Here is something that might take you back to memory lane! Remember the 1968 Beatles film animated feature film Yellow Submarine? Previously out of print, the animated feature film was digitally restored in 4K digital resolution for the first time by Paul Rutan Jr. and his team of specialists at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque Inc. The new restored version of Yellow Submarine makes its worldwide digital release debut today, exclusively on iTunes! How cool is that!

I’m a Beatles fan and ashamed to say I have never seen Yellow Submarine. However, the restored version on iTunes is tempting me to watch it. Apparently, because of the fine design of the hand-drawn original artwork, no automated software was utilized in the digital clean-up of the film’s restored graphic elements. It was all completed by hand, frame by frame. In a recent review by the Times of London, it acclaimed the film as “a masterpiece of Pop Art.” The movie sounds interesting!

Additionally, the film includes iTunes Extras and bonus features including a short making-of documentary titled “Mod Odyssey”, the film’s original theatrical trailer, audio commentary by producer John Coates and art director Heinz Edelmann, a number of brief interview clips with others involved in the film, storyboard sequences, 29 original pencil drawings, and 30 behind-the-scenes photos.

The movie’s soundtrack album is also available today on iTunes, along with various iTunes-exclusive Yellow Submarine song ringtones and alert tones of classic audio clips from the film. The restored film is also available on DVD and Blu-ray, and the soundtrack album has also been reissued on CD.

Personally, I would watch the film just for the music alone, which inspires love, peace, and hope. Songs in Yellow Submarine consist of favorite Beatles tunes including “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” “All You Need Is Love,” “It’s All Too Much,” “Eleanor Rigby,” and of course “Yellow Submarine!”

Yellow Submarine synopsis:

Once upon a time… or maybe twice, there was an unearthly paradise called Pepperland, a place where happiness and music reigned supreme. But all that was threatened when the terrible Blue Meanies declared war and sent in their army led by a menacing Flying Glove to destroy all that was good. Enter John, Paul, George and Ringo to save the day! Armed with little more than their humor, songs, and of course, their yellow submarine, The Beatles tackle the rough seas ahead in an effort to bring down the evil forces of bluedom.

Production credits

Running Time: 89 minutes

Director – George Dunning

Producer – Al Brodax

Screen story – Lee Minoff

Screenplay – Lee Minoff, Al Brodax, Jack Mendelsohn, and Erich Segal

Art Director – Heinz Edelmann

Animation directors – Robert Balser and Jack Stokes

Production Executive – John Coates

Music Producer and Supervisor – George Martin

Extra features:

– Mod Odyssey documentary [TRT: 7:30]