This is just amazing

[trinityvixen]

Animated commercial for The Beatles: Rock Band.

Aside from just being beautiful, it's a trailer that could be an anime. And I would totally watch a Beatles anime. At this point, we are far enough removed from the debut of The Beatles that they are practically legendary. They could be their own animated cartoon and it wouldn't change our perception of them.

If they're archetypes instead of people, can't we just reboot them the way we have, well, all of our cultural icons? I want my Beatles anime, damn it.

Comments

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

That is awesome. Especially the "I Am the Walrus" bit.

But didn't they already turn themselves into cartoon characters?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

They did for a movie, sure. But this needs to be a wacky anime version of, like, The Monkees. And it needs to have happened yesterday.

[avram]

Have you seen Yellow Submarine? It was pretty wacky. Come to think of it, Help! had lots of wackiness too, like a live-action cartoon.

The Beatles also had an animated TV series. I have a few vague memories of watching it when I was a kid, too young to even really understand who they were. It was pretty awful, as YouTube will verify.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

See! They should totally do it again! Wackiness will ensue!

[dandycat.livejournal.com]

Yes. OMG. Yes. Anime Beatles.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

It's not like the Japanese haven't done this sort of thing before. Hell, I'd even watch a music band anime if it were The Beatles. They're uniquely bizarre in their own right--no one had seen or heard anything like them when they came out, and I doubt we'll ever see anything like them again. (Unless Bill and Ted ever really do form Wyld Stalyns!)

So I am all about their existing as wacky anime characters having adventures while dodging fans. They could be like Scooby-Doo meets Cowboy Bebop.

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

This is not really directed at you, because I see it happening all over the place, but what does it being anime have to do with anything? Anime is a cartoon that was made in Japan, just like an animation is something made in America. Implying that it being an "anime" would be better than it being an "animated film" or something similar is silly. It just needs to be good, regardless of where it's from, and if you hire smart people and stylish animators you will have a quality product anywhere.

But I am always bothered by these kinds of things. My friend sends me music and it's usually labeled as the genre "indie rock" which also bothers me. Making something independently is the method or technique with which you made it, not the genre. You could have recorded it for two dollars or two million dollars, but rock is still rock.

That said, I liked the commercial.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Okay, whoa whoa whoa, calm the heck down. First of all, I wasn't making any case for the proposed cartoon being an anime versus a cartoon. I said I'd watch an anime and I also said I'd watch a cartoon, so I really just meant an animated show of any kind.

Secondly, I never implied anime >>> cartoons. Like anything, it's hit or miss.

Thirdly, your definitions of anime and cartoons are technically correct but miss the mark because there really are substantive differences between the two. Anime has its own language (not just talking about Japanese), its own conventions, etc. Western cartoons have definitely began to appropriate certain aspects of the art and style of anime, but they're still fairly distinctly separate.

Which is why I thought of anime rather than cartoon, that's all. The style of the art was reminiscent of things being done with newer animes and the kind of zaniness that I would expect of the ideal cartoon to be made out of this idea would be a Japanese one. That's all :)

(I agree with you about the stupidity of the "indie" rock label.)

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

Yeah, yeah, don't listen to me. Admittedly, the American film and television industry makes some really stupid shit, but I just lash out at the notion that things foreign are automatically better, and it's become so commonplace I may or may not lash out inaccurately or prematurely, so pardon me if I accidentally explode at you.

However, the style inherent to anime doesn't change my previous statement (especially since I don't think the style is a factor of the true style of Japanese animation but more the Japanese culture in general). Music nerds like my friend argue the same about "indie rock", suggesting that it is a wave of music and is all representative of a style. That may be true, but I still don't buy it. Rock is rock! ::curmudgeon::

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I sympathize with being a crotchety old person. We want Matlock!!