History WesternAnimation / TheBeatles

[[quoteright:312:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Beatles_cartoon.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:312: From left to right: Music/JohnLennon, Music/RingoStarr, Music/GeorgeHarrison, Music/PaulMcCartney. Just in case...]]

->''"Yeh yeh yeh!"''

A cartoon series that ran from 1965 to 1969 following the [[HilarityEnsues wacky hijinks of]] Music/TheBeatles. Notable for [[TropeMakers being the first]] [[CelebrityToons cartoon about actual people]] made for television.

The series followed a [[ThreeShorts Two Shorts Format]], with each short separated by two singalong segments. The singalongs would always start with either Music/JohnLennon, Music/PaulMcCartney or Music/GeorgeHarrison trying to introduce the song and encourage the viewers to sing along, and Music/RingoStarr interrupting to try and "set up the proper mood" with props.

Although the series was a colossal success when it debuted, it faded quickly as the Beatles themselves evolved their music and personalities from the lovable moptops of their early days into the psychedelia of ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''. Eventually, the show was quietly scooted out of the way to make room for ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' reruns, as Creator/{{ABC}}'s Saturday Morning lineup was being dominated by action/adventure shows at the time, while the cartoon was getting more surreal.[[note]]The latest songs to be featured in the cartoon were 1967's "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever," the singles that dropped before ''Sgt. Pepper''. No new episodes were produced after those, and the show went into re-runs for the rest of its run in the 1960's.[[/note]]

Produced by Al Brodax (who would later go on to produce ''WesternAnimation/CoolMcCool'' and ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'') for Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate, who produced a number of other cartoon series based on its own popular comic strips. Notable in that making the show was literally a world-wide effort, and an early example of farming out animation overseas to save money. A majority of the production was done in England, but episodes were also farmed out to studios in Australia, Canada, and Holland. This lends the show a bit of discontinuity when it comes to animation style; the Australian episodes are particularly prone to poor quality because Australia had a limited animation industry before the show arrived there and therefore fewer experienced professionals to draw from.

Many of the same people from the English studio who worked on the cartoon, as well as the American producers, went on to work on ''Yellow Submarine'' (including Creator/LancePercival as Old Fred), one of the many reasons why the Beatles initially wanted nothing to do with the film.

The show got a brief revival in the 1980's when it was rerun on cable television, most notably Creator/{{MTV}} and the Creator/DisneyChannel.

