Canterbury Tales (Animated) (DVD)

...much in ages! The animated Canterbury Tales is a masterful and extremely well done re-telling of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

The animation is better than first rate. The animations were undertaken by some of the top animators in Europe, made in Wales and Russia the production values were exceedingly good. It was almost possible to forget that they were animations, sometimes, the work was so exquisite.

The Canterbury ...
...14th century secret agent. The Canterbury Tales was not entirely finished, but must be one of the most enduring pieces of fiction ever written in England.

The characters of the pilgrims who were taking part in the pilgrimage form London to Thomas a Becket's shrine in Canterbury really come to life, especially through the medium of this DVD.

The characters are in turns venal, crass, rude, diplomatic, churlish, bombastic, ... more

I do not think that we laughed so much in ages! The animated Canterbury Tales is a masterful and extremely well done re-telling of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

The animation is better than first rate. The animations were undertaken by some of the top animators in Europe, made in Wales and Russia the production values were exceedingly good. It was almost possible to forget that they were animations, sometimes, the work was so exquisite.

The Canterbury Tales were written by Geoffrey Chaucer who was a scholar, a gentleman, a diplomat and also something of a 14th century secret agent. The Canterbury Tales was not entirely finished, but must be one of the most enduring pieces of fiction ever written in England.

The characters of the pilgrims who were taking part in the pilgrimage form London to Thomas a Becket's shrine in Canterbury really come to life, especially through the medium of this DVD.

The characters are in turns venal, crass, rude, diplomatic, churlish, bombastic, chivalrous, angry and friendly as they each tell their own tales on the long trek that made up the pilgrimage. And they are all vividly and sharply drawn. From life, or so it seems. We both seemed to recognise the characters in people that we know or knew at one time or another.

The vocal talents are provided by the crème de la crème of British acting of stage, cinema screen and television. Sean Bean, Richard Griffiths, Robert Lindsay, Tim McInnery, Bill Nighy, Bob Peck, Liz Smith and Imelda Staunton all feature on this superlative DVD.

The tales shown on the DVD are: The Squire's tale, the Cannon's Servant's tale, the Miller's tale, The Reeve's tale, The Nun's Priest's tale, The Knight's tale, The Wife of Bath's tale, The Merchant's Tale, The Pardoner's tale and the Franklin's tale.

All are extremely entertaining. Some are amusing, some are moving, and some are both amusing and moving. There are tales of chivalrous Knights, of chivalrous alchemists, of drunken students and of fast friends who become dangerous and deadly foes.

Amongst my favourite tales is that of Chanticleer and Pertelote. Chanticleer is a proud cock and Pertolete the love of his life. Along with the other six ladies in his harem, of course! Both Chanticleer, Pertelote and a fox learn several valuable lessons.

There is also a written biography of Geoffrey Chaucer on the DVD. I feel it would have been preferable to have had this read by the actors who appeared on the DVD, but that is a minor quibble as this is probably one of the best films I have seen (animated or otherwise) for a long time.

It earned a Oscar nomination and won the BAFTA for best animated short film in 1998. It was shown on BBC2.

This version is in modern English. 

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