Al Brodax was the producer and co-author of the ground-breaking animation, Yellow Submarine. In this book he recalls a frenzied, madcap escapade that came to be reflected in an enduring piece of screen history. In addition to Al and The Beatles, the "cast" included more than a dozen animators, platoons of inkers, background artists, soundmen, cameramen, and various essential expediters. They produced, aside from the film, more than a dozen pregnancies and one or two marriages. This generously illustrated book is a special gift to fans of the Beatles, of Yellow Submarine and of spirited, flavorful writing about movies.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Judging from the fan fury that greeted the use of the Beatles' "Revolution" in a Nike commercial 15 years or so ago, and given the high artistic esteem they are held in, it's easy to think the Fab Four exist somewhere outside of commerce, where popular music is untouched by financial concerns. But Yellow Submarine's producer and co-writer Brodax, in his telling of the story behind the production of the psychedelic animated film (and the Saturday morning schlocktoon that preceded it), reminds readers that the world's biggest rock stars were definitely big enough to fuel a variety of different merchandising and moneymaking projects. As Brodax reveals, Yellow Submarine had scheme written all over it. Conceived as a relatively painless way to satisfy the band's three-movie contract with United Artists, the film's animation was begun even before the production team had a script. That was only the first of many hurdles; there was also an unreliable, make-their-own-schedule animation team, the finicky and stoned-flighty Beatles and the London pub where most of the production meetings took place. But somehow, it all came together to create a cherished animated film that is greater than the sum of its parts. Given that so much of Brodax's narrative describes one meeting or another, his style is an engaging mix of self-conscious Brooklynese and a Carnaby Street Austin Powers-esque slang ("Smashing, absolutely, altogether smashing!"), which carries the story along with authority and at a breezy clip.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review by Yellow Submarine Animator, Norman Drew,
By
This review is from: Up Periscope Yellow: The Making of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine (Paperback)
If you're curious about the genesis of the movie Yellow Submarine you're well advised to buy both UP PERISCOPE YELLOW and INSIDE THE YELLOW SUBMARINE.
If you've read other reviews here, you'll know UP PERISCOPE YELLOW is a first person account by the producer, Al Brodax; and INSIDE THE YELLOW SUBMARINE (see my review of this excellent book also) by Dr. Bob Hieronumus, Ph.D., is an anthology of keen insight and probing interviews with a number of core artists whose creative genius built and sailed the Sub into our Collective Consciousness forever. Each book is written from a different perspective. Until more volumes from Al and Dr. Bob (and even we the crew) are forthcoming, these two vital books will serve as comprehensive 'bookends' for your Yellow Submarine reference shelf. UP PERSICOPE YELLOW recaptures those wild, zany, chaotic, heart-racing days of creative frenzy during the Sub's construction. Moreover, Al Brodax's account begins BEFORE the Sub was even a yellow and orange gleam in any of the crew's eyes. As well as providing a fascinating and hilarious back story of what led to the concept of the movie itself, he accompanies you through the whole process of production from the producer's perspective. Whether your cinematic interest is animation or live action, this lightning narrative zaps you through high-flying moves, fancy footwork and the 'thinking on your feet' involved in producing a unique feature film; from initial concept to the megastress of rights negotiation, sales, budgets, deadlines, navigating minefields of egos; and out of the chaos, delivering a finished film--even to tweaking the projector controls at the Grand Premiere, with an additionally hilarious account of how to 'imprint' a missing copyright notice on the film emulsion when it's in the projector ready to roll! (You have to read the book to find this one!) Al's swashbuckling talent with hyperbole lends a 'you are there' breathless excitement and zany hilarity to his recapturing of those 'London '60's Days' on Yellow Submarine. The book shows a sensitive side, revealing his personal angst, agonies, ecstasies and sorrow involved during the film's production (tragic, early death of a vital and cherished work associate). This will surprise many who believe the stereotype of flinty, unfeeling, humorless producers. Brodax shares his full emotions in this book. As an aside, we crew were very cramped for desk space at TVC. Fellow animator Tom Halley and I were stationed at animation desks in a small office, which contained a third desk (with phone) that was 'time-shared' by Al Brodax, Abe Goodman and various TVC management personnel. It was a unique perspective as a humble Y.Sub. deckhand-animator,(think: Jack Lemmon's Ensign Pulver in the movie, 'Mister Roberts') occupying a desk beside the officers on the bridge, trying to block out the chaos and concentrate on drawing. It was also a great place to observe firsthand what was involved minute by minute, day by day in the management and production of a classic film. This book gets you even closer, on a wider, 'before, during and after production' timeline. Another aspect of being a fly at the animation desk on the ceiling syndrome: next door to our small office was an anteroom-more like a broom cupboard, where Jack Stokes and Bob Balser assembled their storyboards, running the sound track with 'workprint' film on a Movieola (editing machine) forward and backward for weeks on end. By the end of production we knew most of the songs forward and backward. And, by the end of this excellent first-person account by the producer of Yellow Submarine, you'll know what's involved in a production, which itself seemed to be going forward and backward--at the same time--with all the hair-pulling and gnashing of teeth that involved. A great cinema history book by LIMELIGHT PUBLISHERS; a great write by AL BRODAX; a great read for YOU.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Group Statement from Co-Creators of the Yellow Submarine,