----
!!Tropes:
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Several less-than-appealing ladies fall for one (or more) of the Beatles in the course of the show. Most notable are the fat belly dancer who pursues George in "The Word" and the witch in "Devil in Her Heart". The latter is reversed after she falls into her love potion and becomes beautiful; then Ringo chases after her!
* AccidentalMarriage: In "Can't Buy Me Love", John accepts a "friendship ring" from a chief, which means he must marry the chief's daughter.
* AllClothUnravels: In "Hold Me Tight", George is only saved from falling to his death off of the Statue of Liberty by Ringo grabbing the thread of his unraveling shirt.
* TheAllegedCar: The Beatles help fix one that belongs to lovesick young man in "Drive My Car".
* AndYouThoughtItWasAGame: In "Please Please Me", a bullfight's bull is knocked unconscious, so the boys set things up with John and Paul in a bull costume and Ringo as a matador (with George as his picador). John and Paul are delayed because of a jammed zipper, and the bull regains consciousness. He barges into the ring to face Ringo, who thinks it's John and Paul...
* AndYouWereThere: Inverted in "I'm Only Sleeping":
-->'''John:''' What a dream I just had!\\
'''Ringo:''' We know, we were there.
* AnimalsNotToScale: "I'll Get You" features the Beatles riding one tiny elephant.
* AppeaseTheVolcanoGod: A tamer example than usual in "Matchbox": the natives believe that drumming can appease their volcano god, and Ringo lends his skills.
* AsianSpeekeeEngrish: All over the series, unfortunately. For example, a sign for a miniature garden "It Won't Be Long" introduces "Dr. Ah-So" as the "Honoulable Ploplietor."
* BandToon: The UrExample.
* BeautifulAllAlong: The receptionist in "Thank You Girl," who lets down her hair and starts dancing when the Beatles arrive at the cooking school.
* BigFriendlyDog: Gunther from "Gib Mir Deine Hand," who helps them through the Alps.
* BodySnatcher: In "I'm Looking Through You," Ringo's body is stolen by the ghost of an Egyptian pharaoh.
* BornUnlucky / TheJinx: In "Good Day Sunshine", Ringo is ''both''. He will cause something lucky to appear, but then it will break or go wrong. It's subverted at the end, though, when his luck appears to change for the better.
* {{Bowdlerise}}:
** Certain episodes of the show never aired when the show was re-run on the Creator/DisneyChannel, likely thanks to ValuesDissonance, though a few of the more dated ones did make it through.
** One of the Sing-Along intros was also edited, the one where George tells Ringo the song goes "like gangbusters" and Ringo returns with a machine gun to shoot up the stage; the edited version has George come out and say it's time for the sing-along, and then goes straight into the first song. This edit was probably due to Disney's heavy anti-violence status.
** MTV never showed the first season intro due to a scene where Ringo impersonates a Chinese man. They also left out the outro at the end of every episode due to a scene where Paul yanks on a Native American woman's nose because he thinks she's Ringo in disguise.
* BoxingKangaroo: John receives a black eye from one named Bertha in a Sing-Along intro.
* BritishStuffiness: John, bizarrely enough, considering he was the antithesis of this trope in reality. Done to make him clearly the "leader" of the Beatles. (Like everything else, [[DependingOnTheWriter it depends on the episode]]).
* ButtMonkey: Ringo, who is constantly picked on and made fun of by the other three.
* CaptainObvious: The third opening constantly reminds us who [[Music/TheBeatles the stars]] of the show are.
* CelebrityToons: Also the TropeMaker.
* ChainedToARailway: In "I Feel Fine," Paul is put in a movie scene with a damsel in distress tied to railroad tracks with a steam train approaching. Subverted in that Paul reveals the the train is a phony cardboard cutout operated by a crew member when [[{{Trainstopping}} he stops it]], [[TeethFlying causing one of the member's teeth to fall out]]. The actor Dick Dashing is not amused. Then it becomes a DoubleSubversion near the end of the episode when he attempts to stop the train approaching the damesel, but [[PaintedTunnelRealTrain it turns out to be a real train this time]] (still with steam locomotive, though [[JustTrainWrong it makes the sound of a diesel train]]).
* ChickMagnet: All four Beatles, needless to say. Fans coming after them are not only a frequent occurrence, but make up the first show opening.
* ChildhoodBrainDamage: In an episode, John sews the money from last night's concert into Ringo's pocket to keep it from getting lost.
-->'''John:''' There! Safe as in a mother's arms.\\
'''Ringo:''' [[TheDitz Me mother dropped me once.]]\\
'''John:''' I know. That's why I didn't sew it in your hat.
* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: George thinks he's this to Ringo. Ringo thinks he's this to George. For example, in "Devil in Her Heart":
-->'''George:''' I just can't help worrying about Ringo. Sometimes he's like a little kid!\\
''[cut to Ringo wandering around in the woods]''\\
'''Ringo:''' I'd better be getting back. George always needs someone to look after him, poor lad.
* TheCollector: Ringo, of all people, in "Ticket to Ride". Fortunately, he's really bad at it.
* ComedicSociopathy: The Beatles' general reaction to seeing one of the others in a potentially life threatening situation is to sing a song (or worse, stand back and laugh) and wait for the situation to resolve itself. The worst case of this occurs in "I'll Cry Instead". Through a series of coincidences, a black belt in training confuses George for a professional martial artist. Instead of easily clearing this up, the other Beatles [[HonorBeforeReason force him to fight]], even though George's hand is swollen from signing too many autographs.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Often done by Ringo, and to a lesser extent George.
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: At the end of "Chains," Ringo punishes his bandmates for trying to mutiny against him (long story) by pushing them off a diving board into a pool full of fangirls. He then jumps off himself.
* CoolHouse: The mobile home in "Matchbox": "Everything's tucked away until you need it!"
* CoveredInKisses: Paul (sans lipstick) in "Eight Days a Week."
* CrashingThroughTheHarem: In "The Word," the lads crash into a harem tent, courtesy of an out-of-control camel. They promptly get in huge trouble for looking at the harem's unveiled faces, and have to sing their way out, all the while flirting with the girls.
* {{Curse}}: In "Long Tall Sally", John and Ringo try on a pair of cursed armor suits.
* CuteWitch: George's love interest in the "Devil in Her Heart" sing along segment.
* DamselInDistress:
** Subverted. A woman in "Any Time at All" claims to be one of these but it turns out that she's an expert jewel thief.
** Played with in "I Feel Fine" when Paul has to repeatedly rescue an actress from a DeathCourse of a movie set. Then again, since everything's phony, they're both never really in danger.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Paul would like you to know that Hollywood is fake and phony. And Myth/RobinHood? He never happened.
* DependingOnTheWriter: The quality of the writing, characterization and animation varies wildly from episode to episode.
