Yellow Submarine: 50th Anniversary

Yellow Submarine (1968/2018)

Directed by George Dunning.

Animated by Robert Balser and Jack Stokes.

United Artists, 87 minutes, PG

★★★★

The song lyric goes," It was 20 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the land the band play." If only! It's been 50 years since Yellow Submarine was released in theaters, a watershed celebrated by a restored and enhanced video release of this animated classic. I'm happy to report that it stands the test of time.

The first thing you discover by watching it now, is that after 10 minutes you will understand everything Terry Gilliam did in his early days as a cartoonist/collage artist for Monty Python's Flying Circus. It's all there: trippy, surreal imagery that defies logic and linear time, improbable mash-ups, weird sounds, and embedded social commentary on historical and contemporary figures for the cognoscenti.

You might also suspect you are witnessing the genesis of MTV, and you'd be correct. Mainly, though, you'll be reminded of why the Beatles mattered. Yes, this is a film that's very 1968, but it's also remarkably fresh. That's mostly because its animated format is a visual delight that manages to impress even in our age of digital effects and computer-aided movie design. The restored film, in fact, is so vivid that it highlights the reality that we still can't do color as well as was done in the era of handcrafted cells.

Yellow Submarine also works because it's a fantasy, and these seldom grow stale. Sort of like Beatles songs. Yellow Submarine features time-tested wonders such as "Nowhere Man," "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," "All You Need is Love," "With a Little Help from My Friends," and of course, "Yellow Submarine." If you're young and wonder what all the fuss was about, watch the sequence in which the song "Eleanor Rigby" appears. Listen hard to both its lyrics and orchestral arrangement. Not only were such things rare back when the Beatles released it as single in 1966, it continues to rank among the top pop songs of all time.

A bit of background: By 1968, the Beatles had already stopped touring and had grown weary of celebrity fandom. The band appears in the film only in cameo as the credits roll, and did not lend their voices to their cartoon stand-ins. You might not even notice this given the outstanding voice acting of John Clive (John), Geoffrey Hughes (Paul), Peter Batten (George), and Paul Angelis (Ringo).

The actual story is slight and incidental. You might even say its spirit was lifted from Dr. Seuss's 1957 story How the Grinch that Stole Christmas. The citizens of Pepperland live harmoniously until invaded by the Blue Meanies, who look a bit like Smurfs crossed with orcs and the goons from old Popeye cartoons. It seems that—shades of Whoville—that the Blue Meanie chief can't stand Pepperland's joyous music. He unleashes the dreaded Flying Glove as the invading vanguard of the Blue Meanies; together they transform Pepperland's citizens into mute statues. Hey, it was 1968!

The Lord Mayor (Dick Emery) has just enough time to entrust a sailor named Old Fred (Lance Perceval) with the task piloting the namesake yellow submarine to fetch help. And I'm sure you know who that will be. Ironically, The Beatles look exactly like Pepperland's house act—who else?—Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The film is mostly an excuse for the lads to cut up, make silly jokes, and segue to musical numbers while they and Fred make their way through various and precarious seas: Time, Science, Monsters, and Nothing. This sort of thing seemed weightier in an era in which established authority was challenged, as did the character of Jeremy Hillary Boob Ph.D., who was a stand in for obfuscatory intellectualism and paralyzing over thinking. You can be excused if you just think of Jeremy as a plump, lovable goofball. It's on to Pepperland to fix things, and all you need is love.

None of this is a spoiler because it's the journey and music that matter, not the tale. Director George Dunning and animators Robert Balser and Jack Stokes use the screen as a big palette upon which they splash gay hues, imaginative figures, and fast-paced montage. You will probably notice that all action, including walking, is stiffer and less realistic then what we can create these days. Oddly, this makes the film more fun. We look more closely at psychedelic effects that pop up on the screen, we laugh at the corny jokes, and we sing along with the songs because we immerse in the fantasy rather than clinically admiring high-tech f/x.

Above all, Yellow Submarine reminds us of a more optimistic period of history. Yes, I know that it's fashionable to present 1968 as a chaotic time of excess and craziness. But you know what? That's not all that I remember about it. I also recall that lot of people really felt they could change the world for the better–—rescue it from the Blue Meanies if you will. Watching Yellow Submarine 50 years later made me think how much better things would be today if we still felt that all you need is love. Does this make me naïve? Probably, but I think I'd much rather dwell in Pepperland rather than In Donald Trump's America.

Rob Weir