The Hero of 'Yellow Submarine'

I had hoped to write more about the fiftieth anniversary of the movie Yellow Submarine, which I first wrote about in July, between then and today, today being the fiftieth anniversary of the animated Beatles movie's American release, but circumstances prevented me from doing so.  Today, though, I am happy to revisit the topic once again in pay tribute to the movie's greatest hero - its art director, Heinz Edelmann.

A lot of talented people worked on the Yellow Submarine movie, including the Beatles TV cartoon director George Dunning, who contributed worthy ideas of his own such as the "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" sequence, which traced over old black-and-white film footage from an old musical.  But it was Edelmann set the tone and feel of the movie with his splendid use of color and lines.  Edelmann's style was notable for its liberal use of color and its sweeping, flowing lines in his drawings.  He had begun his career as a freelance illustrator in Germany, developing ads and theater posters. But it was his work with the German youth magazine twen, where he worked from 1961 to 1969, where his talents rally blossomed.  His illustrations captured the spirit of the emerging postwar generation in Western culture, and he was the perfect choice to oversee the development of Yellow Submarine.  His work was as much an illustration of the sixties as it was an illustration of the Beatles at the height of their powers. 

For the longest time, though, Edelmann, who died in 2009, didn't get the credit he deserved - because it went to someone who didn't deserve it. Edelmann's style was so similar to that of American pop artist Peter Max that many people mistakenly believed that Max had been the Yellow Submarine movie's art director.  Max had in fact done some Beatles-related illustrations - including an interpretation of the Rubber Soul song "The Word" (below) - and had apparently been in contact with Yellow Submarine producer Al Brodax about possibly contributing to the animation, but Max in fact had nothing to do with it.

So what?  A mere misunderstanding by the fans, right? Well, what was so bad about that?  This: While Max never said he worked on the Yellow Submarine movie, he never said he didn't, either.  That is, he let people think he worked on the movie.  This infuriated many Beatles fans, and it aroused George Harrison's indignation; Harrison came right out and said that Max had made a career on the mistaken assumption that he was Yellow Submarine's art director.

Fortunately, the historical record has been corrected, and Heinz Edelmann is recognized today and for all time as the artistic genius behind the Yellow Submarine movie.  Max produced a good deal of fine work himself, including a U.S. commemorative stamp for the 1974 Spokane world's fair (Expo '74) that is one of my favorite U.S. postage stamps of the seventies (I'm a stamp collector), and Milton Glaser, another artist of the psychedelic age, also came up with some pretty good illustrations.  But Heinz Edelmann set the standard for the great illustrations of that era, and his creations - including his greatest, the Yellow Submarine movie - are indicative of a bold, daring style that we will never see again.

I hope to say more about this great movie later on.

'Yellow Submarine' - Fifty Years

Fifty years ago today, July 17, 1968, the animated Beatles movie Yellow Submarine premiered in London.

Yellow Submarine is regarded as one of the greatest animated movies of all time, using all sorts of innovative sequences and caricatures with a vivid array of colors.  It's a cinematic expression of the psychedelic art of the late sixties that many aging hippies believe is a perfect approximation of an acid trip, yet it was sweet and palatable enough for children.  The storyline takes the cartoon Beatles on a trip through the deep seas to Pepperland, an unearthly paradise of music, love, and happiness, to save it from the Blue Meanies, who have taken it over and eliminated love, music, and everything positive.  The story uses music from no fewer than sixteen Beatles songs (including four songs recorded for the movie), yet the plot holds together quite nicely, with all sorts of visual surprises and delights throughout.

Amazingly, Yellow Submarine was made almost by accident.  The movie was an extension of the old animated Beatles cartoon series that ran in the U.S., which involved American producer Al Brodax and Canadian animator George Dunning.  When the Beatles couldn't agree on a script for the third movie they owed United Artists (after A Hard Day's Night and Help!), they reluctantly agreed to a cartoon movie (which Brodax would produce and Dunning would direct), but having seen the TV cartoons and found them embarrassing - which is why they weren't shown in Britain - they didn't want to be deeply involved with the film.  They would only film a brief appearance for the end.  

