Strawberry Fields (partially found production material from cancelled musical animated film; 1980s-1989): Difference between revisions

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(Found the Tom Sito Moving Innovation A History Of Computer Animation book online, added in what it had to say about the strawberry fields movie.)
(Completely rewrote the article to reflect new footage found and info from several other sources)
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'''''Strawberry Fields''''' (also known as ''Strawberry Fields Forever'', after the 1966/1967 song by The Beatles of the same name) is a cancelled animated film that aimed to be one of the first cartoon movies to use computer-generated animation, as well as the first true computer-animated feature film. It was going to feature multiple songs by The Beatles, which would make it the second animated film to do so after ''Yellow Submarine'' (1968). Much of what is known about the film, including all visual material of it, comes from a news article that was published in 2019,<ref>[https://sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/visual-arts/story/2019-03-29/beatles-animated-strawberry-fields-in-san-diego "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego".] Retrieved 23 Dec '21</ref> when some production art from the film was revealed. It is sometimes referred to as some form of sequel to ''Yellow Submarine'',<ref>[https://prettygreen.com/news/2018/3/28/10-mind-bending-facts-about-yellow-submarine-664/ "10 MIND-BENDING FACTS ABOUT YELLOW SUBMARINE"] Retrieved 23 December '21</ref><ref>[https://imdb.com/title/tt0063823/trivia/ "Yellow Submarine (1968) Trivia."] Retrieved 23 Dec '21</ref> but as more information has surfaced, it has become apparent that ''Strawberry Fields'' was not going to have anything in common with ''Yellow Submarine'' beyond featuring songs from the same band. '''It is possible that as much as ten minutes of test footage was shot of the film while it was in production'''.
'''''Strawberry Fields''''' (also known as ''Strawberry Fields Forever'', after the 1966/1967 song by The Beatles of the same name) is a cancelled animated film that aimed to be one of the first cartoon movies to use computer-generated animation, as well as the first true computer-animated feature film. It was going to feature multiple songs by The Beatles, which would make it the second animated film to do so after ''Yellow Submarine'' (1968). For a while, much of what was known about the film, including some rare production art, came from a news article that was published in 2019<ref>[https://sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/visual-arts/story/2019-03-29/beatles-animated-strawberry-fields-in-san-diego "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego".] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>. However, On March 11, 2024, a demo reel containing 30 minutes of work-in-progress footage from the film dated July 1989 was uploaded to the Internet Archive by Ziggy Cashmere. This has shed much more light on the project. The film is sometimes referred to as a form of sequel to ''Yellow Submarine'',<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vihZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT420#v=onepage&q&f=false "Uncle John's Endlessly Engrossing Bathroom Reader"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/50greatestmovies00gore/page/232/mode/2up?q=strawberry "The 50 greatest movies never made"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref> particularly because it shares the same producer, Al Brodax, though it doesn't feature animated likenesses of the band like its predecessor, and the footage that has been found shows that ''Strawberry Fields'' is a complete stylistic departure from ''Yellow Submarine''.


==Available Information==
Veteran animator Jeff Merghart created the only art that is known to remain from the film’s production. The art that has been revealed online shows the film’s two main characters; a man named Jude and a lady named Michelle, as well as a snake named Oo Bla Dee Oo Bla Da, and unfinished art of an unnamed tiger. Other characters from Merghart’s art are described in the article but are not shown within it. Merghart’s art shows that the art style of Strawberry Fields was going to be of high quality, with character designs not unlike those created by Don Bluth, compared to the relatively minimalistic and less expressive character designs that were used in ''Yellow Submarine''.


''Strawberry Fields'' was planned to be more story-driven than ''Yellow Submarine''. Its overarching plot is unknown, but it was going to involve Jude and Michelle, and an accomplice, stealing a necklace bearing a ruby pendant from a museum. In addition to computer-generated animation and complex 2D art and animation, the film would also feature a cover of the Beatles song, “Come Together”, sung by Michael Jackson. The film’s ambitious plans turned out to be overwhelming. The biggest blow to the film’s production came when it was discovered that the production team did not actually have the rights to use Beatles songs in the film, and probably would not be able to obtain them. No further work was done on the film after that, and the project was cancelled in 1989.


Two books are known to include further details about ''Strawberry Fields''; these are ''The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made'' (Gore, 1999) and ''Moving Innovation'': ''A History of Computer Animation'' (Sito, 2015).


