The Beatles: Yellow Submarine (1968) [ML106160]Just got this in trade from a FaceBook buddy. I had only ever seen Yellow Submarine twice before. Once in a 1970's broadcast on a small TV at a friend's house. An other time on VHS, played on a 17 inch Magnavox console. To say I was blown away by this 1999 disc would be an understatement. This movie has obviously inspired artists from Terry Gilliam to Ralph Bakshi, early animators on Sesame Street, MTV, Schoolhouse Rocks, etc... This reminds me of the first time I watched a familiar show on a color TV. So different, so many more nuances. I had no idea the colors were so vivid, the scenes so full of movement. The 4:3 pan & scan version does no justice to this monument of hand-drawn animation.
Video: The master used for this issue is extremely clean, probably printed just for this transfer. The depth and vividness of color are really remarkable for a film that was 30 years old when this transfer was recorded. I suppose a broadly painted animated film is a best case scenario for a 1-disc CLV title. Overall, there is less information detail to display, so it does so efficiently. There are very few artifacts apart from some interlacing when some psychedelic field of color is strobing green-red for example. My Pioneer CLD-D702 just couldn't figure out what to do with that rapid flicker.
Audio: The Dolby Digital track is so crisp and clear with really thick bass and bright brassy top notes. My sub rattled when the Glove made his fly-by. This release uses stereo to it's full effect on songs like Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds. The swirling psychedelic sound is awesome. I had forgotten how much extra soundtrack George Martin produced for this film. If you are a big fan of the "fifth Beatle" as I am, you will appreciate the breadth of this man's work. There's no info on the jacket about the audio source, but it's hard to believe this came from an optical strip on film. I have to believe it was resourced from the original masters/.
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