My memory is being taken by my parents at age 7 to a very large movie house on the West Side, the kind that don't exist any more due to subdivision, and watching the film wide eyed in a darkened theatre with a lot of long-haired people smoking.
That said, the two key lines are: The Lord Mayor, "We must finish the quartet" and 2) "Yes, your Newness".
6
My son was obsessed with the accompanying video to the Village People’s YMCA. FOR MONTHS. every day after nap time he’d run to the computer and insist we watch it.
2
Loved the article! My absolute favorite movie. I saw it 17 times when it hit the theatres - so many times, I was instantly affronted when they cut 6 minutes off Harrison's "All Too Much" song at the end (which has never been restored, even in the new remastered version - it did go on for rather a long time, LOL).
7
I was a Yellow-Submarine freak in my single-digit age too. Saw it twelve times in theaters (before the invention of the Beta-Max or VCR).
I identified with the Chief Blue Meanie.
3
I have been listening to the Beatles since my mom was pregnant with me. My sister was abel to see them live on Ed Sullivan on TV while I listened in utero. I'm older now and have been a fan since. The joy their music gives is limitless, their music? Timeless.
17
My “children” are now every bit of 32, 31 and 28. But when they were Max’s age, more or less, we took the same swim, over and over and over, to the bottom of the Sea Of Green, with daily viewings of “Yellow Submarine.”
Of course, they were each well prepared, having fallen in love with The Beatles’ music during infancy.
How did that happen?
Why, from the time they were born, I’d use Beatles’ songs as lullabies, of course. Starting with “Hey (Drew) Jude” for my oldest daughter Drew, each had their favorite - “Yellow Submarine” for Alexandra and “Eight Days a Week” and “Her Majesty” for Pierce. And sometimes I’d accompany the chorus of tiny voices with acoustic guitar. Not to mention listening to the Fab Four in the car and elsewhere.
Any Beatles song can be a lullaby. Seriously. Even “Helter Skelter”.
Let’s face it. The Beatles are (forevermore) perfect and Yellow Submarine is just more proof of that simple fact.
Four years ago, over the course of 18 months, I took each of them to see Sir Paul, in Albany, New Orleans and Charlottesville. Last summer, Alex and I made our holy pilgrimage to Liverpool.
It gives me great peace to know there can be perfection on earth. Ah bliss....god bless you and Max and remember ... always go out, “SINGING!!!”
32
I, too, love this movie. And, watched it many many times with my daughter when she was young. The 'lever-puller' line is favorite, but so it the 'two-eyed cyclops' (the 'bicyclops'!).
But... what does he mean by this:
"It took me a good 33 years to understand why, in a scene where the Beatles are trying to sneak into the Blue Meanies’ battle corps, a suspicious soldier would ask them, “Are you bluish? You don’t look bluish.”"
4
@PhilO - it took me a minute or so before I got it. Think NY and Lower East Side.
5
I love the part where the chief meanie, encountering his minions in headlong retreat from the Beatles, screams “you’re advancing the wrong way!” By the way, the real Beatles do appear and speak in the film’s final scene.
8
This might be the first movie I saw in a theater. I can't tell you how many times I've seen this and never got "I'm a born lever puller." Had to read it, out loud, three times today to see the joke.
My two faves:
1) At the fishbowl:
"It's blue glass."
"It must be from Kentucky."
2) "Here, puppy puppy puppy" while crouching in front of a cat. (Or maybe it's "Nice kitty" while crouching in front of a dog. Is it even possible to see this movie while not stoned?)
5
I may be making a poltically incorrect assumption I shouldn't, but given your name, you didnt get "you dont look bluish" for 33 years?
By the same token, thanks for pointing out the lever-puller to me.
4
"I've got a hole in me pocket." Still makes me laugh even though I haven't seen the movie in almost 50 years.
11
Mr. Itzkoff, sounds to me like you need to introduce your son Max to the delights of Walt Disney’s Fantasia.
5
There should be a mention of the writers, including our friend Lee Minoff, much less Erich 'Love Story' Segal.
6
Thanks for this piece. For awhile now, I have associated what we've loosely been calling "the Resistance" in this era with Pepperland, because any such gathering is full of joy and laughter and love, even though we're up against tremendous odds. May Pepperland triumph in 2020. All you need is love.
21
Good stuff. Sounds like you and your son are developing a great relationship, very important, but I hope you are feeding him more than chicken nuggets and mac & cheese, plus getting him out somewhere green and leafy where he can get somewhere without pushing an elevator button. My guess is you already do.
