Beatles Magical Mystery Tour Film Outtakes

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of Magical Mystery Tour. 50 years is half a century. It makes you feel how quickly time has passed, and it’s surprising that two of the main actors are still alive. That’s how long and heavy the history of 50 years is. The Beatles stopped touring in August 1966, and they were rarely seen by the public except through records, so it’s not hard to imagine that there was a certain hunger among their fans. The Beatles were also looking for something to replace touring. They focused on recording or religion, but the TV special “Magical Mystery Tour” was also planned and produced by Paul as a new attempt after the tour. Originally, there was a tour in England that went around tourist spots on a bus, which is similar to what we call a “Hato Bus Tour” in Japan. Inspired by that, the concept of the “Magical Mystery Tour” was to take a mysterious tour on a bus with no set destination. Since they didn’t perform live, the method of exposing themselves to fans through video works could be said to have been a stepping stone to their video appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and the later Get Back sessions. This work contains outtake footage from the Magical Mystery Tour filmed in 1967. Since video works are naturally made by editing long films, there must be a lot of outtake footage that supported the finished work behind the scenes. These would never be leaked, but since this is The Beatles, you can see the unreleased and unedited parts, although not all of them. Up until now, we have been able to see short, fragmentary outtake footage, but they were just fragments, and most of them did not have much documentary value. There has never been a title that contains such a large amount of outtake footage in the past. First of all, the feature of this work is that it contains a lot of outtake footage that is appearing for the first time. While the main feature is a 55-minute video work, this work contains only outtake footage, and the footage is about 100 minutes long. Such examples are unheard of in the world of general entertainment films. Furthermore, this film also includes home movies that are thought to have been shot by the cast and staff, apart from the filming for the film. The scene where Ringo gets on the bus, the exchange between Ringo and the fat lady on the bus, the spaghetti scene that visualizes John’s dream, the innocent bus guide, the marathon, the tug-of-war, and other scenes can be seen in the form of outtakes. Another feature is that the scenes are neatly organized by shooting date and time. You can select outtake footage by shooting date from the menu screen. This also tells you what day a scene was shot. Of course, the details of the filming are now known and it is possible to identify the date to some extent, but the appeal of this film is the added value of the documentary confirmation of the shooting date on the actual footage. Ringo is given a leading role in the Beatles’ previous films. The other three members, other than Ringo, do not have any love scenes, but they do have vocal scenes that can be called “showpieces”. Each of these clips is so elaborate that it could stand on its own as a promo clip, and the mysterious atmosphere that permeates the entire work can be fully felt. George sings “Blue Jay Way”. This is a pretty scary video, with a cat taking the place of George, and a psychedelic “Operation Mystery”-like video of George clearly under the influence of drugs. He sings while playing chalk-drawn keys on the asphalt ground, and ends with a bus sneaking up behind him. It’s a really difficult and mysterious video, but I guess that’s what drugs are like. In addition to the “Blue Jay Way” scene, additional scenes were filmed in November (and of course they are included in this album). “I Am The Warlus” is one of the highlights of Magical, and the mysterious beauty of the video makes it an excellent promo clip that beautifully visualizes the worldview in John’s mind. There are many memorable scenes, such as Paul pointing at Ringo when the drums come in during the intro, and John cheering despite the piano. As visual effects are used extensively, there are many different shots and angles, and the outtake footage, such as the clapperboard at the beginning, is captivating, as is the making of “I Am The Warlus”. The original version and the anthology are edited differently, and the anthology version has been remade by inserting the outtake footage that is also included in this work. This