Editing Magical Mystery Tour (section)

==Artwork and packaging==
[[File:Your Mother Should Know still from the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour EP booklet.jpg|thumb|The booklet's still from the scene for "Your Mother Should Know". That McCartney wore a black carnation while Lennon, Harrison and Starr wore red carnations served as a clue for proponents of the [[Paul is dead]] conspiracy.{{sfn|Womack|2014|p=1053}}]]
As part of the unusual format, the Beatles decided to package the two EPs in a gatefold sleeve with a 24-page booklet.{{sfn|Neaverson|1997|p=53}}{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|p=92}} The record's cover featured a photo of the Beatles in animal costumes, taken during the shoot for "I Am the Walrus", and marked the first time that the band members' faces were not visible on one of their EP or LP releases.{{sfn|Shaar Murray|2002|pp=130–31}} The booklet contained song lyrics, photographer John Kelly's colour stills from the filming,{{sfn|Shaar Murray|2002|p=130}} and colour story illustrations in the [[comic strip]] style{{sfn|Neaverson|1997|p=53}} by ''[[The Beatles Book|Beatles Book]]'' cartoonist [[Bob Gibson (artist)|Bob Gibson]].{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=131}} It was compiled by Barrow, with input from McCartney.{{sfn|Black|2002|p=138}}{{refn|group=nb|The EP credits read, "Book Edited by Tony Barrow", while [[Neil Aspinall]] and [[Mal Evans]] were listed as "Editorial Consultants (for Apple)".<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=Magical Mystery Tour|others=[[The Beatles]]|year=1967|page=1|type=EP booklet|publisher=Parlophone/NEMS Enterprises}}</ref>}} Of the double-EP package, film studies academic Bob Neaverson later commented: "While it certainly solved the song quota problem, one suspects that it was also partly born of the Beatles' pioneering desire to experiment with conventional formats and packaging."{{sfn|Neaverson|1997|p=54}} In line with the band's wishes, the packaging reinforced the idea that the release was a film soundtrack rather than a follow-up to ''Sgt. Pepper'', which was still receiving critical plaudits and enjoying commercial success in late 1967.{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=452}}

When preparing the US release, Capitol enlarged the photos and illustrations to LP size inside a gatefold album sleeve.{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|p=92}} The cover design was done by [[John Van Hamersveld]],{{sfn|Womack|2014|p=598}} the head of Capitol's art department, working from the artwork sent from EMI in London.{{sfn|Kubernik|2014|pp=127–28}} He recalled that Capitol's vice-president of distribution was concerned about how to market a record where the Beatles' faces were hidden behind their costumes, since cover portraits had been key to the success of the group's US LPs. Van Hamersveld therefore augmented the "underground graphic" cover image with a design concept that highlighted the songs.{{sfn|Kubernik|2014|pp=128–29}}

In Gould's description, the LP cover "had the garish symmetry of a movie poster" through the combination of the Beatles' animal costumes, the "rainbow" film logo, and the song titles rendered in art-deco lettering "amid a border of op-art clouds".{{sfn|Gould|2007|pp=452–53}}{{refn|group=nb|Van Hamersveld recalled working on the cover alongside his psychedelic poster for the first [[Shrine Auditorium|Pinnacle Shrine]] rock exposition.{{sfn|Kubernik|2014|pp=129–30}}}} The artwork was later cited by proponents of the [[Paul is dead]] theory as evidence of McCartney's alleged demise in November 1966.{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|p=127}} Clues included the appearance of a black walrus (Lennon in costume) on the front cover, which was thought to signify death in some areas of Scandinavia; McCartney wearing a black carnation in an image from the "Your Mother Should Know" film sequence; and, on another page from the booklet, McCartney seated behind a sign reading "I WaS".{{sfn|Womack|2014|pp=597–98}}