| Description | Papers relating to 'Shakespeare: the Animated Tales', collected by Professor Stanley Wells, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Literary Adviser on the Academic-Educational Advisory Panel for the project. The 'Animated Tales' series comprised twelve, thirty-minute animated adaptations of Shakespeare plays, co-produced by S4C and Soyuzmulitifilm (Moscow). The papers include cassette recordings of voice tracks, working scripts abridged by Leon Garfield, copies of story boards, correspondence, minutes of project meetings, publicity material, articles and reviews. |
| Administrative History | 'Shakespeare: the Animated Tales' was co-produced by HBO(USA), HIT Communications, S4C Welsh Television, and the Fujisankei Media Group. It was originally conceived by the Welsh television network S4C. Series executive producer Christopher Grace, and producer/director Dave Edwards engaged Soyuzmultifilm Studios in Moscow to produce the animation. Three distinct styles were utilised: traditional cel animation, puppetry and painting on glass plates. Shakespeare's texts were adapted by Leon Garfield. Members of the Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company recorded the voice-overs. An Academic-Educational Advisory Panel was established, which included Professor Stanley Wells, Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Birmingham, Director of the Shakespeare Institute and Editor of The Oxford Shakespeare, whose role it was to ensure the accuracy of the texts. The panel also included Dr Rex Gibson, Michael Marland, C.B.E, and Roy Kendall as the Academic Co-ordinator.
The 'Animated Tales' was made in two series. BBC2 transmission of the first series began on 9 Nov 1992, and included 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (dir. Robert Saakiantz; cel animation); 'The Tempest' (dir. Stanislav Sokolov; puppet animation); 'Macbeth' (dir. Nikolia Serebriakov; cel animation); 'Romeo and Juliet' (dir. Efim Gamburg; cel animation); 'Hamlet' (dir. Natasha Orlova; painting on glass), and 'Twelfth Night' (dir. Maria Muat; puppet animation). It was repeated as a BBC Schools Broadcast in 1993. A Welsh language version of this series was produced by S4C. The second series was broadcast in 1994, and included 'Othello', 'Richard the Third', 'As You Like It', 'The Winter's Tale', 'The Taming of the Shrew', and
'Julius Caesar'. |
| Custodial History | Papers collected by Professor Stanley Wells, former Director of the Shakespeare Institute and text advisor to the 'Animated Tales' project |