EMI Music has send us over copy of the classic animated film "Yellow Submarine" starring The Beatles, which recently was re-released on DVD. "Yellow Submarine" is fully restored in 4K and presented in the original aspect ratio of 1:66-1. Film Arcade.net has a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader.

Plot Synopsis:
Once upon a time… or maybe twice, there was an unearthly paradise called Pepperland, a place where happiness and music reigned supreme. But all that was threatened when the terrible Blue Meanies declared war and sent in their army led by a menacing Flying Glove to destroy all that was good. Enter John, Paul, George and Ringo to save the day! Armed with little more than their humour, songs, and of course, their yellow submarine, The Beatles tackle the rough seas ahead in an effort to bring down the evil forces of bluedom.

To enter: send us an email to facontest@gmail.com with your name and address.

Please put "Yellow Submarine" in the subject line of the email.

Contest Ends: June 21st, 2012 and is open to US residents only.

"Yellow Submarine": Official Trailer

“Yellow Submarine”
Year: 1968
Director: George Dunning
Stars: The Beatles, Paul Angelis, and John Clive
Studio: EMI Music / Apple Films
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 90 Mins.

Plot Synopsis:
“Yellow Submarine” is based on a Beatles song that was released in 1966. Two years later, the song would be the basis of a feature film. Forty Six years later, the film is digitally re-mastered and making its DVD re-release.
The film follows The Beatles, as they journey to the land called Pepperland. It’s a place, where music and happiness that is spread across the land. Everything is threatened there, when the Blue Meanies sends an army that is bent on destroying everything that is good. This enters John, Paul, George and Ringo to save Pepperland from theses menaces. Armed with their humor, songs and the yellow submarine, they tackle the evil force and try to save Pepperland from impending doom.

Film Review:
I was kind of surprised that I enjoyed “Yellow Submarine”, considering that I’m not a big fan of The Beatles. One of the reasons that I enjoyed it, the direction was very good. Director George Dunning does a very good job with the way that he handles the direction of the animation. The animation looks very good for a film that was released in the 1960’s. He and his animators did a very good job making the images feel magical. Maybe it was the fact that everything was digital restored. Even with that, the animation looks better from other cartoons that came out during that time period. The other thing that I liked about Dunning’s direction, he does a very good job getting all the vocal performance to fit the film. He does a very good job getting his performances to bring a certain kind of tone to the characters. It makes the characters likable and you’re caught up in this fantasy world.

The screenplay written by Lee Minoff, Al Brodax, Jack Mendelsohn, and Erich Segal does a very good job making the story work with the music. What I liked about the screenplay, you didn’t needed to be a fan of The Beatles to enjoy this film. The writers do a very good creating a story that is magical that all ages would enjoy. To me, the film needed to have that sort of charm for it to work for me. They did that successfully. The other thing they did well, they placed the music to fit with the film’s story. When you’re using a rock bands album, the placement of the songs is important to the film’s success. The writers do a very good job placing the songs at the right moment to fit with the film’s story. It helps enhance the scenes and the song. That’s what you want, when you’re watching a musical.

DVD Extras:

The first featurette on the DVD is the audio commentary track with production supervisor John Coates and art director Heinz Edelmann. More the most part, this was a good track. I liked how, they were able to talk about the production of the film. From the music to the animation, they go into great detail about how the film was made. The only drawback on this track was there were some dead spots, where the talking stops and you just hear the music. Still, the track is worth a listen.
Next on the DVD, “The Beatles: Mod Odyssey”. This short documentary was created in 1968. It goes into the creation of the film and its characters. Not a bad nostalgic featurette, as it goes into the basis of the film and the behind the scenes of it.

The next featurette was the interviews, which was divided into five chapters without a play all option. It features interviews from Paul Angelis (voice of Ringo and Chief Blue Meanie), John Clive (voice of John), David Livesey (key animator), Millicent McMillan (Heinz Edelmann’s assistant), Jack Stokes (animation director), and Erich Segal (co-writer). Not much information here, as the interviews felt too short and not that interesting. It would have been nice to have a documentary on the film, instead of having five short interviews.

The disc wraps up with storyboard sequences, original pencil drawings, behind the scenes photos and the film’s original trailer.

Final Summary:

I was very surprised, that I had a very good time with this film considering that I’m not a fan of The Beatles. “Yellow Submarine” is filled with great animation and a story that makes sense with music.
Review Rating: Four Stars
DVD Extras: Three Stars.

