SHAKESPEARE: THE ANIMATED TALES - DVD review

Educators might cringe to have two and three-hour plays condensed to 30-minute animated features, but "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales" reminds me of a popular series of comic books that was published when I was young. "Classics Illustrated" offered comics on just about every great work of literature. My favorites included "Last of the Mohicans," "The Count of Monte Cristo," and "Moby-Dick"—three long and (for adolescents) dry-as-dust classics you couldn't have PAID me to read as a ten year old. But I loved those comics, and years later eventually read the books that inspired them. Never mind that I concluded, as Mark Twain did, that James Fennimore Cooper committed grievous literary sins by writing tales of "The Pathfinder" that were more cartoonish in the arena of belief than those cherished comic books. The point is, those abridged and colorful versions gave me a sense of what the books were about, and piqued my curiosity enough to where I wanted, some day, to read every last page of those thick originals.

That's why this series—a collaboration of Christmas Films in Moscow and the BBC in Wales—provides a great service for Literature with a capital "L." It gives shorter snippets of Shakespeare in doses that are more digestible for young minds, far easier to process than the full, theatrical versions. Produced in 1992, the series uses the voice talents of actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company (plus guests, the only known commodity being Hugh Grant on "Twelfth Night") and the genius of the directors and producers of Russia's Christmas Films. What's most interesting, though, is that each of the 12 plays in this four-disc set—"The Tempest," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "As You Like It," "Hamlet," "Julius Caesar," "Richard III," "Romeo & Juliet," "Othello," "The Winter's Tale," "Macbeth," "The Taming of the Shrew," and "Twelfth Night"—has a different and unique animation design that's inspired by the individual plays. The box notes call it "a prolific kaleidoscope of styles," and that's certainly so. But more than that, it's like the prize in a cereal box that makes you want to dig deeper. As I watched these, I found myself eager to see what style would accompany the next play, which made them all the more fun to watch. Some of the artwork is impressionistic, some of it stylized, some of it realistic, and some of it looks as if it came out of old illustrated books of Shakespeare. Then, of course, there's the puppets and their sets.

But Shakespeare is Shakespeare, and there's a plethora of poisonings, incestuous backstabbing, and more characters per square stage foot than a Russian novel. Because the plots are often complex and convoluted and the animated tales use the original language, the plays can be difficult to understand at times. Still, the animation helps to suggest meaning while the mind struggles to grasp what's going on. Shakespeare's world is filled with violence (some of the killing on these animated tales is direct, some implied, some done by shadows) and includes themes that would merit a PG-13 rating (including a suggestive but not revealing nude scene in "Romeo & Juliet"). For all of these reasons, I would suggest that "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales" are best suited for children ages 13 through 17. Parents concerned about the steady drone and drizzle of pop culture will find it worthwhile to watch "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales" with even younger children, though, because there's nothing tasteless about the language, implied sexual situations, swordplay, or suicides. It's all well done and so different from images children are used to seeing in cartoon format that the tales are sure to spark conversation. Want to talk about how society views interracial marriage? Watch "Othello." Want to get into a discussion about how it often takes a tragedy to change people's behavior for the better? Watch "Romeo & Juliet." Obviously, Shakespeare's comedies ("A Midsummer Night's Dream," "As You Like It," "Twelfth Night") are better suited for younger children than his dramas or tragedies. And you'd want to keep the really young ones away from "Macbeth" (Shakespeare's bloodiest play), "Othello," and "Hamlet," because of the preponderance of violence.

As for the abridgments, the screenplays by Leon Garfield hit all the high points of each play, and Garfield seems careful to have included most of the memorable lines from each. Presumably the compression has been approved by the series' literary adviser, Prof. Stanley Wells, and unless you've read the plays recently, the abridged versions feel smooth and seamless. Some of them required voiceover narration (in modern English) to provide context or transitions, but the voiceovers aren't intrusive at all. Mostly, it's the animation that draws our interest. There's something about seeing cartoon characters dressed in Elizabethan togs or Roman/Athenian togas that's almost transfixing, it's so unusual. And the artwork is exquisite! Animation for Shakespeare is a freeing medium which can solve some of the problems of stagecraft and modern political correctness. Theater companies usually struggle, for example, with what to do about Caliban. He's black and grotesque, but to portray him that way these days is to be as politically incorrect as can be. The animated solution? Turn him into a colorful monster! Problems suggesting that Ariel is a spirit? That's easy. Draw her Tinkerbell style and have her fly, leaving behind a trail of pixie dust.

Four plays are produced using puppets and stop-frame animation ("The Tempest," "The Winters Tale," "The Taming of the Shrew," "Twelfth Night"), five use standard cell animation ("A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Julius Caesar," "Romeo & Juliet," "Othello," "Macbeth"), two employ the haunting technique of painting on glass ("Hamlet," "King Richard III") and one uses painting in oils on cels ("As You Like It"). The design styles themselves range from heavily shadowed and crosshatched wood-cuts (for the darker plays) to bright and cheery costumed affairs (for the comedies), and from highly realistic animations to highly stylized ones. My favorites? "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Hamlet," "Romeo & Juliet," "Julius Caesar," "Othello," and "Twelfth Night"—all because of the strength of animation design. Some of the puppet animation will remind you of the old Rudolph and Frosty Christmas shows, where the figures move haltingly. But only "The Tempest" struck me as slightly clumsy. But that's the lone tale of 12 that I found uninteresting and confusing (which is to say that there's a direct link between strength of animation and the viewer's ability to process information). The rest are bold and fascinating, and provide an impressionistic introduction to The Bard's work. It's easy to see why shows from this series have won a number of awards, including a pair of International Emmys.

The 12 tales come in four keep cases with a thin cardboard sleeve, three to a disc. What's nice is that the back cover of each keep case features a brief paragraph describing the play and style of animation, as well as listing the director and designer. Overall, a great package.

Video:
Because animation styles vary with each tale and the tales were produced over a period of years, the quality also varies. The tales have been digitally remastered from their original television prints, and overall, the picture (1.33:1 aspect ratio) is decent, despite tiny occasional flickers of white that undoubtedly are the result of dirt on the negative that couldn't be cleaned up before the transfer. There are also moments of washed-out color in scenes where daylight is supposed to be harsh. Of the 12 tales, only "The Tempest" struck me as being so noticeably grainy that I was conscious of watching a cartoon made many years ago. The rest are quite good. Though English subtitles are included for the "hearing impaired," people unfamiliar with the language of Shakespeare will find it helpful to watch these with the subtitles on.

Audio:
The background music to the tales is period-friendly (baroque, madrigal, etc.), and the chamber quality makes it so that the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is sufficient—though the animated effects, especially during storms at sea, are so vibrant that one might wish for some rear-speaker ambient sound to complete the experience. The original production sound was remastered for the DVD edition. No complaints here either.

Extras:
There are no extras, but so what? To borrow a line from Shakespeare, "The play's the thing."

Bottom Line:
To buy, or not to buy, that is the question. Will parents spend $79.99 to give their children a little culture, or will the expense feel, anon, like murder most foul? If all the world's a stage, one solution might be to simply phone your local public library and ask them to order "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales" so that not only your children but others in your community can watch these innovative animations from Ambrose Video Publishing (http://www.documentary-video.com). They provide the same thing that "Classics Illustrated" did for children several decades ago: a visually stimulating abridged version of classic literature that will expose them to a world beyond after-school cartoons, and may even inspire them to delve into Shakespeare more fully as adults. These animated tales are a treasure trove of literature and art!