Like virtually everything the Beatles did in the late ’60s, Yellow Submarine is some trippy, crazy shit. Inspired by that song from Revolver that Ringo did lead vocals on, this 1968 film finished out the Fab Four’s three-picture deal with United Artists (they didn’t feel like doing another movie after the dissatisfaction they felt while making Help!) by agreeing to have their likenesses animated for this pop-art fantasia, cobbled together by several screenwriters (including Laugh-In writer Jack Mendelsohn, poet Roger McGough and Erich Segal, who would go on to write the novel Love Story). Apart from appearing in a live-action scene near the end, The Beatles don’t provide their own voices in the movie, but their characters go toe to toe with some music-hating Blue Meanies. Somehow, this psychedelic freakout of a musical ended up being an animated classic. With its 50th-anniversary release approaching in July, it’s hitting U.S. theaters again, restored in a 4K digital resolution, and it’ll have a five-day run at the Belcourt. CRAIG D. LINDSEY
Yellow Submarine
