Monday, November 9, 2009

LETTER TO THE BEATLES: PLEASE LEAVE THE YELLOW SUBMARINE AT THE DOCK

Lots of bad ideas going around lately! Bono and The Edge doing songs for a Spider-Man musical. Steven Tyler maybe quitting Aerosmith. The other four guys from Aerosmith thinking about working with another singer. Now, filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, and creepy sorta animated films like Polar Express and A Christmas Carol) wants to remake The Beatles' Yellow Submarine. Dear Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr: don't let him. The Beatles didn't want to really be involved in it the first time around - it is actually voice actors playing the roles of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Being involved in this one wouldn't make up for it. The Beatles have handled their legacy exceedingly well in the past decade or so: everything they've done has been cool (with the possible exception of Let It Be ... Naked) and well executed. The greatest hits album 1 sold millions, Love is a hit in Vegas, Across The Universe turned young kids on to their music, etc. But this would most likely come off as lame, so don't do it!

2 comments:

Teresa said...

OMG! I couldn't agree more. Zemeckis sucks the soul out of everything. Not that Yellow Submarine was deep but it was playful and of its time. I can't imagine choosing to remake this! Not to totally trash Zemeckis I absolutely loved "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" the movie from '78. So he obviously has great affection for the Beatles. But if he tries it in stop action or whatever the hell it is he uses lately I will be very sad. Thanks for letting me know "what's down the pipeline."

I think your site is a great idea! I'm going to pass it along to a friend who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the same era of music you do. He will love it. And you're very prolific about writing, I'm impressed! -- Teresa

B. Ives said...

Teresa, thanks so much for reading and commenting, you already know I like your blog also. I know that Zemeckis is a Beatles fan, but probably so were the folks that did the Sgt. Pepper film in the '70s! I have only seen clips from his recent animated films but they are creepy and seem lifeless and bloodless. But thank you so much for passing my blog on to your friend!