Unfortunately, ''Strawberry Fields'' is not one of the titular, “50 Greatest Movies”, that is thoroughly covered by the book. Rather, there is only a small paragraph about ''Strawberry Fields'' close to the back of the book, among similar small paragraphs about other cancelled films that were not covered in the body of the book. The paragraph describes ''Strawberry Fields'' as a “semi-sequel” to ''Yellow Submarine'' (this term is not elaborated on), which would be entirely computer-animated (this was probably never true). Most importantly, this is the source which claims that ten minutes of test footage were produced of ''Strawberry Fields''. This might be the "grab bag of scenes" that were referred to in the 2019 article,<ref>[https://sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/visual-arts/story/2019-03-29/beatles-animated-strawberry-fields-in-san-diego "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘''Strawberry Fields''’ found in San Diego."] Retrieved 23 Dec '21</ref> and would most likely represent the most important piece of lost material from the film. A scan of this paragraph can be seen in the gallery.
==Production==
The project started in April 1985, when Yellow Submarine producer Al Brodax made a deal with the Computer Graphics Laboratory of the New York Institute of Technology to create an entirely CG film based on the songs of the Beatles<ref>https://archive.org/details/tomsitomovinginnovationahistoryofcomputeranimationthemitpress2013/page/n149/mode/ ''Moving Innovation'':'' A History of Computer Animation'' (Sito, 2015)] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>, using the original Beatles masters supplied by a company called ITC, and funded by a company called Vestron, who would receive the home video and 'pay TV' rights in return<ref>[https://casetext.com/case/vestron-inc-v-itc-productions-inc "Vestron, Inc. v. ITC Productions, Inc."] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/PC_Computing_1988_12/page/n63/mode/2up "PC Computing Magazine (December 1988)"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>. Production was troubled<ref>[https://www.mediaspin.com/rasp.html "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>. The CGI technology wasn't advanced enough to animate human faces believably, so they decided to use 2D character animation from Lion's Den Studios on top of 3D environments. In mid-1987, it was discovered that ITC wasn't able to obtain the rights to the Beatles masters, so they instead decided to use covers by well-known artists. In 1988, Vestron became worried about the quality of the work CGL was producing, which it alleged was far below acceptable standards, and that CGL hadn’t delivered a finished film in the agreed time<ref>[https://casetext.com/case/vestron-inc-v-itc-productions-inc "Vestron, Inc. v. ITC Productions, Inc."] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>. Production slowed down in 1989 when NYIT CGL leader Alex Schure objected to the partial use of hand drawn animation, and attempted to switch it back to full 3D animation<ref>[https://archive.org/details/strawberry-fields-wip-reel "Strawberry Fields Works in Progress Reel"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>. The production stopped entirely in 1992 due to a lawsuit. It was previously thought that the lack of rights to the Beatles masters led to the stoppage, but the lawsuit shows that this was just a pretense, and the real trouble was the quality of work being produced<ref>[https://casetext.com/case/vestron-inc-v-itc-productions-inc "Vestron, Inc. v. ITC Productions, Inc."] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>. The film seems to have never officially died, as there is evidence of production as late as 2009.<ref>[https://projects.renedaalder.com/Strawberry-Fields "Strawberry Fields - Rene Daalder"] Retrieved 2 Apr '24</ref>.


As for ''Moving Innovation'':'' A History of Computer Animation'' (Sito, 2015)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/tomsitomovinginnovationahistoryofcomputeranimationthemitpress2013/page/n231/mode/2up?q=strawberry ''Moving Innovation'':'' A History of Computer Animation'' (Sito, 2015)] Retrieved 12 Mar '24</ref>, it details from page 150 through 152 how one of the producers for the earlier ''Yellow Submarine'' movie, Al Brodax, had a closed deal with two companies claiming to have acquired the rights to the Beatles' song catalog, Vestry and ICT, the three of them wanting to create a new animated film based on their music under the title of ''Strawberry Fields.'' Unlike ''The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made'' book, this passage about the movie does not say or specify anything about ''Strawberry Fields'' being in any way or another a sequel or even related to ''Yellow Submarine.'' It also stated that the work for the film would be done in New York and Los Angeles. The paragraph then goes to imply that ICT did not in fact secure the rights to the Beatles' songbook, and that pop star Michael Jackson did have them. It then explains how due to these issues, the project was shelved in 1987 and that it never got further than some development art, although a test reel has resurfaced showing different fully animated scenes that seem to be a step past than what is described by the book. Fast forward to page 231, it is said that it was the New York Tech, or New York Institute of Technology, that was supposed to launch the feature in 1986.
While it was previously thought that Don Bluth was involved with this film, there's no evidence to support this, however animator Jeff Merghart, one of the character designers for the picture also did character design on Bluth's film "An American Tail"<ref>[https://sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/visual-arts/story/2019-03-29/beatles-animated-strawberry-fields-in-san-diego "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego".] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>, which may be where the confusion comes from. The style of the hand-drawn segments in general is lush and high-quality, nothing like the low-budget, less expressive animation of Yellow Submarine. The movie has some segments that use hand drawn characters against CGI backgrounds, some segments that are entirely 2D, and some segments (like the backstory of the hammer) that are entirely 3D.
 
