Yellow Submarine

G

Released Nov 13, 1968

1 hr. 25 min.

Musical

Comedy

Adventure

Animation

List

97%

59 Reviews

Tomatometer

84%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

The music-loving inhabitants of Pepperland are under siege by the Blue Meanies, a nasty group of music-hating creatures. The Lord Mayor of Pepperland (Dick Emery) dispatches sailor Old Fred (Lance Percival) to Liverpool, England, where he is to recruit the help of the Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr). The sympathetic Beatles ride a yellow submarine to the occupied Pepperland, where the Blue Meanies have no chance against the Fab Four's groovy tunes.

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Critics Consensus

A joyful, phantasmagoric blend of colorful animation and the music of the Beatles, Yellow Submarine is delightful (and occasionally melancholy) family fare.

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alan g

Great animated movie. Great songs. Great plot. Great animation. A must watch.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/26/24

Full Review

J M

What the sam hell was THAT?!?!? -Jeff Marshall, Movie Blogger (Facebook)

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/24

Full Review

Augustine J

Yellow Submarine is one of the trippyest movies I have ever seen. The animation style is incredibly crazy and utterly psychedelic. This movie also has some great moments of subtle humor. The Beatles music adds to the style, with some of the Fab Four's greatest hits getting immortalized in great montages. Yellow Submarine is a great trip and a solid movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/13/24

Full Review

Joel H

If I hadn't watched Yellow Submarine so many times as a kid, I don't think I'd enjoy it that much as an adult. When I was a kid, I liked the animation and the music, so the nonsensical storyline and absurd dialogue didn't matter. I still like The Beatles, and I appreciate the unique design & feel, but I notice the filmmaking flaws more now. This movie is undeniably bizarre and, as a person who's never done LSD, it doesn't make a lot of sense. However, it is buoyed up in my heart by a strong sense of nostalgia and a great soundtrack. It's not the best Beatles film, but it's not the worst, either.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/03/23

Full Review

Josh G

Unique, Bizarre and well animated with a killer soundtrack. Monty Python need a feature just for the animation and we got it. The Beatles are quirky and funny as always and the blue meanies well there mean. Have a glass of wine a lose a bit of your mind.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/03/23

Full Review

Taylor L

"It's all in the mind." George Harrison's psychedelic trip in Yellow Submarine is one of the coolest character introductions you'll ever see. The Beatles are such a iconic piece of 20th century pop culture that it's hard to take a step back and actually look at them, peeling back the layers of critical acclaim, popular adoration, personal drama, and copious mythology that's sprung up around the group. In that way, Yellow Submarine was something that just sort of existed as part of the Beatles universe in my mind, a tiny chapter in a very heavy book for a group that was only really together for about seven years. But going back and actually watching this film will make you realize that it's got much more to it than just the name of a famous band; Yellow Submarine is an absolute trip of an animated movie, charming and humorous as a quartet of practically monotone Liverpudlians embark on a surreal journey through fantastical lands, quipping all the while. It's still an entertaining and unique experience with visuals that look like a collaboration between Salvador Dalí and Monty Python, but it's also an important film historically, demonstrating that there was much more to animation than what had been done before, and that adults could appreciate it. Hilarious that the voice actor doing George's dialogue had to be replaced partly halfway through because he was an actively-sought deserter from the British military. (3.5/5)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

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George Dunning

Director

Paul Angelis

Chief Blue Meanie, Ringo

Peter Batten

George

John Clive

John

Dick Emery

Jeremy Hilary Boob, Ph.D (Nowhere Man); Lord Mayor; Max

George Harrison

George (Singing Voice)

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Jake Wilson

The Age (Australia)

The animators let their imaginations run wild, the script is full of inventive wordplay - and obviously, the songs don't hurt either.

Sep 14, 2018

Full Review

Tara Brady

Irish Times

The plot and the wry dialogue takes cues from Beatles lyrics and from Edelmann's designs.

Rated: 5/5

Jul 9, 2018

Full Review

Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

Be warned: kids will be thoroughly bored; arthouse fans and nostalgia lovers should be thrilled.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 6, 2018

Full Review

Mark Jackson

Epoch Times

Yellow Submarine has serendipitously been brought back because people are seeking meaning more than ever.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 31, 2018

Full Review

Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

A recently restored 4K restoration of The Beatles'Yellow Submarine with full 5.1 Dolby sound has made its way into theaters and it's absolutely perfect.

Jul 15, 2018

Full Review

M. Faust

The Public (Buffalo)

It's hard not to overstate the role of Yellow Submarine in the growth of animated film, even if it took many of those whom it influenced a few decades to start producing their own work.

Jul 13, 2018

Full Review

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Synopsis

The music-loving inhabitants of Pepperland are under siege by the Blue Meanies, a nasty group of music-hating creatures. The Lord Mayor of Pepperland (Dick Emery) dispatches sailor Old Fred (Lance Percival) to Liverpool, England, where he is to recruit the help of the Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr). The sympathetic Beatles ride a yellow submarine to the occupied Pepperland, where the Blue Meanies have no chance against the Fab Four's groovy tunes.

Director: George Dunning
Screenwriter: Al Brodax, Roger McGough, Jack Mendelsohn, Lee Minoff, Erich Segal
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: Apple Corps, Subafilms, King Features
Rating: G
Genre: Musical, Comedy, Adventure, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 13, 1968, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jul 8, 2018
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $992.3K
Sound Mix: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1

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