79
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertPerhaps because the Beatles were considered such a draw, perhaps because the songs were counted on to sell the film, there was no agenda to dumb down the material or hard-sell the story. Instead of contrived urgency, there's unpressured whimsy, and the movie exists as pure charm, expressed in fantastical imagery. And then there are the songs.
- 100Film ThreatFilm ThreatFor all of its groovy fun, Yellow Submarine offers a subliminal reminder that the power of love never goes out of fashion.
- 89Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenVisually inventive cartoon is complemented by clever, whimsical narration and 11 songs from the Beatles.
- 80EmpireCaroline WestbrookEmpireCaroline WestbrookA garish, gorgeous example of pop art at its finest.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklySure, some of the puns and in-jokes sound a little dated, but any movie that strings together lines from Shakespeare merely as a throwaway comic riff is, in my book, a film for the ages.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineA zesty, satisfying celebration of animation, fantasy, love, and the Beatles that pleases the eyes as much as the ears.
- 63Chicago ReaderLisa AlspectorChicago ReaderLisa AlspectorThis 1968 Beatles musical gets somewhat plot heavy near the end, but it's a marvel of innocence and free association, blending several animation techniques in a loose narrative full of gentle bad puns and flowing visual segues.
- 50Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrThe animation is imaginatively conceived, but stiffly executed. A Fantasia designed for heads, the film does no more justice to the music than Disney's artists did. But Disney had the excuse of innocence, whereas this shrewdly conceived commercial project does not.