To be issued on September 20, 2026
AMAZON DESCRIPTION OF THE BOOK:
“By 1964, the Beatles had conquered the media of music, radio, television, film, and literature. Little did they expect they were about to dominate animation.
Al Brodax produced The Beatles Cartoon (1965), which was the first time that likenesses of contemporary personalities were cast as stars in an animated television series. (They beat the Three Stooges by a few weeks.) The premiere scored a 51.9 share, which was hitherto unheard of in daytime TV. Brodax followed up in 1968 with Yellow Submarine, another first: “. . . extremely real and enormously famous people were going to be animated into a feature film.” It received rapturous critical notices and audiences flocked to the theaters. Today it is recognized as a classic and an alternative to the Disneyfication that had taken over and stagnated animation.
The Beatles are the most caricatured celebrities of all time, with new fan films coming out daily on YouTube and TikTok. Matthew Hahn, author of The Animated Marx Brothers, The Animated Peter Lorre, and The Animated Universal Classic Monsters, has found hundreds of toons with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, and also “Fifth Beatles” Brian Epstein, George Martin, Stuart Sutcliffe, Pete Best, and Billy Preston. They have appeared in computer games, music videos, rides, museum exhibits, virtual reality, and AI.
All three surviving Beatles did guest shots on The Simpsons (1989), and John made many posthumous cameos. Other projects include Family Guy (1999), The Powerpuff Girls (1998), Robot Chicken (2005), Celebrity Deathmatch (1998), BoJack Horseman (2014), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007), Minions (2015), Paul McCartney’s Give My Regards to Broad Street (1985), The Beatles Rock Band (2009), unfinished works like the long-gestating remake of Yellow Submarine, and apocryphal ones like the “Lost Beatles Cartoon Episode.” Creators and voice actors affiliated with Beatle-toons include Paul Frees, Bob Godfrey, Matt Groening, Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria, Seth MacFarlane, Simon Pegg, Seth Green, Jake Kasdan, Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Jason Schwartzman, Robert Zemeckis, and Cary Elwes.
Illustrated. Includes index, notes, and bibliography. This book should be on the shelf of all animation aficionados, music lovers, classic movie fans, gamers, pop culture enthusiasts, history buffs, and connoisseurs of fun facts.”
BearManor Media Publication date –September 20, 2026
Background information about the author from AMAZON:
Matthew Hahn, author of THE ANIMATED MARX BROTHERS and THE ANIMATED PETER LORRE, is an award-winning animated filmmaker, a published cartoonist, a lifelong rescuer of animals, and a pioneering Maryland craft brewer. He endowed Freedonia/Marxonia, an annual Marx Brothers festival held at State University of New York-Fredonia, with his wife, Cheri. They live outside Washington, DC, with Tonkinese cat Thelma Todd.
A few words from the author about his animated Beatles book:
“This is the first and only book to cover every category of animated Beatles caricature appearances: TV, movies, music video. games, rides, museum exhibits, VG, AI, memes, and fan films. Of course, all three living Beatles appeared on THE SIMPSONS, and voice actors played them on that and other shows. l address unfinished films, such as Zemeckis’ YELLOW SUBMARINE, abandoned projects, and apocryphal ones. Except for the fan films, l believe it is complete. At least no new ones have cropped up since l turned in the book last March.”
Book author-Matt Hahn:
Author of “The Animated Peter Lorre” from BearManorMedia.
http://www.bearmanormedia.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=the%20animated%20peter%20lorre
One of the animators discussed in the Matt Hahn book:
A talented animator and musician that comes highly recommended by Matt Hahn. Alvaro Ortega is one of the animators discussed by Matt Hahn in his book
Please note:
An exclusive photograph from the book provided to me by the author shown below, but please be aware that all photos that appear within the book are in black and white, the color photo shown below is from the Alvaro Ortega video!
This is from a video of “Merry Xmas Martha” by a talented Spanish animator and illustrator named Alvaro Ortega. This color copy appears in the video.
“In addition to John, Paul, George, and Ringo, there are Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best, Fifth Beatles George Martin, Brian Epstein, and Eric Clapton, Mal Evans, Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Peter and Gordon, the Beach Boys, the Kinks, The Who, and the Rolling Stones.”
IIRC Note- Sutcliffe appears in the vid but not in this picture
Publisher’s website- BearManor Media:
The Animated Beatles a book by Matthew Hahn – Bookshop.org US
AMAZON US:
Amazon.com: The Animated Beatles: 9798887719481: Hahn, Matthew: Books
Kindle orders in the UK:
The Animated Beatles eBook : Hahn, Matthew : Amazon.co.uk: Books
This appears as it is going to be a fascinating book. I hope this blog discussion has assisted in propelling and animating (pun intended) your interest in adding the title to your Beatles book collections!
Be healthy and be happy!
Buzz
OUR FEATURED BOOK OF THE WEEK AT THE BEATLES BOOKSTORE
Just Like Starting Over: John Lennon and The Quarrymen
When John Lennon and his group The Quarrymen stepped onto the back of a wagon in Rosebery Street on 22nd June 1957, Charlie Roberts borrowed a camera and took a few photos of the event. It was just a group of friends having fun at a street party.
Looks like a great book – thanks for highlighting! The Beatles Cartoons crystallized by manic Beatles fan status as an 11 year old when on in syndication during the 1970s.