== Plot ==
The plot centers around Jude, a wannabe detective who gets contacted by Michelle, who needs help stealing a magical amulet, that can be used to find the legendary hammer of King Maxwell, which they need to find before the evil Walrus and his Eggmen get it. From there they get A Ticket on a train To a planet named Rhyde, where they seek out the The Walrus. Along the way, the pair run into other colorful characters from Beatles songs, including The Taxman, Flat Top (from Come Together), Rocky Raccoon, Mean Mr. Mustard, Bungalow Bill, a snake named Oo Bla Dee Oo Bla Da (alternatively spelled Obladi Oblada), a monkey-like creature named Jojo (from Get Back)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090706080022/http://www.dipaola.org/steve/strawberry.html "Steve DiPaola : Jojo"] Retrieved 2 April '24]</ref> and possibly even The Fool On The Hill<ref>[https://itsonlyrocknroll.com/product/beatles-al-brodax-cartoon-strawberry-fields-film-production-notes/ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref><ref>[https://www.mediaspin.com/rasp.html "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>. The titular "Strawberry Fields" refers to a land of imagination inside all of us. Its significance to the plot is unknown.
 
 
== Soundtrack ==
The movie was to include several covers of Lennon/McCartney songs, which appear to have been commissioned specifically for this film. Production material lists the soundtrack as:
 
Michael Jackson - "Come Together"
 
Cyndi Lauper - "Across the Universe"
 
Crosby, Stills & Nash - "Blackbird"
 
Robert Palmer - "Baby, You're a Rich Man"
 
Siedah Garrett - "Hey Jude"
 
Cheap Trick - "Magical Mystery Tour"
 
Luther Vandross - "Michelle"
 
Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Taxman"
 
To be advised - "Strawberry Fields"
 
Of these songs, several have been released elsewhere. Micheal Jackson's "Come Together" cover was featured in "Moonwalker", Cyndi Lauper's "Across the Universe" can be found on YouTube, though this seems to be from a bootleg. Cheap Trick's "Magical Mystery Tour" cover ended up on their 1990 Greatest Hits collection. Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Taxman" cover was also released on a Greatest Hits CD. While there is a version of Crosby, Stills & Nash's "Blackbird" cover online, it is not the same as the one in the reel (you can tell by the way that they sing "all your life"). Robert Palmer's "Baby, You're a Rich Man" Cover, Siedah Garrett's "Hey Jude" cover, and Luther Vandross's "Michelle" cover haven't been found.
 
Several of these covers can be heard in the animation reel: "Come Together", "Blackbird", "Magical Mystery Tour", and "Taxman". There's a cover of Larry Williams's song "Slow Down" (which the Beatles had covered) by an unidentified artist. The reel also uses several smaller snippets of the original versions of Beatles songs: "Strawberry Fields", "Hey Jude", "Help", "I Am The Walrus", "Flying", "Octopus's Garden" and "A Day In The Life". These are likely from an earlier stage of production, when obtaining the rights to the Beatles masters was still on the table. There also appears to be an original score.
 
== Availability ==
While much of footage made for the film seems to be available via the newly found WIP reel, there are still some lost segments that are known to exist. Most notably, there was a dogfight sequence with the character Jojo<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090706080022/http://www.dipaola.org/steve/strawberry.html "Steve DiPaola : Jojo"] Retrieved 2 April '24]</ref>.
 
While the full "hammer sequence" can be seen in the reel, a version was shown at SIGGRAPH 89 with different voice over<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090708071732/http://www.dipaola.org/steve/hammer1.html "Steve DiPaola : the hammer sequence"] Retrieved 2 April '24]</ref>. This version is currently lost. There may be other differences in this version that aren't documented.
 
A demo reel of footage was shown at SIGGRAPH '87<ref>[https://history.siggraph.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/1987_Film_and_Video_Show.pdf "ACM SIGGRAPH '87 FILM AND VIDEO SHOW"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>. This has not been found.
 
There's also the issue of the lost covers: at least 8 of the 10 covers are known to have been produced<ref>[https://casetext.com/case/vestron-inc-v-itc-productions-inc "Vestron, Inc. v. ITC Productions, Inc."] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>, which means that Robert Palmer's cover of "Baby You're A Rich Man", Siedah Garrett's cover of "Hey Jude" and Luther Vandross's cover of "Michelle" almost certainly exist, as well as a clean version of Crosby, Stills and Nash's cover of "Blackbird" though they have not been found.
 
There also seems to be some footage from Strawberry Fields in the children's CGI compilation Imaginit<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDgRlTvw_f8 "Imaginit Laserdisc"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>:
 
The opening segment at 1:45 in Imaginit is the Blackbird segment at 5:10 in the reel.
 
The "Magic Train" segment that immediately follows through short clips in the intro (2:18-5:40) seems to be an extension of the "Magical Mystery Tour" part at 18:00 of the reel. The reel only shows the train gearing up, leaving and a bit of its flying, but in Imaginit, we can see some additional footage of the train station, and what seems to be its full journey through space, including the end, where it lands using parachutes on the desert planet from later in the animation reel (the "Come Together" segment" at 21:50). If you look closely at the parachute, you can even see a logo that reads "MMT" - for Magical Mystery Tour! The footage on Imaginit seems to have been altered a bit to make it be more kid-friendly, with the addition of a conductor robot and changing the sky from grey to blue. Additionally, there is a still of the train that doesn't match up with either sequence, possibly hinting at more footage<ref>[https://archive.org/details/PC_Computing_1988_12/page/n63/mode/2up "PC Computing Magazine (December 1988)"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
 
The "Slow Things Down" segment at 8:35 is the "Car Chase" segment from 10:15 in the reel, though this has also been altered to remove the Strawberry Fields characters, replacing them with digitized actors.
 
