Yellow Submarine (1968)

The film is the most original and inventive feature-length animated cartoon in years, sailing in a world of pure fantasy with strange creatures and designs that delight the eye. It exists on two levels, beautifully simple and childlike on one and erudite and deep on another, with fanciful animation illustrating the Beatles songs.

Yellow Submarine is an extended pop-art commercial for the Beatles' records and the most worthwhile object to emerge from their shadow, with gloriously lysergic excess and a cheerful naïveté encapsulated in its message that music is better than violence. The critic singles out the phenomenal high-def restoration for praise.

The critic finds the animation dazzling and the film a charming, imaginative pop art example that highlights the Beatles' fun with their craft, despite a perfunctory plot. They single out the wildly imaginative imagery for praise.

The critic finds the film trippy and tune-filled in its re-release, praising its hallucinogenic set-pieces and the way the Beatles songs soar amid the psychedelic fantasy, though noting it is not the best of the band's films.

The 50th-anniversary restoration highlights the film's idealistic resistance to the status quo through pacifism, positivity, and the power of music in a children's-film register. The critic singles out the counterculture optimism exemplified by 'All You Need Is Love' as a potent but now-cherished utopian mantra.

The film holds up well as a preservation of the Beatles' public image as clever, innocent lads who save the world through music and love. The critic praises the imaginative animation, musical sequences, and the appealing naïve message despite some dull patches in the script.

Yellow Submarine travels from the nursery to the boutique with charm and ease, lighthearted and unpretentious despite its artistic effects, and the story seems as disposable as the banter and images. The movie is charming and has done what hasn’t been done before in animation on this scale, though it is derivative and ultimately nostalgic for the happy anarchism of love.

The Beatles' first feature-length cartoon is designed for the most part beautifully by Heinz Edelmann in styles ranging through various artists and mainly the spirit of the Sunday comic strip. It features the songs of the Beatles and emerges as a pepper cartoon.

This animated freakout strings a loose mock-heroic narrative around Beatles hits and trippy visuals from 200 animators. Arthouse fans and nostalgia lovers should be thrilled by the Pop Art style, though kids will be bored.

This is a full-length animated cartoon in which the prime factor is the appearance of the Beatles in caricature form, with all the ingredients of a novel entertainment including a fantastic voyage, pop music, and puns. Unlike Disney the film makes no concession to sentiment, with characters that are matter-of-fact, grotesque and anti-heroic.

The 2018 re-release of the 1968 Beatles animation has real charm and archival interest in its frame-by-frame restoration, but the critic finds it not in the top rank of Beatles achievements due to flabby whimsy and treading water between songs. The standout is the powerful Eleanor Rigby sequence with its surreal Liverpool imagery.

The critic celebrates the film's vibrant, colorful animation and imaginative visuals as its greatest strength, calling it a parade of color and a joyful reminder of animation's potential, despite a slim story.

The critic praises the film as a landmark of psychedelia and animation that has stood the test of time better than the Beatles' live-action films, highlighting its coherent (if nonsensical) story, diverse animation styles, and effective integration of the songs. She singles out the imaginative imagery, bizarre creatures, and the fun, accessible appeal for all ages as key strengths.

The critic finds the restored film evokes nostalgia more than brilliance, with the animation entertaining but sometimes creepy. The timeless Beatles songs lift the film, especially when synced with visuals like in “Eleanor Rigby” and “When I’m 64”.