"Shakespeare: The Animated Tales"
Hamlet (1992)

Director:

Natalya Orlova

TV Series:

"Shakespeare: The Animated Tales" (1992)

Original Air Date:

7 December 1992 (Season 1, Episode 5)

Genre:

Animation

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Shakespeare's Hamlet | Based On Play | Character Name In Title | Shakespeare | William Shakespeare

Cast

Michael Kitchen	...	Narrator (voice)
Nicholas Farrell	...	Hamlet (voice)
John Shrapnel	...	Claudius / The Ghost (voice)
Susan Fleetwood	...	Gertrude (voice)
Tilda Swinton	...	Ophelia (voice)
John Warner	...	Polonius (voice)
Dorien Thomas	...	Horatio (voice)
Andrew Wincott	...	Laertes (voice)

Runtime:

26 min

Country:

Russia | UK | USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Company:

Soyuzmultfilm

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Something was rotten in the state of Denmark. The King was dead, poisoned by a serpent in his orchards, so it was said. And the poison lingered on.

Movie Connections:

Version of Khoon Ka Khoon (1935)

Short, Sweet, and to the Point!

I bought this because I'm doing Hamlet for my college class in teaching Shakespeare. It's only 30 minutes, brief, and to the point about the basics of Hamlet's story. I think the quality of the animation could have been a lot better which is why I gave it an 8 and it could have been a little more detailed in the storytelling. But if you're looking for something to keep the kids interested, I think this is effective in teaching Hamlet without overburdening them too much. Hamlet can be a difficult subject to teach at any levels. I applaud the animated Shakespeare tales and suggest that they improve their quality and animated figures to the quality of today's technology. There is so much that could have been improved and worthy of doing so. Tilda Swinton has the voice of Ophelia in this tale. So please there is so much that can be done with animation and Shakespeare.