The Beatles (TV series)
| The Beatles | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Genre | Comedy, cartoon series, children's, rock music |
| Created by | Al Brodax, Sylban Buck |
| Written by |
Dennis Marks Jack Mendelsohn Heywood Kling Bruce Howard |
| Voices of |
Paul Frees
|
| Theme music composer | The Beatles |
| Opening theme | "The Beatles Opening Theme" (1964) |
| Ending theme | "The Beatles End Theme" (1964) |
| Composer(s) | The Beatles (songs) |
| Country of origin | United States, United Kingdom, Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Al Brodax |
| Producer(s) | Jack Stokes |
| Running time | 18 min |
| Production company(s) |
King Features Syndicate Artransa/Graphik Canawest Studios TVC London |
| Release | |
| Original network |
ABC ABC (Australia) ITV (United Kingdom) |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | 25 September 1965 – 9 May 1969 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by |
Yellow Submarine (1968) |
| External links | |
| Production website | |
The Beatles is an American animated television series featuring representations of the popular English rock band of the same name. It ran from 1965 to 1969 on ABC in the U.S. (only 1965 to 1967 was first run; later transmissions were reruns). The series debuted on September 25, 1965 and ended on September 7, 1969. A total of 39 episodes were produced. The series was shown on Saturday mornings at 10:30 AM EST until the 1967 third season when it was moved to 12:00 PM EST. For the fourth season, which consisted of reruns, the series was shown at 9:30 AM EST on Sunday mornings. Each episode has a name of a Beatles song, so the story is based on its lyrics and it is also played at some time in the episode. The original series was rebroadcast in syndication by MTV in 1986 and 1987 and on the Disney Channel beginning in 1989 on Fridays at 5 PM. The series was a historical milestone as the first weekly television series to feature animated versions of real, living people.
The series consisted of short animated stories that essentially were intended to set up the visual illustration of Beatles songs that were played in their entirety. In addition, there were sing along sequences with simpler imagery complementing the full lyrics of particular songs.
The series became notorious for its static depiction of the band in their early "moptop-and-suit" look as depicted in the live action film, A Hard Day's Night, even though the band moved beyond it during the series' run. The producers did attempt to acknowledge the band members' contemporary appearances with photographs of them in the series' title sequences during its production run.
The band members themselves had nothing to do with the series' production beyond the use of their music recordings. American actor Paul Frees did the voices of John and George while Lance Percival (of the Carry On series) did the voices of Paul and Ringo. Frees had been the voice of Boris Badenov in the Rocky and Bullwinkle series. At first, the Beatles disliked the series. It is reported, however, that the band members enjoyed the cartoons in later years. Their views of the cartoon series discouraged them from participating significantly in the later animated feature film, Yellow Submarine. Only when the band saw and were impressed by the Yellow Submarine's finished footage did they realize the film was a more ambitious creation. As a result, they agreed to appear in a short live action epilogue for it. In fact, Yellow Submarine producer Al Brodax and director George Dunning were involved in the production both of the animated series and of Yellow Submarine.
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