The "Storybook" segment at 14:30 in Imaginit uses footage from the "King Maxwell" segment of the Reel at 19:05. The footage of the storybook opening is likely also from Strawberry Fields, as The Walrus can be seen reading a similar storybook entitled "The Legend of King Maxwell" at 0:49 in the reel, though the book in Imaginit has no text on the cover, meaning it might have been altered to remove any traces of Strawberry Fields.
 
Additionally, both use the same "Dancing Statues" segment (27:30 in Imaginit and 16:25), but this is from an earlier work called "The Dancers". The full version of this with the original audio is also lost<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090706075952/http://www.dipaola.org/steve/dancers1.html Steve DiPaola : The Dancers] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.


On March 11, 2024, a demo reel containing 30 minutes of work-in-progress footage from the film dated July 1989 was uploaded to the Internet Archive by Ziggy Cashmere.


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
==Footage==
===Footage===
{{Video|perrow  =1
{{Video|perrow  =1
   |service1    =archiveorg
   |service1    =archiveorg
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   |description1 =30 minutes of WIP footage.
   |description1 =30 minutes of WIP footage.
}}
}}
<gallery>
File:Hammerdevl.mp4|Excerpt from an alternate version of "The Hammer Sequence"<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090708071732/http://www.dipaola.org/steve/hammer1.html "Steve DiPaola : the hammer sequence"] Retrieved 2 April '24]</ref>.
File:Jojo.mp4|Excerpt from the "Jojo Flight Sequence"<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090706080022/http://www.dipaola.org/steve/strawberry.html "Steve DiPaola : Jojo"] Retrieved 2 April '24]</ref>
</gallery>
===Images===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="175px">
<gallery mode="packed" heights="175px">
File: Tiger.PNG|Tiger.
File: 3075744-sd-me-beatles-film-hl-010.jpg|Concept art of Jude by Jeff Merghart<ref>[https://sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/visual-arts/story/2019-03-29/beatles-animated-strawberry-fields-in-san-diego "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego".] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File: Jude.PNG|Jude.
File: 3075744-sd-me-beatles-film-hl-005.jpg|Concept art of Michelle by Jeff Merghart<ref>[https://sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/visual-arts/story/2019-03-29/beatles-animated-strawberry-fields-in-san-diego "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego".] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File: Michelle 1.PNG|Michelle.
File: 3075744-sd-me-beatles-film-hl-007.jpg|Concept art of Michelle by Jeff Merghart<ref>[https://sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/visual-arts/story/2019-03-29/beatles-animated-strawberry-fields-in-san-diego "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego".] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File: Michelle 2.PNG|Michelle.
File: 3075744-sd-me-beatles-film-hl-009.jpg|Concept art of Oo Bla Dee Oo Bla Da by Jeff Merghart<ref>[https://sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/visual-arts/story/2019-03-29/beatles-animated-strawberry-fields-in-san-diego "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego".] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File: Oo Bla Dee Oo Bla Da.PNG|Oo Bla Dee Oo Bla Da.
File: 3075744-sd-me-beatles-film-hl-008.jpg|Concept art of unnamed Tiger by Jeff Merghart<ref>[https://sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/visual-arts/story/2019-03-29/beatles-animated-strawberry-fields-in-san-diego "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego".] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File: Greatest Movies.png|The paragraph about ''Strawberry Fields'' from ''The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made'' (Gore, 1999).
File:Beat01.jpg|Production Material<ref>[https://itsonlyrocknroll.com/product/beatles-al-brodax-cartoon-strawberry-fields-film-production-notes/ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Beat02.jpg|Production Material<ref>[https://itsonlyrocknroll.com/product/beatles-al-brodax-cartoon-strawberry-fields-film-production-notes/ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Beat03.jpg|Production Material<ref>[https://itsonlyrocknroll.com/product/beatles-al-brodax-cartoon-strawberry-fields-film-production-notes/ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Beat04.jpg|Production Material<ref>[https://itsonlyrocknroll.com/product/beatles-al-brodax-cartoon-strawberry-fields-film-production-notes/ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Beat05.jpg|Production Material<ref>[https://itsonlyrocknroll.com/product/beatles-al-brodax-cartoon-strawberry-fields-film-production-notes/ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Beat06.jpg|Production Material<ref>[https://itsonlyrocknroll.com/product/beatles-al-brodax-cartoon-strawberry-fields-film-production-notes/ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Beat07.jpg|Production