As said many times, have always had a lifelong love of animation, old and new. Disney, Studio Ghibli, Hanna Barbera, Tom and Jerry, Hanna Barbera, Looney Tunes and also the works of Tex Avery and Fleischer. With a broader knowledge of animation styles, directors, studios and how it was all done actually love it even more now.
Have also loved William Shakespeare's work from an early age, remember very fondly reading various parts aloud in primary and secondary school English classes when studying the likes of 'Macbeth', 'Much Ado About Nothing' and 'Twelfth Night' and various film adaptations such as Kenneth Branagh's 'Much Ado About Nothing' and Roman Polanski's 'Macbeth'. So a large part of me was hugely intrigued by 'Shakespeare: The Animated Tales', with such a high appreciation of both animation and Shakespeare. There was also the worry of whether Shakespeare would work as short animated adaptations compressed and condensed, when some much longer adaptations have suffered.
It was wonderful that 'Shakespeare: The Animated Tales' not only lived up to expectations but exceeded them. All my worries of whether it would work quickly evaporated when it absolutely did work and brilliantly.
Even with the short length, the essence and spirit of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (among his most famous, best and most timeless and one of my most anticipated of the series) are handled superbly. It doesn't suffer from the condensation, nothing is incoherent which is a big achievement seeing as it is a very complicated plot. Not all the humour is there sure, but that's forgivable when it's still engaging and very funny.
Shakespeare's colourful and thought-provoking language is as colourful and thought-provoking as one would hope, so many recognisable moments with all their impact. All in a way to appeal and be understandable to a wide audience, being easy to understand for younger audiences (of which the series is a perfect introduction of Shakespeare to), with such complex text and story elements a lot of credit is due. Adults will relish how the text is delivered, the many quotable lines and how well the essence of is captured.
Younger audiences and adults alike will marvel and laugh out loud at the humour and be entranced by the dream-like atmosphere. There shouldn't be any confusion and there is nothing to scare youngsters. The characters are true to personality, with the lovers being a long way from bland and Puck and Bottom being the most colourful and entertaining.
The visuals are very appealing to look at, colourful, meticulously detailed, nicely rendered and atmospheric and perfectly suited to the various characters and tone of the play. The music is never inappropriate, the narration is never over-explanatory or annoying and always sincerely delivered by Menna Trussler.
All the voice cast are on top form with Daniel Massey (as a suitably strong-willed Oberon), Anthony Jackson (playing Puck's mischievous personality with gusto) and Bernard Hill (hilarious as Bottom) the standouts. Pete Postelthwaite is great as always and Suzanne Bertish is an interesting choice for Titania and brings out her proudness and forcefulness very well. The voicing of the younger characters are hardly inferior.
Overall, brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox
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