This review is from: Up Periscope Yellow: The Making of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine (Paperback)
Heinz Edelmann, the designer of the 'The Beatles Yellow Submarine' film, suggested a brief group statement from a core group of co-creators of the film regarding Al Brodax's rendering of Yellow Submarine history in his new book, Up Periscope Yellow. The statement is as follows:
"We do not consider Up Periscope Yellow by Al Brodax to be either a fair or an accurate book. We would also like to protest on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, like the late George Dunning. As far as the truth can be reconstructed about how the Yellow Submarine film was made, Dr. Bob Hieronimus did it in his book, Inside The Yellow Submarine." Signers to this statement as of August 26, 2004 are: Heinz Edelmann, Art Director Bob Balser, Animation Director Jack Stokes, Animation Director Charlie Jenkins, Special Sequences director Jack Mendelsohn, one of the Screenplay writers Lee Minoff, original story and one of the Screenplay writers Roger McGough, uncredited Screenplay writer Max Wilk, author of the novelized version of Yellow Submarine In addition, several co-creators sent their own personally worded statements. Sir George Martin, Musical Director, said: "I am completely sympathetic to the points that [Edelmann] make[s] about 'Yellow Submarine'. My experience on the film happily was not the same as Heinz Edelmann or the marvelous people at TVC. My main liaison was with George Dunning who I found to be inspirational. I am convinced that George's genius was the principal reason for the enormous success of the film, and he made it into the icon that it became." John Coates, Production Supervisor, and head of TV Cartoons and Norman Kauffman, Assistant to Animation Director, said as a quote from TVC, "Al Brodax's book is part pure fiction, but at 78 his memory is obviously no longer reliable." Heinz Edelmann, Art Director, added: "Part of this book is pure fiction, and we are not really amused by all of this. It is connected only in the most tenuous sense to the reality of the production." Bob Balser, Animation Director added: "Hooray! All we can say is that You Are So Right!!! And thank you for defending us all." Other animators and artists are expected to be added soon.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stormy Seas,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Up Periscope Yellow: The Making of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine (Paperback)
With the recent DVD release of the renovated and digitally remastered Beatles' animated epic YELLOW SUBMARINE, a whole new generation has come to discover the delights of this 1960's flower power masterpiece. And with the legendary "Hey Bulldog" sequence - deleted from all but the original British prints - reinstated in all its bizarre glory, Beatles fans can at last experience the full version of this psychedelic animated odyssey as it was originally meant to be seen.
As one of the animators on YELLOW SUBMARINE, I would say that the year I spent working on the film was perhaps the single most exciting period of my nearly 50 year career in the animation business; made even more memorable by the fact that I became engaged during production to Diana, my wife of 35 years, who worked on the "LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS" sequence . And now, over 30 years after the film was first released, two new books (INSIDE THE YELLOW SUBMARINE and UP PERISCOPE YELLOW) have been published; each describing for the first time the whole astonishing behind-the-scenes story of how the film was made. The struggle to produce anything resembling a final script while production surged inexorably on past the writers towards an impossible deadline, the creative arguments, the personality clashes, the budgetary nightmares, the physical kidnapping of the film - with the whole thing being propelled by the sheer exhilaration of knowing that we were all taking part in an astonishing revolution in animated films - all these elements are well recounted in both books. Whilst INSIDE THE YELLOW SUBMARINE tells the story of the production from the point of view of the directors and the creative team, Al Brodax's new book, UP PERISCOPE YELLOW tells it from the producer's perspective. As might be expected, the accounts differ markedly. Conflict between movie directors and producers is as old as Hollywood itself, but its roots go far back past the Renaissance, when artists and their patrons continually argued over differing visions of art and its monetary worth. Animating frantically below decks, the artists on YELLOW SUBMARINE were seldom party to the ongoing dramas up on the bridge; but our favourite pub, the nearby Dog and Duck, was an extremely efficient rumour mill. All of us were well aware that the odyssey of the YELLOW SUBMARINE, thrilling though it was, was by no means smooth sailing! It is rare that the story of the making of a film as ground-breaking as YELLOW SUBMARINE has been told from the point of view of both the directors and the producer, so we are extremely fortunate that each side has now published its memoirs - even if it is more than three decades after the event! Al Brodax's UP PERISCOPE YELLOW is exceptionally well written, telling his version in a fast-moving, stream-of-consciousness style which vividly portrays the producer's role as the meat in the sandwich between the hard-nosed studio deal-makers and the creative spirits of the film industry. My main criticism is that it could have been improved with more pictures and, most important of all, an index. The debate about who said what and who did what on YELLOW SUBMARINE seems set to continue for quite some time. But there is one undeniable fact in all of this - if Al Brodax hadn't stuck his neck out as producer and taken a chance on producing an animated feature all those years ago, the phenomenon that was the YELLOW SUBMARINE would never have set sail on its fantastic voyage. For that we all owe him a vote of thanks.
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