Material<ref>[https://itsonlyrocknroll.com/product/beatles-al-brodax-cartoon-strawberry-fields-film-production-notes/ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Beat08.jpg|Production Material<ref>[https://itsonlyrocknroll.com/product/beatles-al-brodax-cartoon-strawberry-fields-film-production-notes/ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Beat09.jpg|Production Material<ref>[https://itsonlyrocknroll.com/product/beatles-al-brodax-cartoon-strawberry-fields-film-production-notes/ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Beat10.jpg|Production Material<ref>[https://itsonlyrocknroll.com/product/beatles-al-brodax-cartoon-strawberry-fields-film-production-notes/ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Bill.gif|Concept art of Bungalow Bill by Hank Grebe<ref>[https://www.mediaspin.com/rasp.html "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Eggmen.gif|Concept art of the Eggmen by Hank Grebe<ref>[https://www.mediaspin.com/rasp.html "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Flatntax.gif|Concept art of Flat Top and Tax Man by Hank Grebe<ref>[https://www.mediaspin.com/rasp.html "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Jojos.gif|Concept art of Jojos by Hank Grebe<ref>[https://www.mediaspin.com/rasp.html "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Jojotree.gif|Concept art of Jojos by Hank Grebe<ref>[https://www.mediaspin.com/rasp.html "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:MeanMrMustard-1.jpg|Vector drawing of concept art of Mean Mr. Mustard by Hank Grebe<ref>[https://www.mediaspin.com/rasp.html "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Obladi.gif|Concept art of Obladi Oblada by Hank Grebe<ref>[https://www.mediaspin.com/rasp.html "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Walrus.gif|Concept art of The Walrus by Hank Grebe<ref>[https://www.mediaspin.com/rasp.html "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:King.jpg|Still from alternate version of "The Hammer Sequence"<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090708071732/http://www.dipaola.org/steve/hammer1.html "Steve DiPaola : the hammer sequence"] Retrieved 2 April '24]</ref>.
File:King1.jpg|Development Still by Steve DiPaola<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090708071738/http://www.dipaola.org/steve/hammer2.html "Steve DiPaola : hammer sequence - techniques"] Retrieved 2 April '24]</ref>.
File:King2.jpg|Development Still by Steve DiPaola<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090708071738/http://www.dipaola.org/steve/hammer2.html "Steve DiPaola : hammer sequence - techniques"] Retrieved 2 April '24]</ref>.
File:King3.jpg|Development Still by Steve DiPaola<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090708071738/http://www.dipaola.org/steve/hammer2.html "Steve DiPaola : hammer sequence - techniques"] Retrieved 2 April '24]</ref>.
File:Jojo.jpg|Still from "Jojo flight sequence"<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090706080022/http://www.dipaola.org/steve/strawberry.html "Steve DiPaola : Jojo"] Retrieved 2 April '24]</ref>
File:Large_25.png|Concept art from 2009<ref>[https://projects.renedaalder.com/Strawberry-Fields "Strawberry Fields - Rene Daalder"] Retrieved 2 Apr '24</ref>.
File:PC_Computing_1988_12_0063_copy.jpg|Still that doesn't match up with existing footage<ref>[https://archive.org/details/PC_Computing_1988_12/page/n63/mode/2up "PC Computing Magazine (December 1988)"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
File:Vlcsnap-2024-04-03-00h55m17s167.png|Still from Imaginit showing a train marked with "MMT" hinting at a connection to Strawberry Fields<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDgRlTvw_f8 "Imaginit Laserdisc"] Retrieved 2 April '24</ref>.
</gallery>
</gallery>
==See Also==
*[[Yellow Submarine (partially lost production material for cancelled CGI remake of Beatles animated film; 2010-2011)]]
*[[The Threetles (lost unreleased recordings from Beatles reunion sessions; 1990s)]]
*[[The Long and Winding Road (found workprint of unfinished Beatles documentary; 1970s)]]
*[[Help! (partially found deleted scenes from The Beatles film; 1965)]]
*[[Revolution 1 (Take 20) (found mix of The Beatles song; 1968)]]
*[[Late Night Line-Up (partially found Beatles "Abbey Road" special; 1969)]]
*[[The Beatles Cartoon (partially lost skits/bumpers of animated TV series; 1965-1967)]]
*[[Carnival of Light (lost experimental Beatles song; 1967)]]
*[[Late Night Line-Up (partially found Beatles "Abbey Road" special; 1969)]]
*[[A Hard Day's Day - A Day in the Life of a Beatles Tribute Band (found parody film; 2002)]]
*[[The Beatles - Cavern Club tapes (partially lost recordings of British rock band; early 1960s)]]
*[["Now and Then" (lost overdub session of Beatles song; 1995)]]
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

Revision as of 06:37, 3 April 2024

Strawberryfields1987.png

Title card from demo reel shown at SIGGRAPH '87.

