By Steve Marinucci
Published Sept. 3, 1999, San Jose (CA) Mercury News
'SUBMARINE' RELAUNCHED
NEW WAVE OF BEATLES ON VIDEO AND CD
ONCE UPON a time - or maybe twice (to borrow a phrase from the movie) -- the Beatles released the wonderful animated adventure ''Yellow Submarine,'' their third film.
It was 1968, when the band -- and many of its fans -- were caught up in psychedelia. It was a time marked by an openness to experimentation with mind-altering substances, music with Eastern echoes and colorful, fantastic visual images.
On one level, ''Yellow Submarine'' was a children's story, in which the animated Beatles are recruited by the captain of said vessel to help save the people of Pepperland from evil forces. But its soundtrack included songs that could be interpreted on other levels -- ''Eleanor Rigby'' and ''Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,'' for instance -- and the hits ''With a Little Help From My Friends,'' ''When I'm Sixty Four'' and ''All You Need Is Love.''
Audiences of all ages fell in love with the film after its world premiere on July 17, 1968, at the London Pavilion theater, attended by all four Beatles. Children saw it as a wonderful fairy tale. Adults considered it''trippy''; some raved about seeing it ''under the influence.''
The film made its video debut in 1987 but was soon withdrawn because of a court case (more on that in a minute). Now, 12 years later, ''Yellow Submarine'' is coming again to video -- in both VHS ($19.98) and DVD ($29.98) formats, available Sept. 14.
Its re-release was preceded by the Aug. 30 theatrical premiere of an enhanced version of the film, with colors enriched and soundtrack re-mastered, during a weeklong Beatles festival in Liverpool, England. The enhanced film plays today through Sept. 15 in a limited engagement at San Francisco's Castro Theater, one of only a handful of movie houses in the country showing it.
In addition, all the Beatles songs from the movie are being released in re-mastered, remixed form on a new CD, ''Yellow Submarine Songtrack,'' hitting stores Sept. 14.
'Hey Bulldog' included
Significantly for American audiences, a segment of the movie that was never shown in the United States or on videotape, featuring the song ''Hey Bulldog,'' is included in the new video version and theatrical print. While it's obvious why it was originally cut -- it's OK, not great -- it accompanies one of Lennon and McCartney's better rockers, and it's good to have it back where it belongs.
In addition, all the Beatles songs from the movie are included on ''Yellow Submarine Songtrack,'' even the ones originally found on the ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,'' ''Magical Mystery Tour,'' ''Revolver'' and ''Rubber Soul'' albums.
The new album, however, does not include the George Martin instrumental tracks from the original ''Yellow Submarine'' album. They remain on that disc alone, which will continue to be available.
The new audio CD provides a much cleaner sound and gives new perspective and enjoyment to the songs. On the track ''Yellow Submarine,'' for example, the wave effects drift back and forth dramatically between stereo channels.
All the original versions of the songs are used. No outtakes have been substituted, nor do any of the audio-CD mixes include dialogue or sound effects from the movie. (Sorry, bootleg fans, but that 8-minute version of ''It's All Too Much,'' which has been circulating for some time, still remains unreleased.) Some elements that were hardly audible in the original mix now can be heard clearly.
Matt Hurwitz of the Beatles fan magazine Good Day Sunshine says the two engineers at Abbey Road who worked on the mixes for the movie and album ''went to great pains to study and reproduce all of the original effects and processing that were applied originally. These included using the original Abbey Road Studio 1 echo chambers and compression equipment and studying the degree to which each one was applied to each instrument. They know Beatles fans would know the difference if a great change had been applied.''
A few minute details
Fans might, however, notice some small changes in the new mixes.
''It's interesting,'' says Hurwitz, ''that they included things that weren't available in the stereo mixes but were heard in the mono mixes. An example is John's chanted response to the last verse of Ringo's singing in 'Yellow Submarine.' John's response to the first line -- 'As we live a life of ease,' ('A life of ease') -- hasn't been heard on any of the stereo mixes but was on the mono 'Revolver' album and 'Yellow Submarine' single from 1966.''