* DerangedAnimation: The episodes animated at Australia.
* DisguisedInDrag: George, in "What You're Doing" to get Ringo out of a Gypsy wedding. It backfires spectacularly when one of the male Gypsies falls for him.
* DisneyAcidSequence: In "Strawberry Fields Forever," there is a plot to the episode, about cheering up the kids at a depressing orphanage, but the story just ends up completely discarded in favor of John, Paul, George, and Ringo flying around through rainbows and daisies and strawberries and other assorted psychedelic imagery. Complete with a "What the hell just happened?" conversation at the end.
* DistressBall[=/=]DistressedDude: Pretty much OncePerEpisode. One of the Beatles will do or say something blatantly stupid, get into trouble, and then the others will have to help him. Y'know, after they're done singing about it. Ringo and Paul seem the most frequent holders, but John and George have had it tossed to them quite a few times, too.
* TheDitz:
** [[DumbAndDrummer Ringo]], who is completely clueless.
** George, sometimes. The boy can't even read!
* TheDoorSlamsYou: In "She Loves You," when the knife thrower storms into his room he crushes all four Beatles behind the door.
* DownerEnding: Some of the episodes end with injuries. And the first episode ends with them fainting at the sight of spooks.
* DuelToTheDeath:
** "I Saw Her Standing There".
--->'''Flamenco Dancer:''' We will duel to the finish! Choose your weapon, señor!\\
'''John:''' How about bean bags at twenty paces, eh?\\
'''Flamenco Dancer:''' Ugh, I will choose them for you. Your sword, señor!\\
'''John:''' But... [[ComicallyMissingThePoint but one of us is liable to get hurt!]] Namely, me...
** "Long Tall Sally": John and Ringo try on armor as a joke. The suits turn out to be cursed, and the two try to fight each other to the death.
* DumbAndDrummer: Played to a distressing degree with Ringo. The other Beatles often joke that drumming is the only thing he's any good at.
* EdutainmentShow: Oddly enough. The show was actually praised by educators for helping teach kids to read via the Sing-Along segments.
* EverybodyLaughsEnding: All. The. Time. The episodes that don't end with the Beatles fleeing will end with them having a larf.
* EvilLaugh: John (TruthInTelevision, depending on whom you ask) at the end of "It Won't Be Long".
* ExtremeOmnigoat: Used as a garbage disposal in "Matchbox".
* ExtremeOmnivore: Ringo eats ''actual'' drumsticks. And possibly other instruments as well: "Guitars taste terrible."
* TheFaceless: Brian Epstein. Mentioned in a couple of episodes. His hand was visible and voice actually heard in "Thank You Girl".
* FacialProfiling: Their trips to Japan, thanks to some big-time ValuesDissonance. Putting things in context, most of the Japan episodes were made by Australians, who at the time were none too fond of the Japanese because of what was done to Australia during World War II a mere twenty years earlier. Ironically, the show was broadcast and dubbed in Japanese.
* FollowTheBouncingBall: Averted. The appropriate lyric simply appears on screen during the Sing-Alongs.
* FourFingeredHands: Much of the time, the characters have four fingers, but due to animation inconstancy between the studios, they often have five, and on one occasion, even six fingers.
* FullBodyDisguise:
** When a prize bull gets knocked unconscious in "Please Please Me," John and Paul try to get Ringo to play a matador while they don a bull costume. When the costume's zipper ''breaks'', though, Ringo ends up facing a '''real''' bull! Which snaps Ringo [[OhCrap into panic]] when he suddenly sees an equally panicky John, Paul and George in the stands (who are trying to warn Ringo of [[NotMeThisTime the danger he's in]]).
** In "I'll Get You," a supposed man-eating lion threatens the Beatles. But when John and Paul confront it, the lion is revealed to be two local natives in a lion costume that wear it for tourist business. John gets the idea to scare George and Ringo while wearing the lion suit, but then the hunter Alan Watermain arrives and begins shooting at the two in the suit. When the natives come up to George and Ringo asking for the lion costume back, Ringo says [[JustForPun "I'm sorry, the lion is busy!" while holding a cup to his ear like a telephone.]]
** In "Not a Second Time," three fangirls pursuing the Beatles disguise themselves full-body as crocodiles.
** The second season opening has the four Beatles disguise themselves as stereotypical big-nosed cartoon spies in full-body costumes, but four female spies unmask them leading into a typical Beatles fangirl chase accompanied by the "Help!" song.
* TheGhost: The prop man during the Sing-Alongs, who is always on vacation.
* GreatWhiteHunter: The Beatles go on a three-week African safari holiday with great white hunter Alan Watermain in the episode "I'll Get You."
* GroupieBrigade: The Beatles even have nicknames for some of them: the Screamer, the Clipper, and the Fainter.
* {{Hammerspace}}: Ringo's props in season 3. He rushes around the room, and they just come out of nowhere, man.
* HiccupHijinks: The Beatles employ these on Ringo when he loses his voice.
* HilarityEnsues: Episodes are set up to put the Beatles in such wacky situations! Whether hilarity ''actually'' ensues is up to the viewer and their tolerance for cheesy humor.
* HurricaneOfPuns: One of the things that carried over to ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine''.
* HypocriticalHumor: Lots.
-->'''George:''' Well, don't stray too far. They tell me there's some mighty strange creatures livin' in these woods.\\
'''Ringo:''' Oh, George, you and your silly superstitions. Besides, can't you see I got me magic ring to ward off evil spirits?
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: "Bad Boy" has a Swiss boy running away from home because he wants to be a Beatle.
* IKissYourHand: John does this to an octopus in [[Recap/TheBeatlesS1E1 "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"]].
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: A non-romantic example. The sing-along for "Anna (Go To Him)" features Paul releasing a female canary into the wild to be with a male canary.
* InstitutionalApparel: In "Paperback Writer," John, George, and Ringo are briefly shown wearing British prison uniforms during Paul's version of the story.
* IncredibleShrinkingMan: John in "It Won't Be Long." The others think he's "some kind of new Beatles doll" [[HoYay and proceed to fight over him]].
* InOneEarOutTheOther: In "I've Just Seen a Face," the only thing Paul and George spot when peering through Ringo's ears on opposite sides are each other's eyes.
* InteractiveNarrator: The narrator describing the cruise in [[Recap/TheBeatlesS1E1 "I Want To Hold Your Hand"]]. Eventually, the Beatles complain that he's giving away all their disguises and tell him to talk about some other part of the ship. He politely obliges.
* ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext: Well, usually.
* ImTakingHerHomeWithMe: Paul, George and Ringo's reactions to the miniaturized John, who they think is a Beatle doll, in "It Won't Be Long". The song itself happens to suit the situation oddly well.
-->'''Paul:''' Help me to find that doll, boys, I want to take it home. It belongs to me.\\
'''John:''' Me?! Belong to him?!\\
''[cue song]''
* KnifeOutline: Ringo gets one via a knife thrower in "She Loves You."
* LamePunReaction:
** In "Not a Second Time":
--->'''Ringo:''' You call this a quiet spot? It's all jungle.\\
'''{{G|entlemanAdventurer}}uide:''' Should suit you boys fine. You chaps do have a reputation of being ''tigers'', y'know. Ahahahahaha! Oh, I say, that is a good one, isn't it? [[DontExplainTheJoke "Jungle tigers", get it?]]\\
'''Ringo:''' Haha, yeh, [[SnarkBall but I don't think I want it]].
** Another one in "Please Please Me" when John suggests that he and Paul dress up as the (incapacitated) bull so the bullfight can continue: "We'll pull the ''bull'' over their eyes!" Cue AsideGlance from matador.
* LeaningOnTheFurniture: The model sheets specifically called for both John and George to do this, [[ShownTheirWork based on animator's observations of how the real John Lennon and George Harrison acted and moved]].
* LetsSeeYOUDoBetter: In "I Feel Fine", Paul insults an actor by calling his stunts "fake" and "phony". The actor responds by locking Paul onto the movie set, which turns out to be a DeathCourse, and forcing him to save the lead actress from various traps. [[spoiler:She ends up clouting the actor over the head with an umbrella, and Paul over his head with his own guitar.]]
* LimitedAnimation: Most of the Beatles' musical performances during the cartoons (mostly by TVC) use the same shots over and over, and not just within the same cartoon. There seem to be several standard shots used in almost every episode (i.e. Paul, George, and John lined up with their guitars, Ringo shaking his head while drumming). It was pretty rare for an episode to have any outright new footage of the Beatles playing unless circumstances dictated otherwise during the song, such as if they were singing in a vehicle or performing while running from danger.
* LimitedWardrobe: The Beatles were depicted in their Fab Four era matching outfits and hairstyles even after the Beatles no longer looked like that. This may be why the openings remind you who's supposed to be who.
* LiteralMinded: Ringo, as aptly demonstrated by the Sing-Along segments.
* {{Malaproper}}: [[TruthInTelevision As in reality]], Ringo. When a bull gets knocked out in "Please Please Me", he suggests "artificial perspiration".
* MartyStu: InUniverse, each Beatle makes himself out to be one in his version of how they met each other in "Paperback Writer".
* MasterOfDisguise: Anyface from "No Reply."
* UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette: Ringo dreams he's having an affair with her in "Run For Your Life."
* MirrorCrackingUgly: Ringo, who breaks mirrors on a couple of occasions. Poor guy.
* MistakenForAnImposter: Happens in "Not a Second Time." When the Beatles escape to a jungle to avoid three LoonyFan girls, they confront what appear to be three crocodiles, but they turn out to be said fangirls [[FullBodyDisguise disguised in full-body crocodile suits]]. After escaping them again, Ringo notices three crocodiles poking from behind a bush, and assumes it's the three fangirls in disguise again, leaping on them and [[BoundAndGagged tying his drum set to them]] so they don't escape. After they rehearse the titular song, Ringo tells the crocs they can take off their costumes, to which the fangirls appear from behind trees saying "What costumes" Cue the OhCrap faces from the Beatles AND the fangirls when they realize the three crocodiles are real!
* MonumentalDamage: The Beatles go to rehearse in the Coliseum and cause it to fall apart.
* MusicSoothesTheSavageBeast: Attempted in "All My Loving" with a hungry tiger.
* NationalStereotypes: Apart from all the racial stereotyping the Beatles themselves are a pretty awful impression of how British people supposedly talk, with lots of StockBritishPhrases.
* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Albeit with wax versions of themselves in "Misery."
* NoodleIncident: According to the episode [[Recap/TheBeatlesS1E1 "I Want to Hold Your Hand"]], John was once kissed by an octopus "when he was young".
* [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Normal-Skinned Space Babe]]: One of these tries to "save the universe from The Beatles" by stranding them on a random planet in "Day Tripper."
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Apart from the Beatles themselves, nobody.
** Back in the 1960s The Beatles themselves hated the cartoons when they saw them on TV. George Harrison in particular felt they were awful. Their disapproval may have been the reason why they refused to take Disney's offer to voice four caricatured vultures of themselves in ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'' and their own animated versions in ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine''.
* NoSwastikas: The Iron Cross option was used in "Paperback Writer," [[AnachronismStew when John Lennon was fighting the Germans]] in a UsefulNotes/WorldWarI scenario.
** On the other hand, it ''is'' World War I. Germany was only associated with the swastika during [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the next go-round]].
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent:
** Not with a Liverpudlian one, at least. The creators decided to use a generic British accent so the viewers could understand them more easily.
** Creator/LancePercival has said in interviews he gave Ringo a hint of a [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents Birmingham]] accent.
** For some reason Creator/PaulFrees plays George with a...completely indescribable accent. The closest one can come is that it's a bad Creator/PeterLorre impression by way of Asia and Ireland.
* [[NotNowKiddo Not Now, Ringo]]: In "Don't Bother Me", John keeps ignoring Ringo. Turns out Ringo's actually trying to warn him about some impending {{death trap}}s.
* NotQuiteStarring: One of the first major examples of capitalizing on a celebrity with a quickly-made, loosely tied-in animated series.
* ObsessedWithFood: In "Thank You Girl", Brian puts them on a diet and takes away their money since they've indulged in too much French cooking. The Beatles try to get around him by taking a free French cooking class.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: John, quite often. And George is a bizarre mix of Asian-Irish-Creator/PeterLorre.
* OppositeSexClone: Each Beatle gets one in "I've Just Seen a Face". Notably, Paul is the most convincing and...vamp-y.
* ParentalBonus: "I'm Down":
-->'''George:''' I'll take care of the grapes. ''[grabs three French women]''\\
'''Paul:''' I believe they're not quite ripe yet. ''[points to a little girl standing nearby]''
* ThePowerOfRock: Can turn a DeliberatelyMonochrome orphanage into a psychedelic wonderland!
* PungeonMaster: Ringo, especially in the Sing-Along intros.