work also includes parallel footage that allows you to compare it in multi-view. And the impressive ending is the scene of “Your Mother Should Know”. It seems that careful rehearsals were done because it is a scene with four movements and many dancers, and this work includes a scene where they redo it many times from the clapperboard. It is undeniable that the tone of the song is dark for a grand finale, but that is probably Paul’s intention. The scene where they come down the stairs is not only shot from the front, but also from the side, and even from above, and you will be surprised that this scene was shot from various angles. The scene of “The Fool On The Hill” was shot after the ending song “Your Mother Should Know”. Paul went to Nice, France alone to shoot the scene. Paul’s sweet voice is a perfect match for the pastoral melody. Moreover, the lyrics are very philosophical, and the song has long been included in the set list of Paul’s solo concerts. The scene of jumping on the rocks is impressive, but there are also other scenes that overlook the beautiful cityscape of Nice from a high place, and there are other shots and angles. This also includes multi-view and parallel footage that can be compared, so I hope you will compare them. The main part of Disc 2 of the DVD is a making-of documentary program produced in 2012. Paul and other cast members reminisce about those days and talk about them in interviews. It is a documentary with precious footage from that time. The second half contains home movies. Since it was filmed by the people involved, it captures private moments that you don’t usually see, which is very interesting. Above all, it is interesting to be able to see the scenery and cityscape of 1967 in color. Also, because the film is silent, the audio from a radio special broadcast in 2012 is played over the film as background music. This is also interesting as Paul and Ringo are interviewed reminiscing about the time of filming. DVD disc 1 contains outtakes from the Magical Mystery Tour. Many of the footage are appearing for the first time, and are neatly organized in order of the shooting date. It covers all the Magical-related footage, including not only the filming footage, but also home movies that the performers seem to have taken at the time. DVD disc 2 contains a making-of documentary and the same home movies. Please refer to the track list for details. This work covers all the Magical-related footage, so I think it is perfect for a collection. DVD DISC ONE OUTTAKES 11 September 1967, London Bus Departure 12 September 1967 Plymouth Home Movies South West at Six Behind the Scenes 13 September 1967, Porth & Newquay Watergate Bay Deleted scenes and home movies Nat’s Dream Home Movies Nat’s Dream Unedited deleted scene Ringo and Jessie Scene 21A Take 1 & 2 Ringo and Jessie Scene 22A Take 1 & 2 14 September 1967, Newquay On The Bus Outtakes On the field Outtakes Atlantic Hotel Deleted Dinning Scene Atlantic Hotel Jessie on Drums 15 September 1967, Newquay & Taunton Crew and Actors Beatles on top of the bus Outtakes John and Nicola Outtakes Fish and Chips Outtakes Fish and Chips Deleted Scene Bus Singalong Take 8 Bus Singalong Take 9 Bus Singalong Take 10 18 September 1967, Walker’s Court, London Janice The Stripper/Death Cab For Cutie 19 – 21 September 1967, West Malling Air Station Tent theater outtake Jessie’s Dream Blue Jay Way 22 September 1967, High Street, West Malling Ringo Buys Tickets 23 September 1967, West Malling Air Station The Marathon Victor Spinetti outtakes I Am The Walrus outtakes sequence #1 I Am The Walrus outtakes sequence #2 I Am The Walrus outtakes mix I Am The Walrus Film vs Anthology Multi View 24 September 1967, West Malling Air Station Ivor Cutler deleted scene Traffic deleted scene Your Mother Should Know Rehearsal Your Mother Should Know outtakes #1 Your Mother Should Know outtakes #2 End of the film sequence 30 October 1967, Nice, France Fool On The Hill #1 Fool On The Hill Film vs Outtake Multi View 31 October 1967, Nice, France Fool On The Hill #2 3 November 1967,Weybridge, Surrey Blue Jay Way additional scenes 21 November 1967, EDITING ROOM, London Norman’s Film Production BONUS MOVIE Film Trailer Anthology Rough Cut BBC On The Record DVD DISC TWO THE DOCUMENTARY 01. The Making of Magical Mystery Tour Special 02. 2012 Commercial 03. Mal Evans & Paul McCartney Home Movies 04. November 1966, Bordeaux, France, Portugal & Seville, Spain 05. November 1966, Kenya, Africa 06. April 1967, Denver, Colorado 07. April 1967, Blue Jay Way Home, Los Angeles, California