Newton Theatre to showcase classic Beatles animated film

NEWTON, NJ-Once upon a time…or maybe twice…there was an unearthly paradise called Pepperland, 80,000 leagues under the sea it lay, a place where beauty, happiness, and music reign supreme. But this peaceful harmony is shattered when the Blue Meanies invade with their army of storm bloopers, apple bonkers, snapping turtle turks, and the menacing flying glove in an attempt to stop the music and drain Pepperland of all colour and hope. So it’s The Beatles to the rescue, as our animated heroes team up with Young Fred and the Nowhere Man and journey across seven seas to free Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, make peace with the Manies, and restore music, colour, and love to the world.
Beatles fans of all ages will have the opportunity to come together and share in the visually stunning movie and soundtrack from The Beatles’ classic 1968 animated feature film, Yellow Submarine, in celebration of its 50th anniversary. An icon of psychedelic pop culture, Yellow Submarine is a colourful musical spectacle and an exhilaratingly joyful cinematic experience– filled with visual invention, optical illusions, word play, and glorious, glorious music. Directed by George Dunning, Yellow Submarine began its voyage to the screen when writer Al Brodax, who had previously produced nearly 40 episodes of ABC’s animated Beatles TV series, approached The Beatles with a unique vision for a full-length animated feature.
Based upon the song of the same name, Yellow Submarine is a fantastic tale brimming with peace, love, and hope, propelled by classic 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.
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. It was restored in 4K digital resolution and remixed in 5.1 stereo surround sound at UMG’s Abbey Road Studios. 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.
In addition to all the glorious music, Yellow Submarine is a landmark in animation, with Edelmann’s inspired art direction conjuring up a non-stop parade of wildly different styles and techniques. From the paper-doll residents of Pepperland, to the tinted photography of the soot covered roofs and smokestacks Liverpool, the menagerie of fanciful characters in the Sea of Monsters, the kaleidoscopic color-splashed rotoscoping of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, the vertigo inducing op-art of the Sea of Holes, and the triumphant euphony of the It’s All Too Much finale, the film is simply a joy.
Yellow Submarine will play Monday and Tuesday, July 23 and July 24 at 7 p.m.at The Newton Theatre, 234 Spring Street in Newton, NJ. Tickets are just $10 and are available for purchase at The Newton Theatre box office, online at www.TheNewtonTheatre.com, or by calling 973-940-NEWT.