* RashomonStyle: "Paperback Writer", where each Beatle recounts his own version of meeting the other three. Taken to an extreme in that said versions involve World War I dog-fighting, curing malaria, Film/JamesBond-eque antics, and so on.
* RealSongThemeTune: "Can't Buy Me Love" for season 1, "Help!" for season 2 and "And Your Bird Can Sing" for season 3.
* TheRuntAtTheEnd: Ringo. Partial TruthInTelevision, as Ringo was the shortest member of the band and the last to join.
* ScheherezadeGambit: In "The Word." If the Beatles can find the password involving the word "love", they'll be rescued by the harem girls' father; the girls then manage to convince their sheik to let the Beatles play one song before they're thrown to the crocodiles.
* SecurityCling: The Beatles tend to cling to each other or leap into one another's arms in scary situations. For example, after spooky noises are heard during their rehearsal in [[Recap/TheBeatlesS1E1 "A Hard Day's Night"]].
* ShoutOut:
** The Beatles' characterizations were based on ''Film/AHardDaysNight'', yet dumbed down considerably.
** "Don't Bother Me" uses the "Ringo sleeping on the wrong end of the bed" gag from ''Film/{{Help}}'', and the second opening is a big shout out to Film/JamesBond films. Also in that episode, they face a generic ArcVillain and a very obvious {{Mook}}. He's the spitting image of Oddjob from ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}''.
** "James Blond" in "Penny Lane".
** Rounding out the Bond references, George pretends to be "008" in his daydream in "Paperback Writer."
** Their performance in "I'm Down" makes a lot of references to their Shea Stadium performance.
** The Beatles imagine themselves as Literature/TheThreeMusketeers in "Any Time at All".
--->"Athos!" "Porthos!" "Aramis!" "[[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And Ringo!]]"
** "Can't Buy Me Love" is likely another reference to ''Film/{{Help}}'' They should probably know by now [[AesopAmnesia that taking strange rings from foreign tribes is a bad idea]]. And at the end, John [[spoiler:gives the ring to Ringo to take the heat off himself]].
** Speaking of ''Help!'', "All My Loving" is practically a WholePlotReference to the scene in which a tiger is dangerously close to Ringo and the others have to [[MusicSoothesTheSavageBeast ward it off by singing]].
* SidetrackedByTheAnalogy: In "Hold Me Tight":
-->'''George:''' Hold on. Look at that suspicious-looking bloke. And notice that package he's holding so gingerly. You know what I think it is?\\
'''Ringo:''' Gingersnaps?
* SimpletonVoice: Ringo, who speaks noticeably more slowly than the other three.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The images they put to the songs are relevant to varying degrees.
** "Eleanor Rigby" might be the worst offender. The second and third verses play but the actual animation completely diverges from the song's downer nature. In the stanza that describes her death and unattended funeral, she is alive and well, and a group of children decide to throw her a party...
** Another, more literal-than-usual example from the same short - the boys play their two guitars and a bass when Paul sings the song, but the song itself has no guitars nor bass line.
* SpeakingLikeTotallyTeen: John at the end of "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party", after chasing the others around to get them to rehearse. They are not impressed.
* StockAudioClip: An unusual variation; dialogue recorded for the show is reused in the manner of a StockAudioClip whenever possible, resulting in scripts that are filled with repetition so the exact same voice clips can be played over and over. This is done for no reason other than to save money and time. It can get pretty awkward hearing Paul say [[Myth/RobinHood "Rob'n]] ''[[MemeticMutation Hood?]]'' [[MemeticMutation Heneverhappened."]] [[RunningGag about once a minute]] in "Taxman."
* StockFootage: Often used in the TVC episodes when the Beatles start playing their songs. There are a few band shots that are pretty much Once Per Episode occurrences.
* StrawFan: Masses and masses of screaming girls are the most frequent fan portrayal, though a few get more characterization.
* TakeMyHand: "Hold Me Tight" is taken rather literally, as it's about Ringo trying to keep George from falling off the Statue of Liberty.
* TakeThatKiss: In "I Saw Her Standing There," Jose's girl Rosita plants one on John after she's impressed by his "dancing."
* ThatRemindsMeOfASong: Employed to varying degrees of success.
* ThrowTheBookAtThem: [[BewareTheNiceOnes Ringo]] whacks Paul with a book on English pronunciation in one of the Sing-Along intros.
* TitleDrop: In "Don't Bother Me", John repeatedly says "Don't bother me!" to Ringo, cumulating in himself, George and Paul busting out their guitars and actually singing the song. ([[NotNowKiddo Note that Ringo's actually bothering them for a good reason.]])
* {{Trope Maker|s}}[=/=]UrExample: As mentioned in the intro.
* {{Uberwald}}: The Beatles visit Transylvania in more than one episode.
* UnaccustomedAsIAmToPublicSpeaking: George's word-for-word reaction to winning the role of Mr. Hollywood in "Boys".
* UnexplainedAccent: George's, which is not even ''British'', let alone Liverpudlian.
* VagueAge: The Beatles themselves. They're in their moptop-era designs, meaning they're meant to be young adults, yet a couple episodes has them call each other teenagers, and yet another one has them at a legal drinking age.
* WalkingTheEarth: The Beatles, apparently. Usually explained as that they're constantly on tour.
* WasJustLeaving: In [[Recap/TheBeatlesS1E1 "A Hard Day's Night"]], the boys are in Transylvania trekking to a deserted castle so they can rehearse in private. A graveyard is nearby as a stone in the ground of a gravesite opens and a one-eyed hunchbacked figure emerges and asks them if they want something. Stuttering, John answers that they were just leaving. The stranger, very much aware of his appearance, chuckles and reveals that he's the caretaker and that he likes visitors.
-->'''Caretaker:''' You fellows want something?\\
'''John:''' W-w-we were just leaving!\\
'''Caretaker:''' No need to rush off on ''my'' account. I like to have visitors. Drop in. (''chuckles'') Being a caretaker here is a lonely lot.
* WeddingDeadline: "What You're Doing". Never mind that it's a spur-of-the-moment gypsy wedding and probably isn't even legal.
* WhatTheHellHero: When Ringo reveals his hobby is catching "birds" (read: women) and putting them in cages in "Ticket to Ride", this is everyone's general reaction.
* YourSizeMayVary: Size charts were actually made for the Beatles, at least in comparison to each other. John is supposed to be the tallest, Ringo is the shortest, and Paul and George are the same height and somewhere between John and Ringo. [[note]]In real life, John, Paul, and George were pretty close in height; John was made taller in the cartoon to emphasize his leadership role.[[/note]] However, due to Off-Model animation, this didn't always come across very well, both with the Beatles in relation to the setting and occasionally to each other.
----

