The Beatles‘ classic 1968 animated feature film, Yellow Submarine, has been digitally restored for DVD and Blu-ray release. The film‘s songtrack album will be reissued on CD on the same date.
Currently out of print, the film has been restored in 4K digital resolution for the first time by Paul Rutan Jr. and his team of special-ists at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque Inc. 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.
Bonus features for the Yellow Submarine DVD and Blu-ray include a short making-of documentary titled "Mod Odyssey" (TRT: 7:30), the film‘s original theatrical trailer, audio commentary by producer John Coates and art director Heinz Edelmann, several brief interview clips with others involved with the film, storyboard sequences, 29 original pencil drawings and 30 behind-the-scenes photos. Both Digipak packages will include reproductions of animation cells from the film, collectible stickers, and a 16-page booklet with a new essay by Yellow Submarine aficionado John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios).
Yellow Submarine is a fantastic tale brimming with peace, love, and hope, propelled by Beatles songs, including "Eleanor Rigby", "When I‘m 64", "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 recognised as a landmark achievement, revolutionising a genre by integrating the freestyle approach of the era with innovative animation techniques.