The Beatles' classic 1968 animated feature film, Yellow Submarine, has been digitally restored for DVD and Blu-ray release. The film's songtrack album CD is also being re-issued.
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).
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 recognized as a landmark achievement, revolutionizing a genre by integrating the freestyle approach of the era with innovative animation techniques.
Blu-Ray Packaging:
Digi Blu-Ray to include 16 page booklet, reproductions of film cells of each of the four Beatles characters + stickers.
Blu-Ray Tracklisting
Feature film [TRT: 89:00]
Fully restored in 4K and presented in the original aspect ratio of 1:66-1
Audio options:
English 5.1 DTS
German 5.1 DTS
Italian 5.1 DTS
English Dolby Stereo
Original Mono
Audio Commentary Heinz Edelmann (Art Director) and John Coates (Producer)
Subtitle languages (feature only):
English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Finnish, Japanese
Extra features:
Mod Odyssey documentary [TRT: 7:30]
Original theatrical trailer [TRT: 3:30]
Storyboard sequences:
- Sea of Monsters (split screen footage) [TRT: 4:20]
- Battle of the Monsters [118 images]
- Pepperland [64 images]
Interviews:
- Paul Angelis (voice of Ringo and Chief Blue Meanie) [TRT: 1:39]
- John Clive (voice of John) [TRT: 2:03]
- David Livesey (key animator) [TRT: 1:11]
- Millicent McMillan (Heinz Edelmann's assistant) [TRT: 1:12]
- Jack Stokes (animation director) [TRT: 3:42]
- Erich Segal (co-writer) [TRT: 1:38]
Original pencil drawings [29 images]
Behind-the-scenes photos [30 images]