* OffModel: They're hardly ever on model. The Australian episodes are particularly problematic about this due to the shaky animation. Paul is often the worst offender among the Fab Four; his eyes vary in size from episode to episode and his face shape changes constantly.

* IKissYourHand: John does this to an octopus in "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".

* InteractiveNarrator: The narrator describing the cruise in "I Want To Hold Your Hand." Eventually, the Beatles complain that he's giving away all their disguises and tell him to talk about some other part of the ship. He politely obliges.

* NoodleIncident: According to the episode "I Want to Hold Your Hand," John was once kissed by an octopus "when he was young".

* SecurityCling: The Beatles tend to cling to each other or leap into one another's arms in scary situations. For example, after spooky noises are heard during their rehearsal in "A Hard Day's Night".

* WasJustLeaving: In "A Hard Day's Night", the boys are in Transylvania trekking to a deserted castle so they can rehearse in private. A graveyard is nearby as a stone in the ground of a gravesite opens and a one-eyed hunchbacked figure emerges and asks them if they want something. Stuttering, John answers that they were just leaving. The stranger, very much aware of his appearance, chuckles and reveals that he's the caretaker and that he likes visitors.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* CuffsOffRubWrists: John, Paul and George do this in "Chains."

** Ringo, who is completely clueless.

Many of the same people from the English studio who worked on the cartoon, as well as the American producers, went on to work on ''Yellow Submarine'' (including Lance Percival as Old Fred), one of the many reasons why the Beatles initially wanted nothing to do with the film.

** Lance Percival has said in interviews he gave Ringo a hint of a [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents Birmingham]] accent.

* AbsenteeActor: Paul and John never appear in "Devil in Her Heart", and George and Ringo only make a brief background appearance in "I Saw Her Standing There".

* BritishStuffiness: John, bizarrely enough, considering he was the antithesis of this trope in reality. Done to make him clearly the "leader" of the Beatles. Like everything else, [[DependingOnTheWriter it depends on the episode]]).

* StockFootage: Often used when the Beatles start playing their songs. There are a few band shots that are pretty much Once Per Episode occurrences.

* LimitedAnimation: Most of the Beatles' musical performances during the cartoons use the same shots over and over, and not just within the same cartoon. There seem to be several standard shots used in almost every episode (i.e. Paul, George, and John lined up with their guitars, Ringo shaking his head while drumming). It was pretty rare for an episode to have any outright new footage of the Beatles playing unless circumstances dictated otherwise during the song, such as if they were singing in a vehicle or performing while running from danger.

* BoxingKangaroo: John receives a black eye from one of these in a Sing-Along intro.

* TheJester: Ringo in the sing-a-long segment for "What You're Doing."

