THE ANIMATED BEATLES

Reviewed by Steven H Silver

When most people think of the Beatles and animation, the first thing that springs to mind is the 1968 film Yellow Submarine. More knowledgeable Beatles fans may also be aware of the animated television series that ran from 1965 through 1969. With the exception of a few minor promotional pieces, those are the only animated projects the Beatles officially sanctioned during their time as a band, it makes sense that it is also the limit of most people's knowledge of animated works featuring the Fab Four. Matthew Hahn, however, has tracked down numerous animated projects that bring the Beatles back to life long after the band members went their separate ways and he provides readers with an exploration of their animated worlds in The Animated Beatles.

The book is divided into six chapters, each exploring a different type of Beatles cartoon. The first chapter explores the animated Beatles on television. This section primarily looks at the animated series, opening with an explanation for how it came about and then short synopses of the episodes, each of which were comprises of two short, standalone adventures, between which were two animated sing-along songs by the Beatles. Reading these outlines, even more than watching the episodes, reinforces for the reader how repetitive the shows were. The production team had a specific selection of songs that could be used and so they find themselves used repeatedly in both the narratives and in the sing-alongs, often appearing in a narrative one week and the sing-along the next. Hahn also notes that the Beatles licensed the production, but otherwise had nothing to do with it. Voices were provided by Paul Frees and Lance Percival. Hahn then jumps from 1969 to 1991 when Ringo Starr became the first Beatle to voice himself in an animated project when he appeared on the Simpsons (Harrison and McCartney appeared later). The Beatles were featured in other animated television shows as well.

The second chapter focuses on the animated Beatles on the big screen. As with the first chapter, the primary focus in the animated project the Beatles are are most closely tied to: Yellow Submarine, created by the same production crew who did the animated series, but in a completely different style. Hahn discusses the Beatles concerns about licensing the project to the same team, and how they were won over. He also talks about the issues the voice actors, now John Clive, Geoffrey Hughes, and Paul Angelis had in getting recognition, or even an invitation to the premiere and the difficulty in finding a screenwriter, eventually landing on a pre-Love Story Erich Segal, but starting animating before they actually had a script. Yellow Submarine remains the Beatles most accessible animated project, but, just as with television, they found additional animated film life after their breakup, with depictions in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) and Minions (2015), as well as an uncompleted remake of Yellow Submarine.

In some ways, it feels like the book could have ended after the first two chapters, but Hahn goes on to explore and describe animated Beatles music videos, of which there were only a few, and the animated Beatles in video games, which is a lengthy chapter due to the animations created for the 2009 Beatles Rock Band, but also a little known video game based on Paul McCartney's film Give My Regards to Broad Street (1985). Hahn does not limited himself to the official Rock Band releases, but also includes fan-generated animations for songs not released before support for the game dwindled, along with hints at where to find them. The fifth chapter, the longest chapter, is devoted to fan created animated Beatle projects which can generally be found across the internet. The quality and appeal of these can vary greatly, as does the Beatles content, but their inclusion demonstrates who dedicated Hahn has been to finding every animated version of the Fab Four that he could. He again gives hints about where to find them without providing actual URLs, but given how ephemeral the web is, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The nature of the web also means several new videos have probably appeared since Hahn's book was published. The final chapter looks at projects that never came to fruition.

For most fans, watching Yellow Submarine and learning about it will be enough. Some Beatles fans will also be interested in the animated series, which does not currently have an official release. For those who still can't get enough, Hahn provides enough information to track down homages to the quartet, such as the numerous animations by a fan who goes by Mccartnee. The continued appearance of the Beatles, via animation, on the internet, in television shows, and movies is indicative of their pivotal role in modern music and the enduring appeal.

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