5
@Caded. Speaking of cracking mysteries and codes, does Caded stand for Criticizing All Day Every Day?
6
I suspect repeated viewings a single video is pretty common among children of a certain age. My son watched Muppet Treasure Island every evening for about 2 months when he was 3.
1
@Pajama Sam
I've had many parents tell me that "Finding Nemo" had a similar hold on their 3-year-olds, then wore off when they got a little older.
1
Thanks for your wonderful words describing you and your son's experiences. I agree with everything you say and more. As I watched it often with my young kids (now teenagers) I had similar experiences of recognizing new meanings.
Perhaps another interest for your son with the movie is his sharing the namesake with a main character!?!? Albeit, a Blue Meanie but still.
Can't wait for you two to enjoy the journey into the Beatles catalog as he gets older.
5
I remember watching it on TV in the 70s as a child. How long has this been available on dvd???
@Libby
Twenty years. at least. I think one of the reasons my husband fell in love with me was because I had dvds of Yellow Submarine and Hard Days Night.
12
Thank you for a wonderful article about a wonderful movie. I was ten years old when I saw it on TV during it's premiere television broadcast in the 1970's; even in black and white, the film was visually stunning, and I found Nowhere Man "Jeremy" to be a really heart-rending character. The restored version that was in theatres a couple of summers ago was amazing, and served as a much-needed reminder of how kindness and generosity can change a damaged world.
12
I was an adult when I saw Yellow Submarine and I was blown away. A perfect mix of image and sound. I loved it when in the movie Yesterday, a yellow toy submarine was the key that united the 3 people who remembered the Beatles.
11
Having seen the film in a theater in December 1968, I've watched it since it was on broadcast TV, then on VHS, and now DVD. In these days where self-appointed culture warriors try to erase any positive history of that time, I often feel a twinge of loss for the quality of the music and animation in the film. From many of the comments here, Yellow Submarine fits the definition of a "classic": Having great qualities that make it worth viewing many times over.
12
I watched then, I watch it now, and my son and I watched it from the time he was three and still watch it together now that he is 43.
10
I saw Yellow submarine when it came out, in London. I remember the Hey Bulldog song and sequence that was left out of the American release (at least when I saw it)...great memory. And I saw (but couldn't get in) the Apple Store all painted all trippy like...
9
I was 8 when Yellow Submarine came out and lobbied hard for my parents to take me to see it. My dad drew the short straw and took me I
to the Rugby Theater on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn. He was an immigrant from Poland and a holocaust survivor and the movie kind of confused him. When we got home, he told my mom Hilda, this is not my child. Later in life, he'd sing Yellow Submarine.
22
@Debbie I love hearing this memory!
4
I guess there are worse things a 4-year-old can watch daily for months on end. But having once driven (halfway) across the country with Abby Road stuck in the cassette player, I'm not sure I can endorse an all-Beatles diet.
@BKLYNJ You could do worse.
9
@BKLYNJ Could have been worse, might have been a KISS album! :-)
11
A wonderful piece about discovering a wonderful film. I only disagree with two words, that children take to the Beatles because the music is "simple" and "repetitive" ("joyous" is certainly true.) All songs are typically repetitive to some extent, but the Beatles' compositions are much less so. The structure is complex for 3-minute songs, and even repeated verses tend to vary their lyrics, vocal and instrumental arrangement the second time through. I would say that children respond to the Beatles because of the singable melodies, and the prevalence of word play in the lyrics. Each Beatle loved word play, and Lennon's pieces (such as Lucy in the Sky) in particular have a Seussian vividness.
As for lines which I loved as a child but only understood later, how about: "Where can we go?" answered by, "Argentina?"
33
Nice article - and now I may just have to watch it again this weekend.
My only quibble is that his name isn't Nowhere Man, it's Jeremy Hillary Boob, PhD!
31
@Tom
This was going to be my first and only comment about the article as well. I love the character so much, I made it my pen name on some music-related Internet message boards.
7
@Tom That's Doctor Boob to you! :)
8
Mr. Itzkoff should know that while the Beatles themselves were voiced by relatively unknown performers, veteran British comic actors such as Lance Percival and Dick Emery filled in several other parts. Emery was a man of many voices and disguises who was famous on UK TV for his sketch comedy shows.
5
“I’m a mocker.”
R. Starr
16
@db2 Are you a mod or a rocker?
3
I loved this movie and when my oldest was young, I too introduced him to it. He watched over and over, but it took him a bit to accept the Blue Meanies and not be scared by them. Our DVD collection was full of 1970s shows and musicals because that is what I could watch/hear without going nuts.