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** The mere fact that "Run For Your Life" is in a kids' show. The lyrics to that song are basically saying, "If you ever cheat on me I will hunt you down and kill you."
** Not to mention "Day Tripper." Besides the drug implications, there is even more ''sexual'' innuendo, like:
--->''She's a big teaser / She took me half the way there...''\\
''Tried to please her / She only played one-night stands...''
** "Long Tall Sally" being used for an episode. It's about ''adultery''. Although the story subverts this by referring to a sword with that as its nickname, and merely playing the song in the background during a fight scene. The sing-a-long segment based on the same song, however, makes it pretty clear that Long Tall Sally is a woman Uncle John is into.
** "It Won't be Long": What the title implies in light of John's body being shrunk down to tiny size. Again, the song merely plays in the background.

* DistressBall / DistressedDude: Pretty much OncePerEpisode. One of the Beatles will do or say something blatantly stupid, get into trouble, and then the others will have to help him. Y'know, after they're done singing about it. Ringo and Paul seem the most frequent holders, but John and George have had it tossed to them quite a few times, too.

* FullBodyDisguise: When a prize bull gets knocked unconscious in "Please Please Me," John and Paul try to get Ringo to play a matador while they don a bull costume. When the costume's zipper ''breaks'', though, Ringo ends up facing a '''real''' bull! Which snaps Ringo [[OhCrap into panic]] when he suddenly sees an equally panicky John, Paul and George in the stands (who are trying to warn Ringo of [[NotMeThisTime the danger he's in]]).

** Back in the 1960s The Beatles themselves hated the cartoons when they saw them on TV. George Harrison in particular felt they were awful. Their disapproval may have been the reason why they refused to take Disney's offer to voice four caricatured vultures of themselves in Disney/JungleBook and their own animated versions in WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine.
* NoSwastikas: The Iron Cross option was used in "Paperback Writer," [[AnachronismStew when John Lennon was fighting the Germans]] in a World War 1 scenario.
** On the other hand, it IS WorldWarOne. Germany was only associated with the swastika during [[WorldWarTwo the next go-round]].

** For some reason Paul Frees plays George with a...completely indescribable accent. The closest one can come is that it's a bad Creator/PeterLorre impression by way of Asia and Ireland.
* [[NotNowKiddo Not Now, Ringo]]: In "Don't Bother Me", John keeps ignoring Ringo. Turns out Ringo's actually trying to warn him about some impending death traps.

* RashomonStyle: "Paperback Writer", where each Beatle recounts his own version of meeting the other three. Taken to an extreme in that said versions involve World War I dog-fighting, curing malaria, James Bond-eque antics, and so on.

* SecurityCling: The Beatles tend to cling to each other or leap into one another's arms in scary situations. For example, after spooky noises are heard during their rehearsal in "A Hard Day's Night"
* ShoutOut: The Beatles' characterizations were based on Film/AHardDaysNight, yet dumbed down considerably.

* Music/TheBeatles: Obviously.

* Curse: In "Long Tall Sally", John and Ringo try on a pair of cursed armor suits.

** "Don't Bother Me" uses the "Ringo sleeping on the wrong end of the bed" gag from ''Film/{{Help}}'', and the second opening is a big shout out to Film/JamesBond films. Also in that episode, they face a Generic ArchVillain and a very obvious Mook. He's the spitting image of Oddjob from ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}''.

* AnnoyingLaugh: Ringo's distinctive [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9B4MTXpo_o "Uhuhuhuh Yeh."]]

* AnnoyingLaugh: Ringo's distinctive [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9B4MTXpo_o 'Uhuhuhuh Yeh']].

* AsianSpeekeeEngrish: All over the series, unfortunately. For example, a sign for a miniature garden "It Won't Be Long" introduces "Dr. Ah-So" as the "Honoulable Ploplietor".

* BeautifulAllAlong: The receptionist in "Thank You Girl", who lets down her hair and starts dancing when the Beatles arrive at the cooking school.
* BigFriendlyDog: Gunther from "Gib Mir Deine Hand", who helps them through the Alps.
* BodySnatcher: In "I'm Looking Through You", Ringo's body is stolen by the ghost of an Egyptian pharaoh.

** Certain episodes of the show never aired when the show was re-run on the Disney Channel, likely thanks to ValuesDissonance, though a few of the more dated ones did make it through.

* ChainedToARailway: In "I Feel Fine," Paul is put in a movie scene with a damsel in distress tied to railroad tracks with a steam train approaching. Subverted in that Paul reveals the the train is a phony cardboard cutout operated by a crew member when [[{{Trainstopping}} he stops it]], [[TeethFlying causing one of the member's teeth to fall out]]. The actor Dick Dashing is not amused. Then it becomes a DoubleSubversion near the end of the episode when he attempts to stop the train approaching the damesel, but [[PaintedTunnelRealTrain it turns out to be a real train this time]] (still with steam locomotive, though [[JustTrainWrong it makes the sound of a diesel train]].)

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: At the end of "Chains", Ringo punishes his bandmates for trying to mutiny against him (long story) by pushing them off a diving board into a pool full of fangirls. He then jumps off himself.

* CoveredInKisses: Paul (sans lipstick) in "Eight Days a Week".

* DisguisedInDrag: George, in "What You're Doing", to get Ringo out of a Gypsy wedding. It backfires spectacularly when one of the male Gypsies falls for him.
* DisneyAcidSequence: "Strawberry Fields Forever". There is a plot to the episode, about cheering up the kids at a depressing orphanage, but the story just ends up completely discarded in favor of John, Paul, George, and Ringo flying around through rainbows and daisies and strawberries and other assorted psychedelic imagery. Complete with a "What the hell just happened?" conversation at the end.