The DVD will offer a number of extras, including ''The Mod Odyssey,'' a vintage behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie; an audio-commentary track by one of the film's animators and the film's designer; a music-only track in sync with the film that allows viewers to hear the songs without dialogue or sound effects; interviews; storyboard sequences (including two not in the film); photos; movie trailer; and an eight-page booklet.
The film is best seen, however, on the big screen and heard in a theater with state-of-the-art audio equipment. The musical mixes, done in 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, are absolutely breathtaking in a theater setting. For example, in ''Only a Northern Song,'' the background percussion effects are almost three-dimensional. Some sounds move from one side of the theater to the other. The stereo separation is distinct and quite stunning, especially in ''It's All Too Much,'' which makes extensive use of multilayered sound.
The idea for the film came in the wake of the success of ''The Beatles'' children's TV show, which originally aired Stateside on ABC from 1965 to '69. (Now, why don't we have that on tape?) Al Brodax, who produced the series, developed and produced ''Yellow Submarine'' after making a deal with Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
In the film, the animated Beatles, whose cartoon speaking voices were done by actors, agree to help the captain of the Yellow Submarine and the people of Pepperland fight the Blue Meanies and their cronies the Snapping Turtle Turks, Countdown Clowns, Apple Bonkers, Butterfly Stompers and the Flying Glove, who had drained Pepperland of its music and color.
After traveling through the Sea of Time, Sea of Holes, Sea of Monsters and Sea of Green, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr's cartoon personas disguise themselves as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Pepperland musical group that had been silenced by the Meanies. With the help of Jeremy Hillary Boob, Ph.D. (who wasn't the nowhere man they thought he was), they battle the bad guys and save the day, motivated by the words ''All you need is love.''
The Beatles themselves appear at the end to help introduce the closing song, ''All Together Now.''
Beatles' reservations
In an interview in the book ''Fab Films of the Beatles'' by Edward Gross, McCartney said the band at first was enthusiastic but later had reservations about doing the movie.
''The Americans who'd done 'Popeye,' King Features, also did a Beatle cartoon TV series for kids on Saturday mornings,'' McCartney said. ''And it was very cutesy, which we thought was fine for the younger kids, but we didn't want to get too heavily involved. But that went so well, that Beatles cartoon, that they wanted to do a feature. I was excited, because I'm a major Disney fan; I really think it's high art. I told them we'd just got a song, 'Yellow Submarine,' which I'd written for Ringo, very childrensy, but it could be great.
''I saw it very realistically, a story about this old sea captain. But what they were seeing was where we were up to, which was 'Sgt. Pepper' time, fairly heavily 'sedated,' slightly otherworld. They saw us getting all psychedelic and thought, 'This is the sort of film we'll make.' So I was a bit disappointed by that. I thought it would have worked better with a bit of Disney depth.''
In a later interview, from ''Beatles At the Movies'' by Roy Carr, McCartney said, ''I don't mind it as much now as I did then -- 'Yellow Submarine' is a bit like 'Magical Mystery Tour' -- a bit disappointing at the time but now it looks a lot better.''
Time magazine gave the film a positive review, adding, ''If the result seems less a coherent story than a two-hour pot high, 'Yellow Submarine' is still a breakthrough of the feature film and art's intimacy with the unconscious.''
The film became a cult classic and a midnight show at theaters long after its initial release. When it was issued on video in 1987, a dispute arose between the Beatles and MGM over the rights. A verdict in the Beatles' favor resulted in ''Yellow Submarine'' being pulled off store shelves.
In later years, the VHS tapes and laser discs in circulation commanded high prices, and bootleg copies surfaced.
''Yellow Submarine'' was one of the first movies to tap into product tie-ins. In 1968, those included stationery, alarm clocks, watches, cigarettes and bubble-gum cards.
For the new release, the marketing net reaches wider to include character figures, trading cards, comics, model kits, cookie jars, lunch boxes, snowboards (and snowboarding wear), backpacks, sunglasses, 3-D mugs, boxer shorts, teapots, lamps, cigarette lighters, baby bibs and cell-phone ringer lights.
Whether at the turn of the century ''Yellow Submarine'' generates the kind of buzz it did in the '60s -- attracting new audiences, rather than those on a nostalgia trip -- remains to be seen. If it's a hit, it could conceivably launch a new wave of Beatles reissues.
