Robert Zemeckis is set to re-make "Yellow Submarine".
Talk about mixed emotions. Granted, Zemeckis has made several enjoyable films and let's not forget, his debut was a loving tribute to the Beatles. But this is "Yellow Submarine" we are talking about - a film which has little to do with the band. Nor is it too concerned with things like plot and story. That may have worked well in 1968 when there were probably few animation films in theaters (and fewer still with a vision as bizarre and surreal). What would be the point of remaking such a whimsical film in the spirit of the animation film conventions that have developed over the last 15 years?
Can audiences today sit through two hours (or ninety minutes) of visual puns, sight gags, art jokes and mind-bending psychedelia? Or rather, do the studio bosses have faith in the audience's ability to lose themselves in the Wonderland-like setting of "Yellow Submarine"?
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It's only fitting that I include this link in this post. I was not aware that Heinz Edelmann, the genius behind the original "Yellow Submarine", died in July of this year. Here's a page with some choice clips from the film.
An insightful poster on this site has observed how "Yellow Submarine" is a "designer's film and not an animator's film". (If you are interested in animation and design, there are some cool links to Edelmann's artistic output in that comment thread.)
2 comments:
Nice! (I used to own I Wanna Hold Your Hand once upon a time...did not know it was his debut film.)
SB: you've also heard about the "Nowhere Boy" film project, right? (Lennon's childhood biopic...)
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