He spent four years working as director of the Saturday Morning Beatles Cartoon, which celebrates its 50th anniversary during the week of his visit. "I don't have much affinity for superheroes," he said.Originally from Sydney, Australia, Campbell, 75, began his career in the late 1950s working on Beetle Bailey, Krazy Kat and Cool McCool. He was also proud of his work on "Rugrats" and "The Smurfs," which he called "another soft show that people didn't expect would do that well." By "soft," Campbell, said, he meant a show without a lot of explosions, car crashes and violence. Of his animation work outside "Yellow Submarine," Campbell is particularly proud of "Big Blue Marble," a syndicated children's show that ran on many PBS stations from 1974 to 1983. "It's been a wonderful retirement gig for me," said Campbell, who estimates about 50 percent of his art sales come from Beatles-related work. He admits he sometimes tires of talking about "Yellow Submarine." Nevertheless, it's been very good to Campbell, who retired in 2008, exactly 50 years (and one month) after he discovered he could make a living as an animator in Australia. "There's a scene here and there where the animation is a little klutzy. There is always something you feel could have been done better, he said. "We were happy-go-lucky guys way, way, way far away from the scene of the action," he said.Ĭampbell said he liked the finished movie very much - "the design was so singular and extraordinarily good." But he still looks at it with a professional's discerning eye. But none of that bothered Campbell and Crowther. The production of "Yellow Submarine" was stressful, Campbell said, with a tight deadline, inadequate budget and an uncertain script. (Campbell, by the way, never met them.) Nevertheless, "Yellow Submarine" became an iconic piece of '60s art, and an influence on animators going forward.
TALKING SUBMARINE CARTOON MOVIE
The Beatles themselves didn't have much to do with "Yellow Submarine," which was made to fulfill their contractual obligations with movie studio United Artists. The only time they appeared in the movie was a brief cameo at the end.
TALKING SUBMARINE CARTOON PLUS
Campbell worked on scenes with the chief Blue Meanie and his toady, Max, plus many of the scenes involving the Nowhere Man. They returned penciled animation drawings to London, where they were inked and painted. They were also sent vocal tracks from the actors who portrayed The Beatles, who did not voice their own parts in the movie. The film was already using every available animator in London, and still needed help. Could Campbell, and his colleague Duane Crowther, lend a hand?Ĭampbell said he can't take any credit for the distinctive look of "Yellow Submarine," which belongs to art director Heinz Edelmann. Campbell said he and Crowther were sent model sheets (sometimes called character sheets) that define an animated character's appearance, poses and gestures. It was behind schedule, being written on the fly.
There was turmoil on "Yellow Submarine," Brodax said. His involvement with "Yellow Submarine," he said, began with a desperate phone call to Los Angeles from producer Al Brodax in London.
TALKING SUBMARINE CARTOON SERIES
He also worked on The Beatles' TV cartoon series that ran in the mid-'60s. Besides "Yellow Submarine," he's worked on "Sesame Street," The Flintstones," The Jetsons," "The Smurfs" "Scooby-Doo," "The Rugrats" and lots more. But because of the anniversary showing of "Yellow Submarine," he'll be making a rare theater appearance.Ĭampbell, 78, is an Australian native who moved to the U.S. He said he usually displays his work, based on the cartoons he's worked on during his 50-year career in animation, at art galleries. "If someone had told me 50 years ago that 50 years in the future I would be talking to you about 'Yellow Submarine,' I would have thought them crazy," Campbell said in a phone interview with The Providence Journal. He will also participate in a Q&A following the Wednesday-evening showing of "Yellow Submarine." Also coming to the Jane Pickens next week is Ron Campbell, one of the last living animators of "Yellow Submarine."Ĭampbell will be in the Jane Pickens lobby Monday through Wednesday, where he will display and sell his artwork. It's coming to the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport for a screening on Wednesday, July 11. That would be "Yellow Submarine," the Beatles' animated film that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Better alert Naval Station Newport. An unusual underwater vessel, recognizable by its bright lemon color, is headed for Newport.
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