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Product Description
Renowned author and Shakespeare scholar Leon Garfield adapts 12 plays, abridged and animated renditions of the classic texts that are fully faithful to the narrative and language of the Bard. The adaptations use a variety of animation techniques and features the vocal talents of Felicity Kendal, Alun Armstrong, Joss Ackland and Zoe Wanamaker, among others. The plays are: 'Macbeth'; 'Hamlet'; 'Romeo and Juliet'; 'Othello'; 'Twelfth Night'; 'As You Like It'; 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'; 'The Taming of the Shrew'; 'A Winter's Tale'; 'Richard III'; 'Julius Caesar' and 'The Tempest'.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A few weeks ago, I was browsing on YouTube and came across an excerpt from one of the Shakespeare Animated Tales, and was reminded of how enjoyable and clever they were when they were first broadcast by the BBC in the 1990s. I ordered the DVD boxset online from Amazon straight away, and was astonished to have it arrive by post within 3 days!
I love these animated tales - not only have the makers somehow captured the essence of each play in just 30 minutes, but also reflected the individual flavour of each piece with the style of animation used: dark, claustrophobic paintings on glass for the tragic Hamlet, and brightly coloured, fun stop-motion animation for comedies like Twelfth Night.
These little half-hour gems are not only edifying, but also entertaining, and - as has no doubt been demonstrated effectively during BBC's schools broadcasts over the last decade or so - are a perfect form of introduction for children to the rich literary tapestry and language of Shakespeare's works.
I love these animated tales - not only have the makers somehow captured the essence of each play in just 30 minutes, but also reflected the individual flavour of each piece with the style of animation used: dark, claustrophobic paintings on glass for the tragic Hamlet, and brightly coloured, fun stop-motion animation for comedies like Twelfth Night.
These little half-hour gems are not only edifying, but also entertaining, and - as has no doubt been demonstrated effectively during BBC's schools broadcasts over the last decade or so - are a perfect form of introduction for children to the rich literary tapestry and language of Shakespeare's works.
193 of 201 people found the following review helpful
By Jawad Khan
Format:DVD
Here's my review, I hope it is helpful:
This Animated Shakespeare Box Set, winner of 2 Emmy awards, contains 12 of the bard's plays that were originally broadcast on BBC2 in 1994. The scripts for the 'Animated Tales' have been adapted from the original Shakespeare by Leon Garfield. A reknowed Shakespearean scholar, Garfield worked closely with a panel of academic experts to create plays that are masterfully abridged to only 30 minutes, yet are faithful to Shakespeare's language and plots.
The 12 episodes are :
1. Romeo & Juliet
2. Twelfth Night
3. The Tempest
4. A Midsummer's Nights Dream
5. Richard III
6. Othello
7. The Taming Of The Shrew
8. Macbeth
9. A Winter's Tale
10. As You Like It
11. Hamlet
12. Julius Caesar
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By "lh690"
Format:VHS Tape
This may be a cartoon, but it's not for children exclusively. Contrary to what you may expect, this one doesn't totally dilute the violence or substitute Shakespeare's language for a simple-to-understand dialect; there are a few gory bits (although they are obviously no way near as shocking as some of the scenes featured in other adaptations, such as Roman Polanski's film) and the dialogue isn't changed, letting some of the most memorable, disturbing lines keep their edge.
This animation is about half an hour long, and that comes as a slight disappointment: quite a few chunks that the adults will remember have been cut down significantly or have gone completely. For example, the viewer isn't really shown Macbeth's real motives for the murders, so newcomers to the play may be slightly confused with what's actually going on.
Overall, this is worth your money if you either like the original play of Macbeth, or are looking for an alternative to the live action screen adaptations of the play. I don't see why they couldn't have made it a bit longer though, which is the cartoon's main weakness.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent.
Watched years ago with daughter. Now she is older she loves it again and is preparing her for when she really has to study it. Great!
Published 1 month ago by Ailsa
5.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and an indispensable resource for teaching! Shakespeare...
I used to watch The Animated Tales as a teenager and it sparked my love of Shakespeare plays. Abridged into 20-30 minutes, each animated feature captures the essence of the play in... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Anon
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good to have in your Shakespeare library
This is a good resource to have in your Shakespeare library to use in conjunction with other resources. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Libby
4.0 out of 5 stars
shakespeare animated tales
great as a taster or an introduction to Shakespeare, good for children but the language is still a little difficult in places
Published on 8 May 2011 by ct
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent resource
I teach teenagers with special needs and I have found this DVD an excellent introduction to Shakespeare's plays. Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2011 by croft original
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb
I love these animated tales. I remember watching them as boy, and they haven't lost their magic now. Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2010 by Harri
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Little Masterpiece in Itself!
Want an accessible student's introduction to twelve of Shakespeare's best-loved and most-studied plays? Look no further. Read more
Published on 10 Aug 2010 by Phat Fay
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quality Reduced Shakespeare
Although some of the animation is a bit dated compared to more modern animation, this is still a great DVD set. Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2010 by Mr. P. Wittle
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant
Brought this boxset for my children after I remembered having watched it when it was originally broadcasted on the BBC when I was a child, particularly for my 9 year old but even... Read more
Published on 23 Feb 2010 by Kimi
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent animation dvd
This is a fabulous dvd. I use it with children. They love it. It features animations of key parts of the plays with the language of Shakespeare. Read more
Published on 29 April 2009 by angelorl
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