Beatles' Hey Bulldog from Yellow Submarine (with lost footage)

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=354559724986086

On Facebook, a comparison video showing the Hey Bulldog scene from Yellow Submarine. Left is from the original 1968 theatrical print, and right is from the current print.

This is what Sergio Juarez says about this comparison, loosely translated from Spanish:

This video shows us a fragment of more than 30 second seen in cinemas in 1968 and was removed from the final edition on DVD and Blu Ray, here is the attack and withdrawal of the bluemeanies before the song hey bulldog , it is not known why emi or apple decided to discard it and not include it in new remasters...

 

What's on the left is what US audiences saw, as that's what replaced the "Hey Bulldog" sequence.

It is easily available to get on VHS or LD. Just look for the 1980s home video release from MGM/UA. (The US version was the standard home video version until the 1999 reissue.)

FWIW, there are actually two major places where the UK and US versions differ.

1) During "All You Need Is Love", the US version does not have George's "it's all in the mind, y'know" comment. Instead, Paul somersaults after jumping off the giant head. Then, the denizens of Pepperland start marching on the Meanies. It's here that we see a shot of the Lord Mayor and Old Fred dancing.

2) After the group finds SPLHCB inside the glass ball, Ringo puts the hole on it and the band is released. On the US version, "Baby You're a Rich Man" continues playing as the Beatles dance around (they don't meet SPLHCB at all in the US version). Then, Paul shouts "Beatles to battle!" (not merely speaking it as in the UK version). After this is the sequence shown above.

Both versions match up again when Ringo finds Jeremy hanging from the tree.

I think the video above is obviously edited as it puts the Beatles back to the piano after you see Ringo about to locate Jeremy.

The picture quality shifts at this edit as well.

It looks like someone spliced the "Hey Bulldog" sequence into the US version, but ignoring the fact that the glass ball sequence is also different between both versions.

 

I looked around online and was not able to find nice-looking copies of what I described above.

But, someone did post a poor-quality video of the second US/UK difference (he also chats over most of it). But, you can at least see how the clip in the OP was cobbled together.

 

Actually, the clip on the left comes from a hybrid version the BBC aired.

 

When did the BBC show that version?

 

Also, the BBFC says this film was submitted on July 3, 1968, and came in at 87 minutes and 35 seconds. But when I tried to recut the film to its American presentation, it came in at just under 86 minutes. This would include the original opening and closing logos (the 1968 United Artists logo and the "Released Through United Artists" text notice respectively). I wonder what's throwing me off?

With said original opening and closing logos, and with the Hey Bulldog number, the film would come in at just under 89 minutes.

 

Christmas '79 and yes, there's a copy in circulation.

 

Bump

Anyone know why the BBFC says 87:35 for the total running time, but the full version doesn't come anywhere close to that? Did the BBFC request any cuts?

 

I have seen the original US version many times, and looking at the OP video, the break occurs at each point where you see Ringo running around. There was a story that the final film had cut the Hey Bulldog scene entirely, and a last minute edit had to put it back in. You can see both bits where Ringo runs around, before the start of Hey Bulldog, and the end of it, where he ultimately finds Jeremy. There is also a quick edit in the US version, as stated when Paul shouts "Beatles to battle!" - there is the battle scene with a whole music section not in the current release, with a musical score bit not on the original soundtrack album, a bit that sounds fast, and has more sax playing upfront. It almost sounds like an a very hastily tossed in arrangement to fill in that scene. Maybe you are missing that extra bit in the US version, before Ringo finds Jeremy?

 

I would assume that the laserdisc would be your best bet for quality.

 

As it says on the site, "passed uncut". Also, restoration credits were added in 1999 and 2012.

 

I have on VHS, personally recorded off the air from a UHF television station in Cleveland, Ohio in the Fall of 1984, the "syndicated television print" version of this film and the "Hey Bulldog" sequence does not exist in any form. I did not see it until the 1999 re-release on VHS.

 

I can sort of understand why the Hey Bulldog sequence was excised from the film at one time. To me it feels quite different stylistically from the rest of the movie. The slapstick and silly sight gags seem straight from the old Beatles cartoon show that aired on ABC, made over with the film’s character designs. It lacks the hippie-psychedelic vibe that permeates the rest of the runtime; instead we have the ol’ stick of dynamite in the clown’s mouth gag.

 

Yes, when I was attending the recent Chicago screening under the psychedelic influence, I found it to be a bit unpleasant.