EMI has send us information for their upcoming Blu-Ray and DVD Release of The Beatles' classic animated film, "Yellow Submarine". The film features classic Beatles songs like “Eleanor Rigby,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” “All You Need Is Love,” and “It’s All Too Much".

Special features on the DVD and Blu-Ray include a short making-of documentary titled “Mod Odyssey” (TRT: 7:30), the film’s original theatrical trailer, audio commentary by producer John Coates and art director Heinz Edelmann, several brief interview clips with others involved with the film, storyboard sequences, 29 original pencil drawings and 30 behind-the-scenes photos. Both Digipak packages will include reproductions of animation cels from the film, collectible stickers, and a 16-page booklet with a new essay by Yellow Submarine aficionado John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios).

"The Beatles: Yellow Submarine" makes its way to DVD and Blu-Ray on June 5th.

Press Release:

The Beatles’ classic 1968 animated feature film, Yellow Submarine, has been digitally restored for DVD and Blu-ray release on June 5th in North America. The film’s songtrack album will be reissued on CD on the same date.

Currently out of print, the film has been restored in 4K digital resolution for the first time by Paul Rutan Jr. and his team of specialists at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque Inc. Due to the delicate nature of the hand-drawn original artwork, no automated software was used in the digital clean-up of the film’s restored photochemical elements. This was all done by hand, frame by frame.

Bonus features for the Yellow Submarine DVD and Blu-ray include a short making-of documentary titled “Mod Odyssey” (TRT: 7:30), the film’s original theatrical trailer, audio commentary by producer John Coates and art director Heinz Edelmann, several brief interview clips with others involved with the film, storyboard sequences, 29 original pencil drawings and 30 behind-the-scenes photos. Both Digipak packages will include reproductions of animation cels from the film, collectible stickers, and a 16-page booklet with a new essay by Yellow Submarine aficionado John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios).

Lasseter writes in his essay, “As a fan of animation and as a filmmaker, I tip my hat to the artists of Yellow Submarine, whose revolutionary work helped pave the way for the fantastically diverse world of animation that we all enjoy today.”

Directed by George Dunning, and written by Lee Minoff, Al Brodax, Jack Mendelsohn and Erich Segal, Yellow Submarine began its voyage to the screen when Brodax, who had previously produced nearly 40 episodes of ABC’s animated Beatles TV series, approached The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein with a unique vision for a full-length animated feature.

Yellow Submarine, based upon a song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, is a fantastic tale brimming with peace, love, and hope, propelled by Beatles songs, including “Eleanor Rigby,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” “All You Need Is Love,” and “It’s All Too Much.” When the film debuted in 1968, it was instantly recognised as a landmark achievement, revolutionising a genre by integrating the freestyle approach of the era with innovative animation techniques.

Inspired by the generation’s new trends in art, the film resides with the dazzling Pop Art styles of Andy Warhol, Martin Sharp, Alan Aldridge and Peter Blake. With art direction and production design by Heinz Edelmann, Yellow Submarine is a classic of animated cinema, featuring the creative work of animation directors Robert Balser and Jack Stokes with a team of animators and technical artists.

“I thought from the very beginning that the film should be a series of interconnected shorts” remembered Edelmann. “The style should vary every five minutes or so to keep the interest going until the end.” These styles included melding live-action photography with animation, 3-dimensional sequences and kaleidoscopic “rotoscoping” where film is traced frame by frame into drawings. The entire process took nearly two years, 14 different scripts, 40 animators and 140 technical artists, ultimately producing a groundbreaking triumph of animation.

On April 24, Candlewick Press will release a new, compact hardcover edition of the Yellow Submarine picture book, a read-aloud journey for the whole family. Featuring the lighthearted wit of the film’s script alongside original artwork from the movie that has charmed children and adults through several generations, the beautiful, 40-page book will be sold by retailers everywhere and on the Beatles Store (www.thebeatles.com). An interactive digital version of the book is also available as a free download on Apple's iBookstore for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch at www.iTunes.com/TheBeatles.

www.thebeatles.com

Yellow Submarine synopsis:

Once upon a time… or maybe twice, there was an unearthly paradise called Pepperland, a place where happiness and music reigned supreme. But all that was threatened when the terrible Blue Meanies declared war and sent in their army led by a menacing Flying Glove to destroy all that was good. Enter John, Paul, George and Ringo to save the day! Armed with little more than their humour, songs, and of course, their yellow submarine, The Beatles tackle the rough seas ahead in an effort to bring down the evil forces of bluedom.