We also watched Broadway musicals. All that I could get my hands on. By the time my son was 9, we were off to every live musical that was appropriate. His first was Damn Yankees and were used to called it Darn Yankees. It was funny a few years later when he realized the real title. All of these musicals beat out any kiddie show in the early 2000s.
9
You don't mention the obvious connection between Max and . . . Max.
4
@JHM
Explain???
@PhilO
The Chief Blue Meanie's sidekick is called Max,
"Ah Max, the sky is blue."
2
@JHM
No! Peter Max was the animator! Recent NYT article about the derivative work verging on forgery emanating from his current studio. Film "Max" is the usual toady, PM is a visual genius.
1
Yes! My four year old watches it too! It is so psychedelic!
2
I think the author's kid is a kindred spirit: I owned the movie on VHS and then got the DVD. I have occasionally watched it through twice in one sitting.
That said, I'm embarrassed that I never got the "lever-puller" gag.
11
I just had to laugh because I just got the joke myself. Lever puller = Liverpooler. DOH!
45
Yellow Submarine came out when I was in 5th grade. It was also the grade with my favorite teacher of all time. We made decoupaged lunchbox pocketbooks, which were all the rage. My pictures highlighted the Blue Meanies, in all their glory & other assorted YS characters.
I wish I knew where that lunchbox was...
6
my parents came for thanksgiving one year and brought my 4 year old nephew. trying to find ways to entertain him, i broke out my VHS tapes (yes, that long ago) and found i had several, all british inspired. there were Wallace and Grommit movies, old Disney fare, i.e., Thomasina, and a copy of Yellow Submarine. He loved the Wallace and Grommit stuff, shrugged at Thomasina, but fixated on Yellow Submarine. He would watch it over and over (as only a 4 year old can do) and sing all the songs and sneak up on us and say, in a creepy voice, "Blue Meanieeees." when he left, i gave him the tape and my mother informed me he watched it many, many times. i kind of wish now that i had watched it with him a few times to see what he saw. thanks for bringing back a memory.
18
When this was re-issued and re-mastered several years ago I jumped at the chance to catch it on the big screen, my sister and I went to the theatre in Chelsea, picked up the advanced sale tix and eagerly awaited the opening credits. Turned out we were the only two people in the theatre tho several minutes later a family of four came in, that was it. A glitch alerted people that the show was sold out. So the six of us sat down and watched, the family of four had two kids roughly 5 and 7 they loved it so did we. Though the voices weren't theirs save for the music it was still fun, the colors, the music. Still holds up.
Max has good taste, never too young for the Beatles.
14
"You don't look bluish." has been my favorite line since I first saw the movie.
10
Me, too! I almost fell off the chair laughing.
1
@Hddvt What's the joke?
2
@Hddvt
Please explain. I don't get it??
BTW, if you like "blue" jokes, you should watch Arrested Development. There's a great mis-use of the 'Blue Man Group'. :-)
1
Dave, My son, Otto, lives for Yellow Submarine. It was the theme of his 3rd birthday party, the favorite t-shirts, and the number one request for trips in the car. It's great to hear that other children are finding the same basic love of quality music that doesn't make parents' minds turn into mush!
20
Our VHS copy played regularly until it didn’t. Many playings, and I also enjoyed rediscovering the film through their eyes. Both kids (now 21 and 26) loved the movie, and both became fans of the Fab Four.
Son is a big fan of The Who’s “Quadrophenia”, and daughter recently asked for some Moody Blues suggestions. Classic rock is, well, classic.
32
Hello Dave:
I am an old enough New Yorker to recall that one of the local stations - and I cannot remember whether it was WNEW, WOR or PIX - would air “Yellow Submarine” the Friday night after Thanksgiving . Same goes for “Willy Wonka” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” Needless to say, this was in the early 70s when I was still a child and the VCR was not yet a reality so I would wait all year for the night that I could watch the Beatles. I still get that rush every time I see the film.
There was a very rare diecast submarine toy made by the Corgi company out of England worth hundreds of dollars today, and my parents bought me one off the vintage toy market when I turned 25.
Cheers,
Jeff Pucillo
26
@Jeff Pucillo
The first time I saw it, it was on WPIX one New Years Eve (1977??). They started it at midnight, which was very late for me. It was the MOST amazing thing I had ever seen and I couldn'd take my eyes off of it!
5
Hello @Philo:
It was a long time ago and my memory could definitely be flawed - I remember having to wait up rather late to see it too. I was ten at that time so it is a definite possibility.
