ABSTRACT
This chapter explores, through their film work, The Beatles’ shift into the 1960s counterculture. Their maturation is evident in their changing physical image and the self-filmed television film Magical Mystery Tour (Beatles, 1967), a faltering attempt to re-position themselves as serious artists and committed counterculturalists. Challenging the production and exhibition processes of mainstream cinema, the loose narrative, resituating US hippiedom in a North of England charabanc, seeks to replicate both the experience of an LSD-induced psychedelic trip and the bliss of Eastern religion and transcendental meditation. It was, however, the first popular and critical failure of their career. The group’s cinematic fortunes would soon reverse in a project where the more flexible format of animation allowed a more realised version of psychedelia and the counterculture, Yellow Submarine (George Dunning, 1968). Detailed visual analysis shows the myriad artistic influences on the film, such as pop artists Andy Warhol and Peter Blake. Interpretations are offered of the film’s narrative, notably its allegorical play on late-1960s states of consciousness and statesmanship as The Beatles, symbols of apolitical hippie counterculture, establish a regime of karmic goodwill. Its rapid datedness is shown via comparison with the contemporary television series The Prisoner (1967-8).
