reprove every few years.
If you¡¯re an animation fan, you must have this
DVD. If you like the Beatles,
or if you liked the movie, you¡¯ll want it as well. If you¡¯ve never seen it, I
strongly recommend renting it to find out what you¡¯re missing.
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