The darker story of the invasion of Pepperland by the Blue Meanies opens itself to allegorical interpretation-in addition to Acid-drenched artwork from the animated film of the same name. Pepperland may strike the contemporary reader as sixties naiveté, but its utopian impulses resonate with the work of nonsense poets like Edward Lear and the writings of John Lennon himself.
For me, the images have some resemblance to the grotesque cartoons in the work of Monty Python illustrator Terry Gilliam. Not included in the movie was the book’s back-page contents such as ‘Care & Operation of a Yellow Submarine’, an insurance notice from the Society for International Trust & Respect, a lost & found add for one Jeremy Hilary Boob, and a two-page essay on the true origins of the Yellow Submarine, with footnotes.moreĪcid-drenched artwork from the animated film of the same name. A mix of text and pop-art images, some more over-sized than others, in some small way it mimics the psychedelic trip that is/was the Yellow Submarine movie, which this year celebrated its 50th anniversary. Not included in the movie was the book’s back-page contents such as ‘Care & Operation of a Yellow Submarine’, an insurance notice from the Society for International Trust & Respect, a lost & found add for I had this book as a child, recently re-acquiring it from a used book shop. I had this book as a child, recently re-acquiring it from a used book shop.
This is a great Beatles collectable and I'm surprised that these books can still be found forty three years later. The story is easier to follow here than what is found in the movie of the same name and you will need to play the expanded CD of the Yellow Subamrine soundtrack to keep your mood in the proper space and place. John, Paul, George and Ringo are on an amazing journey set in a waterworld of strange delights of sight and sound that are very unique and our lads are the heroes that will have to rescue this world from horrible and goofy evil baddies. The story is explained in regular and cartoon text that bounce off each other while these words snake and slide around the great images from the film and drawings exclusive to this book that explain the world of Beatles, Jeremy Hilary Boob, Snapping Turtle Turks, The Deadly Flying Glove and (of course) The Blue Meanies that all live and a world known as Pepperland. This 128 li'l paperback is a quite the visual marvel of cutting edge (remember this is 1968) images and style and in full color. This 95 cent pocketbook appeared in 1968 and as most other books were 50 cents, why you will ask was this one so very expensive? There are two reasons.Design and color. The story is explained in regular and cartoon text that bounce off each other while these words snake and slide around the great images from the film and drawings exclusive to this From.
That's why they were originally not too thrilled with the announcement of this animated film.) There is a reason why these scenes are deleted, to allow classics like this to flow so easily on the screen. The song "Hey, bulldog." is added toward the end (A scene where the fab four meet up with a bunch of the Blue Meanies' bulldogs, and defeat them with the power of music.) The scene looks hastily slapped together,like something out The Beatles cartoon series (which was hated by the real life Liverpool lads. We will always remember the sixties pop-art imagery along with some of the best dialog to grace cartoon-land ("I haven't had so much fun since Pompeii.""I'm a born lever puller.") not to mention some of the best music to come from the best set of musicians the 20th century has produced! This is a kid's film at heart (wild adventures in strange distant lands, weird monsters, loud over bearing villians.) My only criticism is in the re-mastering, in 1999. Next to FANTASIA, YELLOW SUBMARINE is one the best animated feature films ever made.