* TheDoorSlamsYou: In "She Loves You", when the knife thrower storms into his room he crushes all four Beatles behind the door.

* InstitutionalApparel: In "Paperback Writer", John, George, and Ringo are briefly shown wearing British prison uniforms during Paul's version of the story.
* IncredibleShrinkingMan: John in "It Won't Be Long". The others think he's "some kind of new Beatles doll" [[HoYay and proceed to fight over him]].
* InOneEarOutTheOther: In "I've Just Seen a Face", the only thing Paul and George spot when peering through Ringo's ears on opposite sides are each other's eyes.
* InteractiveNarrator: The narrator describing the cruise in "I Want To Hold Your Hand". Eventually, the Beatles complain that he's giving away all their disguises and tell him to talk about some other part of the ship. He politely obliges.

* TheJester: Ringo in the sing-a-long segment for "What You're Doing".
* KnifeOutline: Ringo gets one via a knife thrower in "She Loves You".

* MasterOfDisguise: Anyface from "No Reply".
* UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette: Ringo dreams he's having an affair with her in "Run For Your Life".

* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Albeit with wax versions of themselves in "Misery".
* NoodleIncident: According to the episode "I Want to Hold Your Hand", John was once kissed by an octopus "when he was young".
* [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Normal-Skinned Space Babe]]: One of these tries to "save the universe from The Beatles" by stranding them on a random planet in "Day Tripper".

* NoSwastikas: The Iron Cross option was used in "Paperback Writer", [[AnachronismStew when John Lennon was fighting the Germans]] in a World War 1 scenario.

** Lance Percival has said in interviews he gave Ringo a hint of a UsefulNotes/{{B|ritishAccents}}irmingham accent.

* ScheherezadeGambit: In "The Word". If the Beatles can find the password involving the word "love", they'll be rescued by the harem girls' father; the girls then manage to convince their sheik to let the Beatles play one song before they're thrown to the crocodiles.

* TakeThatKiss: "I Saw Her Standing There"; Jose's girl Rosita plants one on John after she's impressed by his "dancing."

--> '''John''': "What a dream I just had!"\\
'''Ringo''': "We know, we were there."

--> '''John:''' There! Safe as in a mother's arms.
--> '''Ringo:''' [[TheDitz Me mother dropped me once.]]
--> '''John:''' I know. That's why I didn't sew it in your hat.

--> '''George:''' I just can't help worrying about Ringo. Sometimes he's like a little kid!
--> ''[cut to Ringo wandering around in the woods]''
--> '''Ringo:''' I'd better be getting back. George always needs someone to look after him, poor lad.

-->'''Flamenco Dancer:''' We will duel to the finish! Choose your weapon, señor!
-->'''John:''' How about bean bags at twenty paces, eh?
-->'''Flamenco Dancer:''' Ugh, I will choose them for you. Your sword, señor!
-->'''John:''' But...[[ComicallyMissingThePoint but one of us is liable to get hurt!]] Namely, me...

--> ''She's a big teaser / She took me half the way there...''\\
''Tried to please her / She only played one-night stands...''

--> '''George:''' Well, don't stray too far. They tell me there's some mighty strange creatures livin' in these woods.
--> '''Ringo:''' Oh, George, you and your silly superstitions. Besides, can't you see I got me magic ring to ward off evil spirits?

--> '''Paul:''' Help me to find that doll, boys, I want to take it home. It belongs to me.
--> '''John:''' Me?! Belong to him?!
--> ''Cue song.''

--> '''Ringo:''' You call this a quiet spot? It's all jungle.
--> '''{{G|entlemanAdventurer}}uide:''' Should suit you boys fine. You chaps do have a reputation of being ''tigers'', y'know. Ahahahahaha! Oh, I say, that is a good one, isn't it? [[DontExplainTheJoke "Jungle tigers", get it?]]
--> '''Ringo:''' Haha, yeh, [[SnarkBall but I don't think I want it]].

* LetsSeeYOUDoBetter: In "I Feel Fine", Paul insults an actor by calling his stunts "fake" and "phony". The actor responds by locking Paul onto the movie set, which turns out to be a DeathCourse, and forcing him to save the lead actress from various traps. [[spoiler: She ends up clouting the actor over the head with an umbrella, and Paul over his head with his own guitar.]]

-->'''George:''' Hold on. Look at that suspicious-looking bloke. And notice that package he's holding so gingerly. You know what I think it is?
-->'''Ringo:''' Gingersnaps?

* MarieAntoinette: Ringo dreams he's having an affair with her in "Run For Your Life".

* ChainedToARailway: In "I Feel Fine," Paul is put in a movie scene with a damsel in distress tied to railroad tracks with a steam train approaching. Subverted in that Paul reveals the the train is a phony cardboard cutout operated by a crew member when [[{{Trainstopping}} he stops it]], [[TeethFlying causing one of the member's teeth to fall out]].

->''"Yeah yeah yeah!"''

* AnnoyingLaugh: Ringo's distinctive [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9B4MTXpo_o 'Uhuhuhuh Yeah']].

--> '''Ringo:''' Haha, yeah, [[SnarkBall but I don't think I want it]].