Yellow Submarine

Yellow Submarine (also known as The Beatles: Yellow Submarine) is a 1968 British animated musical comedy adventure film inspired by the music of the Beatles, directed by animation producer George Dunning, and produced by United Artists and King Features Syndicate. Initial press reports stated that the Beatles themselves would provide their own character voices. However, aside from composing and performing the songs, the real Beatles participated only in the closing scene of the film, while their cartoon counterparts were voiced by other actors.

Plot
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.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) We finally get to see The Beatles for animated film for the first time.
 * 2) Extremely fluid and surrealist animation.
 * 3) Amazing voice acting, as always.
 * 4) The movie connects psychedelia with music in a sublime way.
 * 5) The Blue Meanies are interesting and entertaining villains.
 * 6) An amazing visual style that was very fundamental for influencing many experimental animation artists.
 * 7) Witty humor and characters.
 * 8) Memorable Beatles songs such as "Yellow Submarine" itself and "All You Need Is Love."
 * 9) *Harrison's two songs have also won some admiration, with "Only a Northern Song" being a witty swipe at not getting more record time, and "It's All Too Much" as his gleefully over-the-top attempt at a Psychedelic Rock Silly Love Song.
 * 10) *Even the titular song, "Yellow Submarine". Yes, it was originally a song on Revolver years back, but there's a good reason why it ended up creating its own movie when no other Beatles song did.
 * 11) *George Martin's score is no slouch, especially considering all of the musical styles it covers.
 * 12) *Roger Ebert's review makes the very reasonable point that, with no fewer than eleven songs by The Beatles, this has a good claim for the best soundtrack of any cartoon ever made.
 * 13) Along with Beatles classics, The Beatles made new songs for this movie, such as "Hey Bulldog"
 * 14) Loads of references to Beatles songs.
 * 15) "WHAT?! WE MEANIES ONLY TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD, MAX?!"

The Only Bad Quality

 * 1) There are several scenes in the movie which may trigger seizures due to strobe lights.

Reception
Yellow Submarine received widespread critical acclaim. Released in the midst of the psychedelic pop culture of the 1960s, the film drew in moviegoers both for its lush, wildly creative images and its soundtrack of Beatles songs. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a 97% approval rating based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critical consensus states: "A joyful, phantasmagoric blend of colorful animation and the music of the Beatles, Yellow Submarine is delightful (and occasionally melancholy) family fare.". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews."