The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine Film Restored for May Release on DVD and Blu-Ray

The Beatles' classic 1968 animated film, Yellow Submarine,  is about to make another historic voyage. The film has been out of print for years, but recently a team of specialists from a company called Triage Motion Picture Services have painstakingly restored the film by hand, frame by frame, for a May 29th DVD and Blu-ray release.  The film's soundtrack album will be reissued on CD on the same date.

The decision to restore the film by hand, without any automated processes, was made because of the delicate nature of the original hand-drawn artwork and film cels.

Yellow Submarine was launched to the big screen when Al Brodax, a producer of the ABC animated Beatles TV series, approached Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, with the idea for a full-length animated feature.

When the film debuted in 1968, it was heralded as a landmark achievement with artwork and animation inspired by the Pop Art styles of Andy Warhol and others.

Bonus features  include 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, several brief interview clips with others involved with the film, storyboard sequences, 29 original pencil drawings and 30 behind-the-scenes photos.  Both Digipaks will include reproductions of animation cels from the film, collectible stickers, and a 16-page booklet with a new essay by Yellow Submarine aficionado John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios).

On April 24, the Beatles Store will sell a new, 40-page hardcover edition of the Yellow Submarine picture book .  An interactive digital version of the book will also be available as a free download on Apple's iBookstore for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.