The Beatles

In 1965 Ed Vane took over as head of daytime programming at ABC. Saturday mornings were dominated by CBS- Vane wanted to change that. He felt the best bet was a Beatles cartoon. Working with Al Brodax at King Features, a deal was made for 26 shows with 2 cartoons per show at a budget of $32,000/show (cheap for 1965). And Brodax had just 5 months before the premiere. Result was a rush job with all the animation outsourced outside the U. S. Results were as you would expect-simple animation with lots of cycles repeating. Still, "The Beatles" was the top rated cartoon for the year, and ABC came in #1 on Saturday mornings. That shocked CBS into opening its wallet and spending millions on a complete revamp of their lineup.

13 more Beatles cartoons were made over the next two seasons- since they're not as rushed the quality is noticeably better. Al Brodax went on to produce the Yellow Submarine film.

I couldn't have been more than four or five when this show came out! Many years later (like 25!) "I'll Follow The Sun" came on the radio at work. I mentioned to my friend how whenever I heard this song I could vividly recall how it was featured in one of the episodes of the cartoon, even though I only saw the episode once in my life. She said she saw it as a child as well and clearly remembered the scene, with the sun in one corner and the Beatles in a cluster looking up and following it. And strangely, it was the one and only element either one of us could remember about the series at all. I would love to have the opportunity to see this series again, perhaps on Cartoon Network or TV Land.

I first saw the cartoon when I was 14 at Beatlefest 2000 of Chicago, IL. My first cartoon was "Got To Get You Into My Life", and it's really funny. I got the cartoon on the video I got from ebay.com called "Best of The Beatles Cartoon Show". There were 11 cartoons and 10 sing-alongs on the tape. My dad saw the cartoon when he was 11-years-old. My favoritest Beatle of all is Ringo. He's VERY funny from the way he laughs, the way he walks like Groucho Marx, and the way he talks. I've been Ringo's fan since I was 8. I also like the REAL Ringo besides the CARTOON Ringo. I've seen 43 cartoons so far. There were 78 cartoons. 2 cartoons in each episode, which is 39 episodes. I'm still gonna love the cartoon forever.

The Beatles cartoon has become beloved and notorious for its production values: wonderful songs used as a backdrop for cookie-cutter stories and shoddy yet funkylicious animation that fits the time period these shorts were made. I've only ever seen this cartoon through bootlegs; and that's another thing, this cartoon has NEVER seen an official release on home video formats. There aren't even official VHS tapes of the show. You can only get bootlegs on eBay or YouTube if you're lucky. This show is like The Star Wars Holiday Special of hard-to-get television 'gems' that we're still waiting to be released on DVD.

This show has The Beatles, and the real stars of the show are really the songs themselves; it doesn't matter what context they're played in, they're always good tunes to listen to. Now Apple Corps, King Features Syndicate and company, can we PLEASE get an official DVD release of this nugget of television animation history?

love these cartoons. the animation looks like cartoon veteran Gene Dietch had something to do with them. it looks more like Dietch than the style of Brodax's other Beatles toon 'Yellow Submarine'.

i can't say the voices sounded anything like the Beatles, and i very much doubt the Beatles would say things like "guv'nor". still, the animation is very cute and lively and the sing-a-longs just adorable. i even heard a few Beatle songs i'd never heard before (thought i'd heard 'em all).

these little cartoons are so cute and adorable that i'm surprised they aren't easier to get ( i had to order from a foreign seller). and i wish someone would restore them and make a better DVD transfer. but then again, just try to find a decent, restored copy of the BBC television classic 'Magical Mystery Tour'.

these are a great way for parents to introduce their babies to the ever pleasing sounds of the Fab Four.