Status: Partially Found

Strawberry Fields (also known as Strawberry Fields Forever, after the 1966/1967 song by The Beatles of the same name) is a cancelled animated film that aimed to be one of the first cartoon movies to use computer-generated animation, as well as the first true computer-animated feature film. It was going to feature multiple songs by The Beatles, which would make it the second animated film to do so after Yellow Submarine (1968). For a while, much of what was known about the film, including some rare production art, came from a news article that was published in 2019[1]. However, On March 11, 2024, a demo reel containing 30 minutes of work-in-progress footage from the film dated July 1989 was uploaded to the Internet Archive by Ziggy Cashmere. This has shed much more light on the project. The film is sometimes referred to as a form of sequel to Yellow Submarine,[2][3] particularly because it shares the same producer, Al Brodax, though it doesn't feature animated likenesses of the band like its predecessor, and the footage that has been found shows that Strawberry Fields is a complete stylistic departure from Yellow Submarine.



Production

The project started in April 1985, when Yellow Submarine producer Al Brodax made a deal with the Computer Graphics Laboratory of the New York Institute of Technology to create an entirely CG film based on the songs of the Beatles[4], using the original Beatles masters supplied by a company called ITC, and funded by a company called Vestron, who would receive the home video and 'pay TV' rights in return[5][6]. Production was troubled[7]. The CGI technology wasn't advanced enough to animate human faces believably, so they decided to use 2D character animation from Lion's Den Studios on top of 3D environments. In mid-1987, it was discovered that ITC wasn't able to obtain the rights to the Beatles masters, so they instead decided to use covers by well-known artists. In 1988, Vestron became worried about the quality of the work CGL was producing, which it alleged was far below acceptable standards, and that CGL hadn’t delivered a finished film in the agreed time[8]. Production slowed down in 1989 when NYIT CGL leader Alex Schure objected to the partial use of hand drawn animation, and attempted to switch it back to full 3D animation[9]. The production stopped entirely in 1992 due to a lawsuit. It was previously thought that the lack of rights to the Beatles masters led to the stoppage, but the lawsuit shows that this was just a pretense, and the real trouble was the quality of work being produced[10]. The film seems to have never officially died, as there is evidence of production as late as 2009.[11].

While it was previously thought that Don Bluth was involved with this film, there's no evidence to support this, however animator Jeff Merghart, one of the character designers for the picture also did character design on Bluth's film "An American Tail"[12], which may be where the confusion comes from. The style of the hand-drawn segments in general is lush and high-quality, nothing like the low-budget, less expressive animation of Yellow Submarine. The movie has some segments that use hand drawn characters against CGI backgrounds, some segments that are entirely 2D, and some segments (like the backstory of the hammer) that are entirely 3D.

Plot

The plot centers around Jude, a wannabe detective who gets contacted by Michelle, who needs help stealing a magical amulet, that can be used to find the legendary hammer of King Maxwell, which they need to find before the evil Walrus and his Eggmen get it. From there they get A Ticket on a train To a planet named Rhyde, where they seek out the The Walrus. Along the way, the pair run into other colorful characters from Beatles songs, including The Taxman, Flat Top (from Come Together), Rocky Raccoon, Mean Mr. Mustard, Bungalow Bill, a snake named Oo Bla Dee Oo Bla Da (alternatively spelled Obladi Oblada), a monkey-like creature named Jojo (from Get Back)[13] and possibly even The Fool On The Hill[14][15]. The titular "Strawberry Fields" refers to a land of imagination inside all of us. Its significance to the plot is unknown.


Soundtrack

The movie was to include several covers of Lennon/McCartney songs, which appear to have been commissioned specifically for this film. Production material lists the soundtrack as:

Michael Jackson - "Come Together"

Cyndi Lauper - "Across the Universe"

Crosby, Stills & Nash - "Blackbird"

Robert Palmer - "Baby, You're a Rich Man"

Siedah Garrett - "Hey Jude"

Cheap Trick - "Magical Mystery Tour"

Luther Vandross - "Michelle"

Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Taxman"

To be advised - "Strawberry Fields"

Of these songs, several have been released elsewhere. Micheal Jackson's "Come Together" cover was featured in "Moonwalker", Cyndi Lauper's "Across the Universe" can be found on YouTube, though this seems to be from a bootleg. Cheap Trick's "Magical Mystery Tour" cover ended up on their 1990 Greatest Hits collection. Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Taxman" cover was also released on a Greatest Hits CD. While there is a version of Crosby, Stills & Nash's "Blackbird" cover online, it is not the same as the one in the reel (you can tell by the way that they sing "all your life"). Robert Palmer's "Baby, You're a Rich Man" Cover, Siedah Garrett's "Hey Jude" cover, and Luther Vandross's "Michelle" cover haven't been found.

Several of these covers can be heard in the animation reel: "Come Together", "Blackbird", "Magical Mystery Tour", and "Taxman". There's a cover of Larry Williams's song "Slow Down" (which the Beatles had covered) by an unidentified artist. The reel also uses several smaller snippets of the original versions of Beatles songs: "Strawberry Fields", "Hey Jude", "Help", "I Am The Walrus", "Flying", "Octopus's Garden" and "A Day In The Life". These are likely from an earlier stage of production, when obtaining the rights to the Beatles masters was still on the table. There also appears to be an original score.

Availability

While much of footage made for the film seems to be available via the newly found WIP reel, there are still some lost segments that are known to exist. Most notably, there was a dogfight sequence with the character Jojo[16].

