“We all live in a yellow submarine…” Forty years since the groundbreaking band-centric animation feature film Yellow Submarine of The Beatles will be remade in full 3D animation glory. Will it be able to relive the glory of the 1960s or will it be a substandard imitation?
More or less, the entire world will fall for almost anything involving The Beatles. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr defined the sound of the 1960s and transcended four decades of musical relevance. So it will not be difficult to find viewers for the film.
Thus the pressure falls on the director who will be tasked to recreate the psychedelic submarine fun: Robert Zemeckis. He was in the helm for successful 3D animation-powered movies such as The Polar Express, Beowulf and it would be interesting how he will re-imagine Yellow Submarine.
Zemeckis is no stranger to remaking a classic. He is currently laying the finishing touches to the 2009 remake of the classic A Christmas Carol due this December. Once this movie finishes, he may be able to concentrate more on this 3D remake which will also involve Walt Disney Animation Studios.
We, as well as a legion of Beatles fans, are hoping that the voices of the remaining Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr would be present in the film. And since technology is sophisticated, why not involve the voices of John Lennon and George Harrison to boot?
Talks are underway to secure an estimated sixteen Beatles song for the upcoming movie and the tentative peg is for the year 2012. Coincidentally, this is also the year of the 2012 London Olympics which is the hometown of these four boys from Liverpool.
In the original film, friendly cartoon characters ruled the milieu, most notably the Blue Meanies which are the antagonists of the film. Although some may see the entire film as a prolonged music video, the Beatles only appear in the closing scenes of the film and their voices are dubbed by other voice actors!
George Dunning was the director back then and it was produced through the efforts of the United Artists (UA) and King Features Syndicate. The movie was seen as a banner film for the ruling psychedelia of the period.
The entire film is situated in the milieu of Pepperland, an underwater community protected by the Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The enemies, the Blue Meanies, come into town and do not show any subtlety in their hate for music. They eventually sap the entire community of its color.
The Yellow Submarine was sent out from Pepperland to Liverpool as a desperate measure to seek help. In turn, they find our four lads John, George, Ringo and Paul. They then travel to the Seas of Time, Science, Monsters, Nothing, Heads and Holes.
In the Sea of Time, the tune of When I’m Sixty Four was played. In the Sea of Nothing, a character called Jeremy Hilary Boob Ph.D, sings the popular song Nowhere Man.
The Beatles rally Pepperland into rebellion through a partnership with Old Fred and the Yellow Submarine. There is an encounter between the Blue Meanies and the Beatles’ imitation of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. In the end, the Beatles end up victorious, singing All Together Now to cap it all off.
The film Yellow Submarine was a poster boy for creative visuals representative of the psychedelic culture of the time. It is a time capsule all in itself and there is pressure for its recreation in 3D. We hope there are value added inputs in this new film and we are excited about the possibilities.
Here was the original theatrical trailer of the 1968 film Yellow Submarine:
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