Submerging into a psychedelic trip

Sail the ship, chop the tree, skip the rope, look at Robert Zemeckis. The filmmaker that brought us Forrest Gump, Back To The Future, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit is sailing the Yellow Submarine into the 21st Century.

Zemeckis, a self proclaimed Beatlemaniac has announced he is half way through writing the script and has approached the two surviving Beatles to be involved in the remake of the 1968 animated feature. There is no word yet on whether Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are on board, but considering the original didn't have the voices of any of the four members, the project most likely won't be docked either way.

It's no secret Hollywood loves to spit out remakes, hell, Zemeckis just released his retelling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. That story has been done at least seven billion times. (The Muppet Christmas Carol still being beyond comparison.)

Yet, this is a tad more exciting than other remake rumours. Forty years after the original, technology is much different and Zemeckis will most likely use his motion capture effect, like other projects of his: Beowulf and Polar Express.

No other band creates such anxiety as they take their time putting their library online or even on CD. No other group of musicians could have their music featured in movies, literature, and even full out theatrical productions (Cirque de Soleil's 2006 Love). No other ensemble has had such a cultural impact through so many decades and heard by so many different generations.

In the same year that the Fab Four released their remastered discography and were highlighted in an imaginative trip in the Rock Band series, it seems, the band that fronted a musical revolution over 40 years ago can't stay out of the news.

Zemeckis, a man who has made a cultural splash of his own with films like the Academy Award winning Forrest Gump, claims the band who wrote a song about a yellow submarine has always struck the creative cord with him.

“The Beatles have always been a great source of inspiration for me,” Zemeckis says while talking about his latest modernizing effort. “I think it's a perfect example of a movie that can be re-envisioned in the digital cinema and be absolutely beyond spectacular. I call it, Yellow Submarine: The Digital Trip!”

All of this Neo-Beatlemania is a part of re-introducing the greatest band ever to an audience that really has no idea about how fabulous these four men truly were. “Beyond spectacular” is very possible for Zemeckis and his remake. The original wasn't film at its finest but it was perfect in its own way; four colourful cartoonish characters dancing around and saving Pepperland from the Blue Meanies as they sing songs and sail the Sea of Time.

The British wit really drives the boat through the movie, as special effects in the late 60s didn't really stand up to today's potential. But is revamping the classic, with Mocap and a shiny new ship the answer? There's always hesitation when people dabble in the Beatles' work. You can't really make something that is already so bloody brilliant even greater. And with Hollywood having a reputation of usually making it worse, the chances aren't high.

To be fair though, most people who saw the movie in the late 60s were most likely on some sort of hallucinate drug. The movies tagline was, “It's all in the mind y'know!”

Actually to be even more fair, the last time I saw the movie...well maybe we will just have to wait and see I guess. With the 3D effects we're capable of today; it's possible magic mushrooms won't be needed this time around.