While the full "hammer sequence" can be seen in the reel, a version was shown at SIGGRAPH 89 with different voice over[17]. This version is currently lost. There may be other differences in this version that aren't documented.

A demo reel of footage was shown at SIGGRAPH '87[18]. This has not been found.

There's also the issue of the lost covers: at least 8 of the 10 covers are known to have been produced[19], which means that Robert Palmer's cover of "Baby You're A Rich Man", Siedah Garrett's cover of "Hey Jude" and Luther Vandross's cover of "Michelle" almost certainly exist, as well as a clean version of Crosby, Stills and Nash's cover of "Blackbird" though they have not been found.

There also seems to be some footage from Strawberry Fields in the children's CGI compilation Imaginit[20]:

The opening segment at 1:45 in Imaginit is the Blackbird segment at 5:10 in the reel.

The "Magic Train" segment that immediately follows through short clips in the intro (2:18-5:40) seems to be an extension of the "Magical Mystery Tour" part at 18:00 of the reel. The reel only shows the train gearing up, leaving and a bit of its flying, but in Imaginit, we can see some additional footage of the train station, and what seems to be its full journey through space, including the end, where it lands using parachutes on the desert planet from later in the animation reel (the "Come Together" segment" at 21:50). If you look closely at the parachute, you can even see a logo that reads "MMT" - for Magical Mystery Tour! The footage on Imaginit seems to have been altered a bit to make it be more kid-friendly, with the addition of a conductor robot and changing the sky from grey to blue. Additionally, there is a still of the train that doesn't match up with either sequence, possibly hinting at more footage[21].

The "Slow Things Down" segment at 8:35 is the "Car Chase" segment from 10:15 in the reel, though this has also been altered to remove the Strawberry Fields characters, replacing them with digitized actors.

The "Storybook" segment at 14:30 in Imaginit uses footage from the "King Maxwell" segment of the Reel at 19:05. The footage of the storybook opening is likely also from Strawberry Fields, as The Walrus can be seen reading a similar storybook entitled "The Legend of King Maxwell" at 0:49 in the reel, though the book in Imaginit has no text on the cover, meaning it might have been altered to remove any traces of Strawberry Fields.

Additionally, both use the same "Dancing Statues" segment (27:30 in Imaginit and 16:25), but this is from an earlier work called "The Dancers". The full version of this with the original audio is also lost[22].


Gallery

Footage

30 minutes of WIP footage.

Images

  • Concept art of Jude by Jeff Merghart[25].

    Concept art of Jude by Jeff Merghart[25].

  • Concept art of Michelle by Jeff Merghart[26].

    Concept art of Michelle by Jeff Merghart[26].

  • Concept art of Michelle by Jeff Merghart[27].

    Concept art of Michelle by Jeff Merghart[27].

  • Concept art of Oo Bla Dee Oo Bla Da by Jeff Merghart[28].

    Concept art of Oo Bla Dee Oo Bla Da by Jeff Merghart[28].

  • Concept art of unnamed Tiger by Jeff Merghart[29].

    Concept art of unnamed Tiger by Jeff Merghart[29].

  • Production Material[30].

    Production Material[30].

  • Production Material[31].

    Production Material[31].

  • Production Material[32].

    Production Material[32].

  • Production Material[33].

    Production Material[33].

  • Production Material[34].

    Production Material[34].

  • Production Material[35].

    Production Material[35].

  • Production Material[36].

    Production Material[36].

  • Production Material[37].

    Production Material[37].

  • Production Material[38].

    Production Material[38].

  • Production Material[39].

    Production Material[39].

  • Concept art of Bungalow Bill by Hank Grebe[40].

    Concept art of Bungalow Bill by Hank Grebe[40].

  • Concept art of the Eggmen by Hank Grebe[41].

    Concept art of the Eggmen by Hank Grebe[41].

  • Concept art of Flat Top and Tax Man by Hank Grebe[42].

    Concept art of Flat Top and Tax Man by Hank Grebe[42].

  • Concept art of Jojos by Hank Grebe[43].

    Concept art of Jojos by Hank Grebe[43].

  • Concept art of Jojos by Hank Grebe[44].

    Concept art of Jojos by Hank Grebe[44].

  • Vector drawing of concept art of Mean Mr. Mustard by Hank Grebe[45].

    Vector drawing of concept art of Mean Mr. Mustard by Hank Grebe[45].

  • Concept art of Obladi Oblada by Hank Grebe[46].

    Concept art of Obladi Oblada by Hank Grebe[46].

  • Concept art of The Walrus by Hank Grebe[47].

    Concept art of The Walrus by Hank Grebe[47].

  • Still from alternate version of "The Hammer Sequence"[48].

    Still from alternate version of "The Hammer Sequence"[48].

  • Development Still by Steve DiPaola[49].

    Development Still by Steve DiPaola[49].

  • Development Still by Steve DiPaola[50].

    Development Still by Steve DiPaola[50].

  • Development Still by Steve DiPaola[51].

