I was perusing some of the Yellow Submarine clips on YouTubeand wondered how people think it has held up as work of art over time.
Depends on what you’re smoking…
I still like it. I picked up the DVD a while back. But it might be an era=specific thing. My 11 year old daughter doesn’t like it, and can’t understand why I do.
It’s definitely grounded in its era – the Peter Maxian graphics, the “All You Need is Love” message, the inside jokes – nobody’d ever make it that way today.
I think it’s a blast, and my 5 and 6 year old love it, too.
It’s still a high point in the history of animation, especially in its time, when you only had second-rate Disney films. It created a new style (alas, no one finished), not just with the colors, but with a move away from the “big head” character style. And, of course, its songs are unsurpassed.
It’s one of my all-time favorite animated movies. And I was born a good seven years after it was released.
My fifteen y.o. daughter has a room full of Beatles posters and t-shirts (mostly purchased with her own money), and… she liked it. Has the action figures from the film on her desk.
I think she’d rank it below Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro.
If the message “All You Need Is Love” doesn’t make you automatically gag and convulse, then it’s eminently watchable.
It’s holding up okay. As for being ART? Don’t know.
I still like it and my kids like it. Especially my son who loves Base driven Rock, Base driven Swing, the Beatles and Gene Kelly. He is only 8. He use to watch Yellow Submarine pretty close to daily when he was 3-4.
As to the art value. The Beatles are one of the greatest songwriter groups of all time and the music appears to be standing the test of time. The cartoon art work holds up as well as Peter Max holds up. I think despite it being oh so groovy and oh so sixties it holds up well.
One thing to consider is that this is one of those movies that definitely benefits from the big screen. Sensory overload is a big part of its impact.