It's All in the Mind: Inside the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, Vol. 2

Recently, my 30-year-old daughter saw YELLOW SUBMARINE for the first time (apparently, I was an incredibly negligent parent!!), and she could not stop talking about it. So I gave her this book and the volume that preceded it (INSIDE THE YELLOW SUBMARINE) for her birthday. Luckily I ordered them (directly from the author's website) early enough that I had time to look through them myself before wrapping them up. They are absolutely compelling, providing an incredible variety of stories and perspectives on the making of this classic movie, almost completely in the voices of people who were involved with production, knew the Beatles at the time the movie was made, or (like the rest of us!) have simply watched and enjoyed it over the years. One of the great choices made by the authors is to primarily present the information in the words of the sources themselves. This really highlights the personal enthusiasm this movie has inspired in so many different people over the years.The books are lavishly filled with images from the movie and other sources, so I strongly recommend getting the regular edition rather than the slightly cheaper black-and-white version being offered as an option to (presumably) allow people to save a few bucks.After watching the movie, my daughters created a new family activity that we call "But could they save Pepperland?" Whenever we are talking about a band, a musician, an actor (or just about anyone), at some point someone will ask this important question as a way to determine whether their music, talent, or just overall life vibe might be sufficient in any struggle against the Blue Meanies. I can confidently say that Bob Hieronimus and his co-author Laura Cortner prove in these books that they (like the Beatles) absolutely COULD save Pepperland (should the need ever arise)!!

Yellow Submarine is one of my all-time favourite animated films. A classic. I’ve been a huge fan of the film such I was a kid. I love the work the work that was put into it, the animation, the character designs, the backgrounds, the effects. Even the voices of the Beatles (although it’s not the Beatles’ actual voices but actors doing their best to sound like them giving them proper Scouse accents whereas the Beatles cartoon series the voices always sound rather odd. The voice of John Lennon for example, provided by American voice actor Paul Frees, doesn’t sound anything like the real John, rather a bad impersonation of an English gentleman). One of the unsung heroes of Yellow Submarine is the German designer Heinz Edelmann. Edelmann’s character and set designs are what draws me into liking this film. Another person is Charlie Jenkins who did most of the ‘Special Sequences” in the film, especially the “Eleanor Rigby” sequence and the Yellow Submarine’s journey from Liverpool to London. The book, It’s All in the Mind, is such an fascinating read. It’s great to finally get to read about the history of the making of Yellow Submarine. I love that the author of the book, Dr. Robert Hieronimus, even included interviews with many of the people involved in the production. Some of the animators and artists who share many of their experiences working on the film. It’s also fascinating to add that a few couple have met while making the film. I know that the film involved animators from different countries, some from the States and those like Cam Ford who was from Australia. Not all animators were from England. Of course one of the most interesting things that this book mentions is the cancelled remake (or reboot) of Yellow Submarine. I remember first hearing about the possibly of a remake of Yellow Submarine where it was all going to done with motion capture control and Robert Zemeckis (who has done a few films using this technique) was going to direct. Thank goodness the remake/reboot was abandoned. I think it’s awful for an American film company to do an updated version of what is already an animated classic. Even some of the designs (such as the Chief Blue Meanie and the four-headed bulldog) were horrible. Nothing like the original designs by Heinz Edelmann. Having said that I always stick by the original Yellow Submarine. It is such a great film and Dr. Heronimus’s book is a great read.