Yellow Submarine

Yellow Submarine.
1968 Apple Films (UK) & United Artists (U.S.); now owned by MGM.
Vocal Talent: John Clive, Geoffrey Hughes, Peter Batten, Paul Angelis, Dick Emery, Lance Percival
Cameo Appearances: The Beatles
Directors: George Dunning & Dennis Abey
Amazon.com listing (discontinued).

Down in Pepperland, a colorful and happy music-loving paradise underneath the sea, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (given star billing in the credits) perform and protect the region. One day, the music hating Blue Meanies attack Pepperland, sealing Sgt. Pepper inside a music-proof bubble, turn the other citizens into statues, and drain the lands of color. Moments before his capture, the elderly Lord Mayor sends a soldier called Old Fred (or Young Fred, if you prefer) in a yellow submarine to recruit help. Not so coincidentally, Old Fred arrives in Liverpool, encounters a depressed and bored Ringo Starr (Angelis), and persuades him to come along. Ringo agrees, and goes to collect his fellow Beatles, John (Clive), Paul (Hughes), and George (Batten & Angelis).

Following a long journey through places like the Sea of Time, Sea of Monsters, and the Sea of Nothing where the lads meet Jeremy Hilary Boob Ph. D, our heroes encounter the Sea of Holes, which contains the Sea of Green, which is somehow the gateway into Pepperland. Jeremy is also abducted by a Blue Meanie. The Beatles disguise themselves as Sgt. Pepper's band, and they "rally the land to rebellion". In no time, Pepperland is back to its colorful, musical self, and the Blue Meanies retreat. John extends an offer of friendship, and the Chief Blue Meanie has a change of heart (thanks to some magic performed by Jeremy), and accepts.

An epilogue featuring the real life Beatles follows, and we hear "All Together Now" as a method to scare off the apparent Blue Meanies spotted in the vincinity of the theater, or your home, depending on wherever you're watching this film.

Erich Segal of Love Story fame was one of the four authors of the screenplay. Peter Batten, the voice for George, was arrested during production for deserting the British army, so Paul Angelis finished his part.

The Beatles weren't that enthusiastic about participating in the movie's production at the time, thanks to issues that came up during the filming of Help! and their self-produced Magical Mystery Tour. However, after seeing a rough cut of the film, they were impressed enough to agree to make a live action cameo at the end of the picture.

Yellow Submarine is once again out of print at this time, until the licensing fee issues can be resolved. These fees, pertaining to use of the music, kept the movie out of print for a long time during the heyday of VHS and laserdisc. In the meantime, if you can find a copy somewhere, by all means snatch it up.

(Apparently, if my math is correct, Yellow Submarine was the 400th DVD watched and reviewed for this site since I began this project last November.)