England,
1968, 85 min
Shown in 1968 / 1997
CREDITS
- dir
-
George Dunning
- prod
-
Al Brodax
- scr
-
Lee Minoff, Al Brodax, Jack Mendelsohn
- cam
-
Charles Jenkins
- editor
-
Brian J. Bishop
- mus
-
George Martin, The Beatles
- prod co
-
King Productions
- source
-
United Artists
-
COMMENTS
Shown at midnight with Al Brodax in attendance. In 1997, screened in the Indelible Images program, selected by John Lasseter, with The Man Who Planted Trees.
OTHER
This is the first full-length film to animate famous living people, and it seems appropriate that the world's most famous singing quartet should be further immortalized by an imaginative blaze of graphic art. Yellow Submarine is a fantastic visualization and imaginative extension of a sort of Beatles-in-Wonderland, and the film represents a major step ahead in the entire field of animation. Edelmann's superb evocation of John, Paul, George and Ringo perfectly illustrates the quartet's allegiance to the music-loving, underwater people of Pepperland and their battles against the evil Blue Meanies. Led by the Chief Meanie, his henchman Max, and a variety of astonishingly sinister creatures (including a splendid grotesque called the Ferocious Flying Glove), the conflicts become a dazzling pop-art achievement in sights and sounds. In case one might fear that the personalities of the Liverpudlians would become submerged in vibrant treacle, it must be confirmed that Yellow Submarine is very sophisticated psychedelia that avoids the put-on and embraces the turn-on. The familiar creatures of Disney's animal world have undergone some new Darwinian trip, so that behind the entire conception of the tale lies hallucination, joy, and, if one may describe it thus, the acid test of mystery.
—Albert Johnson, 1968 SFIFF Program Guide
Nearly 30 years after it first set sail through the vibrant ocean of late-1960s psychedelia, Yellow Submarine looks and sounds as joyous, hip and visionary as it did in the heyday of Beatlemania. This classic animated feature, in which our beloved Fab Four foil the music-fearing Blue Meanies and restore peace, love and rock 'n' roll to Pepperland, has endured as an essential chapter in Beatles history and as definitive pop-art spectacle. Having already established themselves as animated screen stars in A Hard Day's Night and Help!, The Beatles are inventive and cheerful here as their cartoon selves, singing and punning their way through marvelously imagined landscapes populated by an unforgettable menagerie of creatures (watch out for the Ferocious Flying Glove!). While it's tempting today to dismiss the film's hippy-dippy philosophizing as hallucinatory escapism, only the most cynical could resist Yellow Submarine's universal message of love, peace and happiness. Experimental animation techniques, eye-popping visual effects and absurdist wit highlight this truly fantastic voyage. Best of all, of course, is the music: George Martin's lovely orchestral score and ten classic Beatles tunes, including "Nowhere Man," "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," "Eleanor Rigby" and Ringo's irresistible title song. All together now...
—Steven Jenkins, 1997 SFIFF Program Guide
FACTOID #130
Spike Lee has attended the San Francisco International several times. He came, film reels in hand, for the world premiere of She’s Gotta Have It in 1986. He returned in 1994 with Crooklyn, which starred Oakland’s own Delroy Lindo. And in 2007 he received the Festival’s Film Society Directing Award.