Cheers,
Jeff Pucillo
3
I love this movie. I was an adult when it came out, so I could appreciate most of the film's subtleties. Hand animation has a charm and 'art' that CG can never match.
12
Northern Songs was a music publishing company formed by The Beatles and others. If you google the company you will discover that The Beatles were conned. George Harrison wrote "Only A Northern Song" to declare his dislike of the company. As far as this film, my nephew bought me a "remastered" dvd of this film. The colors just pop!!! And of course the music, like all of The Beatles music, is second to none.
17
The author may be too young to remember, but "Yellow Submarine" being on TV in the 1970s was an event like "The Wizard of Oz" or "The Ten Commandments" - on once a year at special times. This was before cable was ubiquitous and there were just the 3 big commercial broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) and PBS.
"Yellow Submarine" is a must-have for parents and people "of a certain age".
22
with kids, on drugs, both good. must've watched this ten times in college; I'll let the reader guess under what conditions.
11
Sometime in the 70's I watched it on a black & white TV and gained a whole new appreciation for Yellow Submarine's subtly and complexity. Without the kaleidoscopic colors, the forms and nuances became more pronounced.
Over the years, because of their stunning visuals, Yellow Submarine and 2001: A Space Odyssey are the two films I have seen the most often in theaters, watching both dozens of times on the big screen - including several times in Cinerama.
11
@CaptRuss I have another one for you. Sometime if you can, see "Lawrence of Arabia." I saw the remasted in Cinerama and have watched it on 4k 70" hi def TV. You see the movie and realize where George Lucas got a lot of his film ideas for the Star Wars original films.
5
I've said it often. As a culture junkie, one of the most sublime aspects of parenthood has been re-experiencing the movies and music that I love through the fresh eyes of my son (himself now a culture-junkie of twenty-one). From watching his amazement at 'Wizard of Oz' as a young child to having him explain to me why 'Who's Next' is such an incredible album. I've been able to recapture some of the magic of my first encounters with these works. And it's been awesome!
17
I still have the vhs copy I bought 25 years or more, ago to introduce my son to The Beetles. It is a delightful reminder of a sweet time in both my and his life.
5
@Beth
I still have my bootleg video I bought at Beatle Fest about 15 years ago, still works too.
2
@Beth It's so nice that you introduced your son to Coleoptera. They're an amazing family whose numbers include the Curculionidae (great guys; I've had them over several times) and of course the Coccinellidae, who actually bug me a little but hey, each to his own!
May your son have many encounters with the Beetles and maybe even grow up to become a Beetlemaniac!
Cheers
Nick
5
I saw this movie when I was about 5 or so (thank you, Wesleyan Film Series!) and it made a profound impact on me. Have watched it many times since and really appreciated the multi-layered humor and animation quality.
4
"Yellow Submarine" comes from an era when the animation was drawn by hand and the music was played on real instruments. The little quirks and mistakes are all there. Maybe Max subconsciously appreciates what I appreciate: you can feel the craft and love that went into a project like this.
49
Beatles Forever
56
What a nice essay to read in the "morning paper". Thanks. (and not once was the T word used, that ultimate Blue Meanie)
51
@Gene W.
There are many in my acquaintance who call him The Orange Meanie, some of whom say calling T an Orange Meanie is insulting to the Blue Meanie. Now I am envisioning a flower growing out of his nose. Maybe for every lie he blurts.
I have watched Yellow Submarine dozens of times on the big screen, first released in 1968 when I worked at my college town movie theatre. I watched it dozens of times then. When my children came along, I had a bootleg VHS that they wore out, so they were introduced to it at an early age. It was background music for many, many years, so I guess my 'watching' numbers in the hundreds, a leitmotif when they were young and I was a busy single parent.
One thing I have to say about the vocal actors, whilst it would have been luvly to have the lads dub their own voices, supposedly everyone thought the other's sounded great, but didn't like the way their own voice actor sounded.
The movie was entirely brilliant, made for a song, pun intended, under I am almost certain psychedelically enhanced circumstances. As the daughter of an artist I love that it is all traditional animation.
9
Having just returned from a trip to Liverpool, there was karaoke next to the Cavern Club and there was animation in the background with Trumps head on the head blue meanie!
7
I’ve had the same arc. My parents took me to see the premier when I was the same age as your son, and when my son was also about 4 I showed it to him and it was then on daily viewing by request for many months. Question is, if your son’s name is Max, then you must be...?
17