    Development Still by Steve DiPaola[51].

  • Still from "Jojo flight sequence"[52]

    Still from "Jojo flight sequence"[52]

  • Concept art from 2009[53].

    Concept art from 2009[53].

  • Still that doesn't match up with existing footage[54].

    Still that doesn't match up with existing footage[54].

  • Still from Imaginit showing a train marked with "MMT" hinting at a connection to Strawberry Fields[55].

    Still from Imaginit showing a train marked with "MMT" hinting at a connection to Strawberry Fields[55].

See Also

References

  1. ↑ "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego". Retrieved 2 April '24
  2. ↑ "Uncle John's Endlessly Engrossing Bathroom Reader" Retrieved 2 April '24
  3. ↑ "The 50 greatest movies never made" Retrieved 2 April '24
  4. ↑ https://archive.org/details/tomsitomovinginnovationahistoryofcomputeranimationthemitpress2013/page/n149/mode/ Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation (Sito, 2015)] Retrieved 2 April '24
  5. ↑ "Vestron, Inc. v. ITC Productions, Inc." Retrieved 2 April '24
  6. ↑ "PC Computing Magazine (December 1988)" Retrieved 2 April '24
  7. ↑ "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields" Retrieved 2 April '24
  8. ↑ "Vestron, Inc. v. ITC Productions, Inc." Retrieved 2 April '24
  9. ↑ "Strawberry Fields Works in Progress Reel" Retrieved 2 April '24
  10. ↑ "Vestron, Inc. v. ITC Productions, Inc." Retrieved 2 April '24
  11. ↑ "Strawberry Fields - Rene Daalder" Retrieved 2 Apr '24
  12. ↑ "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego". Retrieved 2 April '24
  13. ↑ "Steve DiPaola : Jojo" Retrieved 2 April '24]
  14. ↑ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes" Retrieved 2 April '24
  15. ↑ "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields" Retrieved 2 April '24
  16. ↑ "Steve DiPaola : Jojo" Retrieved 2 April '24]
  17. ↑ "Steve DiPaola : the hammer sequence" Retrieved 2 April '24]
  18. ↑ "ACM SIGGRAPH '87 FILM AND VIDEO SHOW" Retrieved 2 April '24
  19. ↑ "Vestron, Inc. v. ITC Productions, Inc." Retrieved 2 April '24
  20. ↑ "Imaginit Laserdisc" Retrieved 2 April '24
  21. ↑ "PC Computing Magazine (December 1988)" Retrieved 2 April '24
  22. ↑ Steve DiPaola : The Dancers Retrieved 2 April '24
  23. ↑ "Steve DiPaola : the hammer sequence" Retrieved 2 April '24]
  24. ↑ "Steve DiPaola : Jojo" Retrieved 2 April '24]
  25. ↑ "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego". Retrieved 2 April '24
  26. ↑ "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego". Retrieved 2 April '24
  27. ↑ "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego". Retrieved 2 April '24
  28. ↑ "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego". Retrieved 2 April '24
  29. ↑ "Help? Fragments of unfinished Beatles’ animated ‘Strawberry Fields’ found in San Diego". Retrieved 2 April '24
  30. ↑ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes" Retrieved 2 April '24
  31. ↑ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes" Retrieved 2 April '24
  32. ↑ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes" Retrieved 2 April '24
  33. ↑ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes" Retrieved 2 April '24
  34. ↑ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes" Retrieved 2 April '24
  35. ↑ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes" Retrieved 2 April '24
  36. ↑ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes" Retrieved 2 April '24
  37. ↑ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes" Retrieved 2 April '24
  38. ↑ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes" Retrieved 2 April '24
  39. ↑ "Beatles Al Brodax Cartoon Strawberry Fields Film Production Notes" Retrieved 2 April '24
  40. ↑ "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields" Retrieved 2 April '24
  41. ↑ "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields" Retrieved 2 April '24
  42. ↑ "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields" Retrieved 2 April '24
  43. ↑ "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields" Retrieved 2 April '24
  44. ↑ "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields" Retrieved 2 April '24
  45. ↑ "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields" Retrieved 2 April '24
  46. ↑ "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields" Retrieved 2 April '24
  47. ↑ "Media Spin Horror Stories: Raspberry Fields" Retrieved 2 April '24
  48. ↑ "Steve DiPaola : the hammer sequence" Retrieved 2 April '24]
  49. ↑ "Steve DiPaola : hammer sequence - techniques" Retrieved 2 April '24]
  50. ↑ "Steve DiPaola : hammer sequence - techniques" Retrieved 2 April '24]
  51. ↑ "Steve DiPaola : hammer sequence - techniques" Retrieved 2 April '24]
  52. ↑ "Steve DiPaola : Jojo" Retrieved 2 April '24]
  53. ↑ "Strawberry Fields - Rene Daalder" Retrieved 2 Apr '24
  54. ↑ "PC Computing Magazine (December 1988)" Retrieved 2 April '24
  55. ↑ "Imaginit Laserdisc" Retrieved 2 April '24
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