Picture this: The Beatles, armed with their music and the ultimate weapon—love—embark on a mission to save the vibrant world of Pepperland from the villainous Blue Meanies. This is the essence of the animated film Yellow Submarine, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary with special theatrical screenings. Accompanying this cinematic event is It’s All in the Mind: Inside The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, Vol. 2, a making-of book, and a graphic novel adaptation crafted by writer/artist Bill Morrison and Titan Comics.
Back in the 1960s, during the height of Beatlemania, the Fab Four—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr—signed a three-picture deal with United Artists. This led to the blockbuster hits A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and Help! (1965). However, their enthusiasm for a follow-up was waning. Enter Al Brodax, the producer behind an animated Saturday morning series based on the band, which, let’s face it, they weren’t exactly thrilled about. Brodax struck a deal for an animated film that wouldn’t require The Beatles to lend their voices or contribute more than four songs. But, as things turned out, this didn't fulfill their contractual obligation, even though they made a live-action cameo at the end.
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Al Brodax shared with Beatlefan magazine, “We had no intention of including them at all. But once they saw the footage, Ringo was particularly interested, though he did mention his nose wasn't long enough. They loved what they saw—it was unlike anything they’d experienced—and they insisted on being part of the film. I had this promotional idea about John warning of Blue Meanies surrounding the theater. That’s how they ended up in the movie.”
The Saturday Morning Beatles
Before Yellow Submarine, there was the Saturday morning Beatles cartoon. Each episode was a mini-adventure inspired by the band’s songs. The Beatles themselves were voiced by others who, frankly, sounded nothing like them. For every fan of the show, there's someone who just doesn’t get the appeal.
“Al Brodax was the quintessential New York producer, heavy on charm, cigar in hand,” explains Laura E. Cortner, co-author of Inside the Yellow Submarine and It’s All in the Mind. “His ambition led to one of the countless licensing deals that Beatles manager Brian Epstein arranged during Beatlemania. This resulted in a cartoon series that ran for three years on ABC, garnering massive ratings. He outsourced the work to a young London animation company run by George Dunning and John Coates. None of them were fans of the show; they churned out episodes week after week, framing slapstick plots around the new songs. The caricature style was already outdated, and The Beatles themselves loathed the series, comparing it to the Flintstones.”
(Photo Credit: YouTube)
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Mitchell Axelrod, author of Beatletoons, explains, “The Beatles cartoon series was so successful that Brodax wanted to capitalize on its success by creating a full-length animated film. Why tamper with a good thing? Early on, there was an ad in Variety magazine in December 1965 announcing four new half-hour Beatles cartoon specials. This was supposed to be the film, but The Beatles’ management had a different vision for an animated feature. To me, the Beatles in Yellow Submarine are the animated series Beatles after puberty—deeper voices, facial hair, and more mature.”
This Film Was Not Designed for Disney Audiences
Laura notes that Brodax “nagged” Brian Epstein for the rights to create an animated feature, convincing him it would fulfill their contract with UA. The producer approached Dunning and Coates to create a 90-minute version of the Saturday morning series but was turned down.
“Dunning, in particular, was an innovative artist,” she explains. “Imagine being invited by George Martin to a private listening session at Abbey Road and hearing the first pressing of Sgt. Pepper before anyone else. After that, they were convinced that The Beatles had moved beyond the mop-top image, and freezing them in time in a feature film would do them all a disservice.” That’s when they became truly interested in the animated project. “They were so inspired, they took on an impossible task, determined to create the visual equivalent of that masterpiece in less than a quarter of the time and with less than a quarter of the budget of a typical Disney film. It was Dunning and Coates, and their team of animators, who decided to make Yellow Submarine a celebration of 60s youth rebellion and a pinnacle of hippie ideology and culture.”
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
“From an artistic perspective,” she continues, “it’s like an encyclopedia of animation styles. You can see which scenes influenced the Monty Python animation style and why the creator of The Simpsons and the head of Pixar Animation Studios count this film as a starting point for their careers, providing endless ideas for their projects.”
Love Rules Over Hate Thanks to The Beatles
Robert reflects, “I was captivated when I first saw it in theaters in 1968. As an artist and student of mythology and symbolism, I became obsessed with discovering who created such a brilliant message in a colorful avant-garde cartoon. It makes people happy, resolves conflicts peacefully, introduces new generations to Beatles music every year, and essentially secures their longevity in pop culture by freezing their images in time as forever young and groovy. But mainly, the most inspiring thing about this film is its message to all Earth people that ‘We Are One’: The Blue Meanies, the Nowhere Man, the Bluebird of Happiness, The Beatles, and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band are all part of the same family.”
