Yellow Submarine

Filmmaker George Dunning's 1968 animated feature Yellow Submarine juxtaposed playful psychedelic imagery with the Beatles' innovative music. Handsomely remastered for DVD and bowing on Blu-ray, this 4K digital restoration displays vibrant colors and a bold freshness absent from previous home entertainment releases and TV broadcasts. And while the movie's mod trappings may seem locked in a distant era, the film's wit remains timeless as the Fab Four encounter various underwater spectacles while cruising in their lemon-colored craft, including a fish with human arms that swims the breast stroke, an octopus colony that spews multicolored ink in joyful geyser bursts, and an omnivorous beast whose vacuum snout captures everything—including the rear scenery of the sequence, leaving the screen stark white. When Yellow Submarine turns tuneful, the animation is strikingly daring and artistic, as evidenced in the dehumanizing routines of urban life in “Eleanor Rigby,” the pop art circus of dancing girls and acrobatic equines in “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” and the sing-along joy of “All Together Now” and “When I'm Sixty-Four.” Despite an underlying story rooted in violence—the aggressive conquest of pacifist Pepperland mounted by the gun-toting, bomb-throwing Blue Meanies—Yellow Submarine is a comparatively tame film that remains suitable for younger viewers. Extras include audio commentary by producer John Coates and art director Heinz Edelmann, a “making-of” documentary, interviews, storyboard sequences, and more. Highly recommended. (P. Hall)