Review of Shakespeare: The Animated Tales

Relatively recently, the BBC has become a beacon of popular culture. The television channel broke into this category with the aid of shows with cult followings and well-known actors- remakes like Doctor Who (2005), re-imaginings like Sherlock (2010), and historical dramas like Downton Abbey (2010). Before this modern era of broadcast, the BBC produced a slew of well-received and painfully detailed (at least, to my younger, crankier self who used them to stay up past bedtime) miniseries. Some examples that come to mind are the 1973 four hour long Jane Eyre and the 1995 six-episode Pride and Prejudice. Around that same time, apparently, they cut Shakespeare's plays to under a half an hour (25:47, to be exact) and filmed them using Claymation. Clearly the second half of the twentieth century was a branching point for the BBC, turning away from animation films (short though they may have been) and towards live-acted series with big name actors (for example Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in P&P, way to start that trend with a bang!). Since the BBC's Animated Tales recounting of The Taming of the Shrew is so shortened, it is understandably a bit simplified. The enveloping narrative gets a bit rushed through, with only the barest bones of that story line coming through. The drunkard is found, the lord decides to play his trick, and the scene cuts to him passed out in a poster bed. From there, his name is only mentioned in passing, no one dresses up as Christopher-Sly-turned-Lord's wife, and he never leaves his borrowed bed or changes from his borrowed pajamas. Once the play within the play begins, the simplification continues. Kate and Petruchio's portion of the play becomes the meat of the entire twenty five odd minutes. Both Bianca's complicated story with her multiple suitors and Lucentio's subterfuge in swapping places with his servant in order to woo her under her father's nose become background noise. The only times they come into clarity are when they feed back into the drama of the "taming." First, Bianca's situation and her options are used as a way to introduce Kate and establish her as her sister's foil. Then, the two marriages other than the focus couple's and the ways they come about (sneakily dating and older widow as backup plan) are sped through in order to bring said couple back to Padua and lay the groundwork for the competition of wives. Even so, the explanation of these side tales is delivered through the tiny narrator who seems to exist in both the play and reality, without a clear position in either. The "taming" itself is even condensed. This begins on their wedding day, when Petruchio refuses to allow Kate to eat or celebrate with their guests. Instead, Petruchio manhandles a protesting Kate out of the hall, onto a horse, and through a thunder storm. They arrive at their home to find frenzied servants, whom Kate meets in complete disarray from a tough journey that included rough riding, falling from her horse, and more water and mud than her bridal getup could survive. From there, Petruchio refuses her food under the pretense that it is burnt and flings her bedclothes from her chamber. He also rips and tears her new clothes in front of her. There is also the argument the two have over whether it is the moon or the sun in the sky. These last two seem to have the greatest impact on Kate. In the first night, she responds to the food withholding with the normal despair of someone who had traveled in less than ideal circumstances. We Don't see her reaction to her room being turned upside down because she is in the room. When her clothes are ripped, though, she falls immediately into despair. She gently touches the scraps and weeps that they were the finest she'd ever seen. While debating the time of day, Kate puts up what seems like a token resistance before claiming to believe whatever he husband says. Even then, though, she doesn't appear fully "tamed," so the competition scene seemed a little abrupt to me. A huge difference I noticed between this adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew and others I've seen (Kiss Me Kate and the version with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton come to mind), is the lack of emphasis placed on spanking. The only time Petruchio hits Kate in such a way is when they first meet and exchange barbed words while dancing. He pats her behind when he says that everyone knows where the wasp keeps its stinger. I'm assuming this change in emphasis stems both from the fact that they're not people and from the evolving ideas regarding women and men's interactions in the 30 odd years between the films were produced.