The Animated Shakespeare

Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (also known as The Animated Shakespeare) comprised two six-part television series, first broadcast in 1992 and 1994. Each episode was an animated half-hour adaptation of one of Shakespeare's plays.

The series was commissioned by BBC Wales for the Welsh language channel S4C (although it was commissioned in English). Production was co-ordinated by the Dave Edwards studio in Cardiff, and executed by well-known Russian directors and animators in Moscow. The scripts were written by children's author Leon Garfield, using mainly Shakespearian language. The academic consultant was professor Stanley Wells.

For the English-language version, the productions generally used British actors for the voices, including Hugh Grant. A Russian dubbing was recorded afterwards. After the success of the first series, the voice actors in the second series tended to be "bigger names".

The series was noted for its wide range of animation techniques. The animation was done completely in Moscow at Christmasfilms Studio, by a selection of Russia's most renowned animators. Other animated adaptations produced by the same team include Operavox (1995) and The Canterbury Tales (1998–2000).

In the United States, the series aired on HBO and was hosted by Robin Williams.

List of episodes

Documentary (BBC2, 2 November 1992)

• Animating Shakespeare — half-hour "making-of" documentary

Series 1 (BBC2, 9 November–14 December 1992)

• A Midsummer Night's Dream — dir. Robert Saakiants, cel animation with Daniel Massey as Oberon, Bernard Hill as Nick Bottom and Peter Postlethwaite as Quince.
• The Tempest — dir. Stanislav Sokolov, stop-motion puppets with Timothy West as Prospero, Alun Armstrong as Caliban and Martin Jarvis as The Narrator
• Macbeth — dir. Nikolai Serebryakov, cel animation with Brian Cox as Macbeth and Zoë Wanamaker as Lady Macbeth.
• Romeo and Juliet — dir. Efim Gamburg, cel animation with Linus Roache as Romeo and Claire Holman as Juliet
• Hamlet — dir. Natalya Orlova, paint-on-glass with Nicholas Farrell as Hamlet, John Shrapnel as Claudius/The King and Tilda Swinton as Ophelia.
• Twelfth Night — dir. Mariya Muat, stop-motion puppets with Fiona Shaw as Viola, Roger Allam as Orsino, Stephen Tompkinson as Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Hugh Grant as Sebastian

Series 2 (BBC2, 2 November–14 December 1994)

• King Richard III — dir. Natalya Orlova, paint-on-glass with Antony Sher as Richard III, Tom Wilkinson as Buckingham and Michael Maloney as George, Duke of Clarence
• The Taming of the Shrew — dir. Aida Ziablikova, stop-motion puppets with Amanda Root as Kate.
• As You Like It — dir. Alexei Karayev, oil paint on cel with Sylvestra Le Touzel as Rosalind
• Julius Caesar — dir. Yuri Kulakov, cel animation with Joss Ackland as Julius Caesar, Hugh Quarshie as Cassius and Jim Carter as Mark Anthony.
• The Winter's Tale — dir. Stanislav Sokolov, stop-motion puppets with Anton Lesser as Leontes, Jenny Agutter as Hermione and Michael Kitchen as Polixenes
• Othello — dir. Nikolai Serebryakov, cel animation with Colin McFarlane as Othello and Gerald McSorley as Iago.

External links

• Shakespeare: The Animated Tales at the Internet Movie Database

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