Sorry, this is off topic, but I didn’t know how to make contact…
Anybody notice that Entertainment Weekly (April 25 May 2 Issue) published an obit of Ollie Johnson, but ran a photo of Frank Thomas? I’m surprised they didn’t do a better check on that one. Will you rake them for not knowing their animation history?

I share George Hickenlooper’s love for Yellow Submarine. It is hard to believe that this year will mark the film’s 4oth Anniversary. I hope whoever currently holds the rights is preparing a very special DVD or Blu-ray disc of this animated classic. The previous MGM home video release was non-anamorphic and I would love to see this film enhanced for widescreen if not full 1080p.

Someone should post Heinz Edelman’s fabulous and hilarious model sheets teaching the animators how “NOT TO DRAW THE CHARACTERS”!

Heinz is alive and not too well in Amsterdam. it is about time some pinhead animation journalist got in touch with and interviewed him!

The Beatles were so not involved in the making of “Yellow Submarine” that they do not, in fact, provide their own characters’ voices in the film. This is always downplayed, since they used very good vocal mimics, unlike what happened in their 1965 TV show, where Paul Frees attempted doing all four, sounding a great deal like Paul Frees.

Thanks for the shout-out, Jerry. George and I took the same animation class for kids offered by the Palo Alto Community Center back in the early 70’s. We lovingly hand-crafted several mini-epics featuring airplanes, monsters, and stuff blowing up.

“Ad hoc hoc and quid pro quo, so little time, so much to know.”
- Jeremy Hillary Boob

Ooh, Kirk - I think Jeremy would be a bit upset with you, as his proper title is, of course, Jeremy Hillary Boob, Ph.D.

I saw this movie at a very young age, and it stayed with me for years afterwards (probably inspired a few Blue Meanie nightmares to boot). I even have the old MGM/UA laserdisc in order to keep an unmatted/full frame version with the original mix, plus a set of original lobby cards.

A high-def version might be what it finally takes to make me purchase one of those high-falutin’ new format gizmos.

I saw a re-issued version on DVD a few years ago. At one point there’s an animated sequence to Hey Bulldog I hadn’t seen before; it was a kind of rush-job, true, but was new to my eyes–for I believe it was not in
original American prints of the film (similar to how “Super Heroes” was not in US prints of “Rocky Horror”). The designs in this film were very 60s psychedelic/pop art/Peter Max-inspired.

So this trailer really isn’t that much from hell then.

Yellow Submarine was, and is, a groovy film. It had a very gentle core, sort of sleepy but in a good way. What I liked about it as a kid was the multimedia side of bringing disparate sources together and animating them together under the camera (or the optical printer or whatever). Music always liberates the rules when it comes to animation.

YELLOW SUBMARINE remains my all-time favorite animated feature film. The animation itself may not be all that impressive, but the character designs, backgrounds and music more than makes up for it. In fact, YELLOW SUBMARINE is almost an animation festival unto itself; although the designs are essentially consistent, the content and approach of each song sequence is distinctly different; LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS is the exception, with a wildly “painterly” approach. I’ve seen theatrical screenings of YELLOW SUBMARINE over one hundred times and have never gotten tired of it.

I should also note that YELLOW SUBMARINE’s style is entirely that of Heinz Eidelmann and in no was was imitative of that of Peter Max.

Anyone who digs YELLOW SUBMARINE owes it to him/herself to seek out a copy of INSIDE THE YELLOW SUBMARINE: THE MAKING OF THE BEATLES’ ANIMATED CLASSIC by Dr. Robert R. Hieronimus (Krause Publications, 2002). It’s obsessively detailed and interviews the people who worked on EVERY stage of the film’s production. Fascinating stuff, especially to anyone who’s actually worked in animation.

There’s also a ‘making of’ film that was produced to promote YELLOW SUBMARINE. It runs about 10 minutes. I have a print of it in 16mm, as well as YELLOW SUBMARINE. It WOULD be nice to have a nice remastered DVD with the proper film format and the ‘making of’ film as a bonus feature. It was a kick at the end of the film to see the real Beatles just standing there being……well….Beatles!! I love this movie too!!

As I hunt down that book Scott Shaw! recommended, I gotta say that I am so happy to hear other folks show their love for this classic and share their experiences — I hope it comes back on DVD so other generations will have a chance to see it!

On that note, does anyone here know the chances of the film coming back to DVD? Someday? Somehow? ? Ever????

I think the story about the voice impressions was that each of the Beatles thought that the guy doing him was all wrong but the other three were right on the mark.

My favorite line was Ringo saying “I’ve got a ‘ole in me pocket!”

GeeVee wrote: “Music always liberates the rules when it comes to animation.” How true. That’s one reason I love YELLOW SUBMARINE so much. It’s also why I always dig it when I get an assignments to direct and/or storyboard song-sequences and music-driven animation. Budgets notwithstanding, the sky’s the limit!

While we’re wishing for Beatles movies to turn up on DVD, “Let it Be” only enjoyed a brief VHS release, decades ago. Word is that Paul was never too happy with how he comes off in that documentary, so it remains buried deep.

I sometimes spy eBay auctions for the old Let It Be laserdisc, a first-gen release through Magnetic Video (they also handled a lot of Fox titles), but the discs are notoriously prone to “laser rot” and generally look speckley, if they’re playable at all.

Which reminds me, I should check up on my Yellow Submarine laser to see if it’s still playable…

Music is a saving grace in film that has rendered many a turkey watchable, from “Happy Feet” to Marvel’s “Jem” series in the 1980’s.

Here’s an article about a terrific comic book adaptation of YELLOW SUBMARINE that my editor, friend and sometimes partner, Bill Morrison, wrote and drew for Dark Horse. Unfortunately, corporate intrigue nixed the book’s publication. Read all about it — and see Bill’s amazingly iconic images taken from the film — right ‘chere:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=8151

Thanks for the recommendation to our book, INSIDE THE YELLOW SUBMARINE by Dr. Robert R. Hieronimus. Since the book is out of print, thought I’d mention Dr. Hieronimus’s website where he still has copies for sale. http://www.21stCenturyRadio.com/yellowsub. I also happen to know he has been in touch recently with Jonathan Clyde at Apple Corps who indicated they do not have plans to do anything special in honor of the Sub’s 40th anniversary. :-( But Dr. Hieronimus is trying to help organize a showing and a panel discussion of animators in NYC later this year.