Classic Beatles Movie Freshens Up Before DVD Release

It's been a meticulous, frame-by-frame process but the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" has received a fresh face before it hits store shelves on DVD and Blu-ray later this year.

The tripped-out 1968 animated Fab-Four adventure went through a four-month, frame-by-frame dip by hand in the Fountain of Youth before it was declared ready for home-video audiences, Apple Corps Ltd. said Tuesday according to The Huffington Post.

It was such an exceptionally long process in part because it's not just any animated feature - at least, not compared with ones shot at least in part digitally. The surreal film is 100-percent hand-drawn, so specialists decided against using automated software to touch it up. The footage is considered too delicate to stand up to such a process.

The out-of-print classic will be released day-and-date alongside an also-remastered soundtrack CD. Featuring such Beatles favorites as "Eleanor Rigby," "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and "When I'm Sixty-Four," no less than Pixar studios chief John Lasseter - the man who helped give the world "Toy Story," "Finding Nemo," and "Wall-E" among others - credits it among animation's landmarks.

"As a fan of animation and as a filmmaker, I tip my hat to the artists of 'Yellow Submarine', whose revolutionary work helped pave the way for the fantastically diverse world of animation that we all enjoy today," Lasseter wrote for notes in the re-release's sleeve.

The special edition and soundtrack both hit stores May 28. Meanwhile, check out the original trailer below, for a little taste of what will surely look better remastered and in high-definition.