Chief Blue Meanie

The leader of the Blue Meanies

Chief Blue Meanie (real name as "Venuz B. Meanie") is the chief of the Blue Meanies and is the primary antagonist in Yellow Submarine. He is a flamboyant character, who is set on conquering Pepperland and ruling with fear and oppression; a supreme despot given to psychotic tantrums and violent mood swings. His most heinous of crimes from The Beatles' point of view, however, like the rest of the Blue Meanies, is their hatred of music. He is voiced by Paul Angelis.

Appearance

Like the other Blue Meanies, the Chief is masked, has yellowed teeth with a navy blue woolen suit and massive, paw-like hands with six claws on each. He is taller than most of the other Meanies and whereas the "common" Blue Meanies wear a hat reminiscent of Mickey Mouse ears, his hat looks more like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's. Also, whereas the "common" Blue Meanies wear orange and yellow striped stockings with Mary Jane shoes, he (and his assistant, Max) wears jackboots, complete with spurs: a pale blue boot on the right foot, a navy blue boot on the left. He has an unpredictable, if not split, personality, which sends him from apparently effeminate, quiet and friendly to loud, raging and malicious - though no less buffoonish in either. Max is often the victim of his abuse, being punched, shot or stomped on by a "Butterfly Stomper". He also has another Meanie carry around a stool so that he can sit down whenever he likes; presumably, were he to fall on the ground it would be at the stool-carrier's peril. He also states (until the very end, when he starts warming to the Beatles) that "we Meanies only take 'no' for an answer", and gets extremely angry at the sound of the word "yes", even when being answered in the affirmative. Sometimes his own aggression gets the better of him and he needs to be revived with "nasty medicine", which makes him even more eccentric than he already is. He encourages his army of Meanies to be as unpleasant as possible, but after admitting defeat, he is able to become nicer and invites the Meanies to celebrate with the Beatles.

Storyline

Assault on Pepperland

The Chief Blue Meanie arrives in Pepperland accompanied by Max, his assistant, and his large army of Meanies. He begins his campaign of terrorizing Pepperland by firing a massive glass ball at the Beatles' doubles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band, who play music in this peaceful and colorful world, where all the natives generally behave in a friendly manner towards one another. As the Chief comments, "it can't last". The soundproof glass sphere covers the band, making their music inaudible, and in their panic to run away, the natives are fired at by the Blue Meanies' guns, whose missiles both drain their victims' color on contact and seem to petrify them. The Chief bombards the natives with various weapons and other evil species that vary in their ferocity and eccentricity (as demonstrated when the Beatles' arrival to Pepperland, when a sharp-toothed "snapping turtle-Turk", consumes a young girl's paper windmill) that will reduce Pepperland's colorful hills and plants to bare thorns and grey wasteland, with the only green existing in the form of giant apples that the "Apple Bonkers" pluck from trees to "bonk" on peoples' heads.

The Submarine's Return

Later in the film, the Meanies kidnap the Beatles' friend and comrade, Jeremy Hillary Boob Ph.D., also known as the "Nowhere Man". After the Beatles finally arrive in Pepperland, the Chief Blue Meanie is incensed when he sees the hills and trees returning to their proper colors at the sound of their music; he sends his fiercest weapon, "The Dreadful Flying Glove" after the heroes. The Glove is thwarted by the Beatles song "All You Need Is Love", and the Meanies flee, knocking over the chief in the process.

In a final, petty attempt at retribution, the Chief threatens to tear the newly freed Nowhere Man into little pieces. However, he is thwarted by Jeremy's poetry and magic, sprouting roses from his nose and body. He flees with the rest of his army, unsure of what to do now that "it's no longer a blue world"; Max suggests they flee to Argentina. However, Jeremy's roses cause the Chief to have a change of heart, so he embraces the word "yes" and takes on the title "His Newness". He concedes defeat and decides to "mix" with the Beatles and Pepperlanders with him additionally describing his cousin as "the bluebird of happiness."

Gallery

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  "We meanies only take "no" for an answer!"

  

  

  

  

  "IS THAT UNDERSTOOD MAX?!"

  

  "Explode them!"

  

  "Splendid."

  

  

  "Today, Pepperland goes bluey."

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Chief Blue Meanie with pink flowers around his body

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  "FIRE!" The Chief ordering his army to attack Pepperland

  

  

  

  

  

  "Whaaaat?! The Glove is loosing his touch!"

  

  

  "Destroy it forever!"