Beatles' Yellow Submarine to get 3D remake

The Beatles' Yellow Submarine is going to get a 3D remake - if the producers can secure rights to the band's songs.

More than 40 years after the cinematic success of Yellow Submarine, the animated film that epitomised the height of psychedelic pop culture and featured a Beatles soundtrack, it is to be re-made in 3D by Disney.

The Hollywood director, Robert Zemeckis, who is best known for the spectacular special effects of his previous films, which include Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, has been brought on board.

The original story was written by Lee Minoff and based on the song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with some of the dialogue scripted by the poet Roger McGough.

The film captures an underwater paradise that finds itself menaced by the music-hating "Blue Meanies". The Beatles' own contribution was limited.

The band only agreed to the film as a means of fulfilling their movie contract, and their animated characters were voiced by other actors. But on seeing the finished version, the group agreed to appear as themselves in the final scene.

The upgraded version is to use state-of-the-art techniques that Zemeckis used on his visually striking films, The Polar Express and Beowulf.

The studio has already pencilled in a release date of summer 2012, but Variety magazine said lawyers were still attempting to secure rights to the 16 original Beatles songs, including All You Need is Love and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. There has been no confirmation yet on the involvement of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the two surviving Beatles.

While some fans may see a remake as sacrilege, Conor Mc-Nicholas, the former editor of NME, welcomed a 3D version that would introduce the classic film to a new generation.

"When I was a child, I was absolutely transfixed when I caught it on television. It was tremendously surreal animation and it didn't have a traditional narrative or characters, and it had a very big effect on me. It's very easy to have a knee-jerk reaction to a remake as some may see the film as preserved in time, but nothing is wrong with completely re-imagining it in 3D. It is a part of popular culture, so it should be allowed to live on," he said.

- THE INDEPENDENT