Yellow Submarine was the third movie featuring The Beatles during the 1960s. The Beatles didn’t have much input in the film, even though it featured their likeness and music. However, John Lennon said they did impact the film more than people might believe, as one character came from a concept he pitched.
John Lennon pitched a character for ‘Yellow Submarine’ that was used
1968’s Yellow Submarine is an animated jukebox musical featuring the music of The Beatles. It’s the third theatrical film featuring their music following A Hard Day’s Night and Help!. However, The Beatles were less involved in the film, as they only recorded and performed the music. Other actors provided their voices.
The plot revolves around Pepperland, a music-loving town that’s been invaded by the music-hating blue meanies, who have drained the color and joy from the land. The Beatles are sent a message to help and go on a long, colorful, music-filled journey that takes them to Pepperland, where they inevitably save the day and chase away the blue meanies.
In the 1980 interview with Playboy, John Lennon discussed Yellow Submarine, saying they had little to do with the making of the film, but the writers took many of their ideas without giving them credit. He enjoyed the movie but also noted where some of the monsters in the movie came from.
“I like the movie, I like Heinz’s [Edelmann, illustrator] artwork, but they got all the ideas for the glove in the sky, and the thing that sucks people up was my idea,” Lennon said. “They said, ‘Have you got any monsters?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, there’s Horace the vacuum cleaner in the swimming pool’. Which was a thing you could buy, and it went round the pool sucking up the things. I said, ‘That could be a monster’. They just took him…”
Why weren’t The Beatles involved with ‘Yellow Submarine’?
The Beatles had a three-film deal with United Artists. However, the four members didn’t love filming Help!, and they didn’t want to commit to making a third film. The animated movie satisfied the contract, and their live-action cameo at the end fulfilled the requirement that they make an appearance. In a 1999 interview with VH1, George Harrison said he liked the movie since he had little to do with it.
“Actually, the thing that I like most about the movie was we didn’t really have to do anything to it,” Harrison said. “They just took the music, we met with them, and they talked about basically what they were going to do.”
However, John Lennon and the rest of The Beatles were required to make an accompanying soundtrack for Yellow Submarine. The Beatles had a few songs they felt were unworthy of a regular album, so they dumped them on the soundtrack. This included “Only a Northern Song” and “Hey Bulldog,” which was initially cut and later restored on the U.S. theatrical and home reissue in 1999.
“It’s a good-sounding record that means nothing,” Lennon said of “Hey Bulldog”. “Nice lick on the piano and all that.”
