‘Shakespeare: The Animated Tales’ were simply a couple of second hand DVD’s I picked up at a market. Little did I know I had stumbled upon a real treasure! The result of a rather strange collaboration between a Welsh Television channel and an animation studio in Moscow, the series consists of twelve, 30 minute animations of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.
They are an odd and unexpected mix, but some are truly great. While ‘Hamlet’ and ‘The Winter’s Tale’ won Emmys, for me, it’s the stop motion puppet animation of ‘The Tempest’ that really shines. It’s as bewitching and magical as Prospero’s books!
Many characters are voiced by some of our finest actors – Timothy West as Prospero or Tilda Swinton as Ophelia…
If you can find them on Youtube wonders await you!
