“Yellow Submarine” is a psychedelic adventure in animation from the late ’60s featuring many songs by the Beatles. The music and animation are both terrific. However, I think the film is a bit scary for young children.
Storyline:
The movie begins in Pepperland, a very peaceful and happy community beneath the sea. Pepperland thrives on music, provided by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. A sinister group of people known as Blue Meanies decide to attack Pepperland with their army of unusual characters, such as apple bonkers, snapping turks, and a flying glove. They first attack the band with a giant bubble of blue glass, which they get trapped inside. Then they go after the citizens with the rest of their army, including the flying glove. When all seems lost, the mayor tells Old Fred to set sail aboard the Yellow Submarine and get help. As Fred leaves, the mayor gets bonked with apples.
Watch Yellow Submarine (1968) Trailer:
Old Fred stops in Liverpool, where he meets the Beatles, who are hanging out at the Pier. He begs them to join him in rescuing Pepperland from the Blue Meanies, and they agree.
The voyage proves to be long and treacherous. The crew passes through many unusual seas, including the Sea of Time, the Sea of Science, the Sea of Monsters, the Sea of Nothing, the Sea of Heads (Foothills of the Headlands), and the Sea of Holes before finally arriving in Pepperland. They lose their instruments in the Sea of Monsters, where Ringo accidentally gets ejected from the submarine and attacked by Indians, but the rest of the crew manages to rescue him. In the Sea of Nothing, they meet Jeremy, a Nowhere Man, and decide to take him along. They end up losing the submarine there though and have to take the rest of the journey on foot.
Finally they arrive in Pepperland, where they are soon joined by Old Fred. They revive the mayor, who tells them that they can pass as Sgt. Pepper’s band and ready the land to rebellion with their music. They do so and also rescue Sgt. Pepper’s band by placing a hole, which Ringo had taken from the Sea of Holes and kept in his pocket, over the glass which encases them. Defeated, the Meanies begin running away, but the Beatles invite them to join Pepperland for a celebration of peace, love, and music.