Then they saw the final cut with German poster artist Heinz Edelmann's incredible art work and with some snappy, cheeky dialogue overseen by Liverpool poet Roger McGough, and they instantly realized that this movie was not going to be just another cartoon feature. In fact, it would draw comparisons to Walt Disney's 1940 movie Fantasia for its artistry.

But here's the funny thing; Yellow Submarine was originally a flop.

The movie received a wide opening in British theaters on the heels of its world premiere in London, but it was pulled after only a few weeks and mixed, somewhat ho-hum reviews.  It was replaced by one British movie-theater chain with a re-release of Disney's Peter Pan, because, according to a chain representative, "at least the children could understand that!"  Yellow Submarine's American release had been put off until November 1968, and United Artists executives might have been worried about what the stateside response would be like; after all, Magical Mystery Tour, the Beatles' previous film endeavor, was so poorly received in Britain that, after its TV airing there, no American television network would even touch it.

If they did worry, they needn't have; when Yellow Submarine premiered in the United States on November 13, 1968, it received nearly unanimous raves from movie critics and was a box-office smash.  It was such a huge hit, it was playing in American theaters as late as September 1969.  Why was it a big success in the United States?  Think about it.  By Thanksgiving 1968, Americans had gone through watching some of the worst fighting in the Vietnam War on TV news, seen Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated followed by urban rioting as least as fierce as the Newark and Detroit riots of 1967, seen Robert Kennedy assassinated, witnessed antiwar demonstrations turn to rioting at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and awokened the day after the presidential election to discover that Richard Nixon would be their new President.  Yellow Submarine provided a hopeful tale of how love, music and harmony would prevail against Blue Meanies like Richard Nixon and George Wallace.  It was a fantasy, but a beautiful fantasy Americans could relate to (and, in the Age of Trump, still can).

Yellow Submarine is currently being screened in theaters in different towns in America for its fiftieth anniversary release. Yes, I just saw it - first time I've seen it on the big screen.  And I watch it every Thanksgiving on home video - I've done so since 2000.  And because there's so much to say about Yellow Submarine - too much to say in one blog post - expect me to return to the subject of this movie between now and the fiftieth anniversary of its American premiere this November.

Two Fifth Beatles Gone

Two individuals with connections to the Beatles died recently . . ..

Gordon Waller was the latter half of Peter and Gordon, the most successful duo to come out of the sixties British Invasion. He and Peter Asher recorded Lennon-McCartney songs predominantly written by Paul when he was dating Asher's sister Jane, and these were unsurprisingly among the most heartfelt ballads of the time. The list is quite impressive: "World Without Love," "Nobody I Know," "I Don't Want To See You Again," and "Woman." Hits not penned by Lennon and McCartney included "Lady Godiva" and the Buddy Holly Song "True Love Ways." Their harmonies were perfect (Waller mostly sang lead), and the arrangements were first rate. Waller went on to perform in British musical theater and run a music publishing business after the duo broke up. (Asher, of course, became a record producer, producing James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, among others.) The duo reunited a few years back, and this blogger had the rare and appreciated opportunity to see them perform at a Beatles convention in 2006. After nearly forty years apart, they hasn't lost their touch. They were doing some shows only recently, including an Atlanta appearance this spring. Waller died in Connecticut, where he lived, on July 17 of a heart attack at 64.

Heinz Edelmann was a prestigious advertising and editorial illustrator in Germany in 1967 when movie producer Al Brodax approached him to be the art director for the animated Beatles movie Yellow Submarine. Edelmann's neo-Art Nouveau approach, characterized by fluid lines and bright colors, fit the mood of the movie perfectly, and he revolutionized animation with his work (and made the greatest animated movie ever as well). The Beatles themselves loved Edelmann's work, and John Lennon singled out as the only person involved with Yellow Submarine worthy of his respect. Edelmann got little respect for a long time, as many people somehow came to believe that poster artist Peter Max had been responsible for Yellow Submarine's look. (Max, to his discredit, let people believe that.) Edelmann was still able to enjoy a distinguished career, and he gained recognition for his contributions to Yellow Submarine in later years. He died at 75 on July 21 of heart disease and kidney failure.

I just found out about both passings yesterday. :-(