"The Beatles" cartoon show premiered on Sept. 25, 1965, 45 years ago today. It was the first cartoon show made about living people, says Mitch Axelrod, one of the co-hosts of the Fab Fourum podcast and also author of "Beatletoons: The Real Story Behind the Cartoon Beatles," the definitive book on the series.
"The cartoons were very very popular, especially the opening weekend got a 52 share, which is unheard of," he told us in a previous phone interview. "People would sit in front of their TV watching for two hours prior to the Beatles just to sit there and not miss the Beatles. And they’d sit there with their bowl of cereal, even though the Beatles were on at 10:30 because they wanted to stay in front of the TV."
Sadly, they're not on DVD. Why is there so much love for the cartoon show even if it's unavailable legally? "People love what they can't (legally) have. Because they have never been released, that part of The Beatles history is a big mystery. Plus, they are silly and crudely drawn, but FUN! How much better can you get...cartoons with Beatle music!," he told us.
Axelrod says the appeal of such a DVD release would be enormous. "It’s a win-win for everybody. Baby boomers would watch it because we’d want to remember. And the younger kids would watch it because either mom or grandpa or grandma, whatever, or dad, would watch it with them. You’d be catering to a young, young audience who you’d carry forever. The legacy would carry on to ages 5 though 12. And I think it would carry on the Beatles legacy even more than (Apple) would hope."
The video included here is a segment of the show that includes the "All My Loving" cartoon and a sing-a-long segment.
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Comments
Loved the episode Anything At All where John defeated the bad guy by kissing him.
I loved the Beatles cartoons. They were fun to watch and gave me a weekly dose of Beatles music. They helped to introduced the Beatles' music to a much younger audience that grew to appreciate their later work. Hopefully one day they will be legally issued on DVD.
In honor I will take out and play with my orig cartoon show colorforms that I got at Korvettes when I was 11 back then. Whopping $2 approx then. Allowance money!
ha, ha, ha, ha, yeah! Get it? ;-)
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