Next: The Infinite Variety Show

[kixeylix]

... the oie bi still scares the crap outta me... my granma had this on video... it had ident this and bare footin' before the actual creature comforts.... good ol' days :D

[GCmediacourse]

0:41 Julius Ceasar 0:47 Antony and Cleoparta 1:34 Richard III 1:44 A Midsummers Night Dream 1:56 Hamlet 2:27 A Midsummers Night Dream 2:32 Macbeth 3:11 King John 3:15 Pericles 3:22 King Lear 3:28 A comedy of Errors 3:37 Love Labours Lost 3:40 Twelth Night 3:47 Two Gentlemen of Verona 3:56 A Winters Tale 4:04 Measure for Measure 4:06 The Tempest Thats as many I can guess. 2:17 The Tempest

[luanvlw]

beautiful x

[GayGeisha]

Watching this makes me feel so ALIVE

[IlaughedIcried]

I've LOVED this short for years and years! My ex-boyfriend and I (who met in a Shakespeare company!) used to sit in front of the VCR with a pen and notebook, playing the tape over and over and trying to get the plays in the right order! Ah, good times, good times...

[Achilles544]

hi there, and there are a few errors there in the running order......that's not love's Labours Lost after Comedy. That play comes earlier. If you my the DVD a menu subtitle has all the references as a subtitle. Barry P. Glad you enjoy the film though.

[Nimmynimmypinkpoo]

Brilliant. Haven't seen this in years. Thanks for posting.

[omphalosceptic]

Correction to order of plays: Timon of Athens is between Titus Andronicus and The Tempest. (It's the scene where he throws water on his dinner guests.) And the last 10 are King John (fall from castle) Pericles (dream of Diana) Lear (dividing England) Comedy of Errors (twins) Love's Labour's Lost (disguised men) Twelfth Night (yellow stockings) Two Gentlemen (dog) Winter's Tale (bear) Measure for Measure (seducing nun) Cymbeline (Jupiter)

[opulent7]

Thank you for your corrections to the running order. I have amended the video information accordingly.

[GCmediacourse]

@omphalosceptic You missed out Richard III ( He opens the basket and pops two baloons with faces and crowns on there head). Thanks for doing a list like this.

[Dristarg]

LOL when he double-takes at the bear and runs off stage, towing it. Only Shakespeare could write a play whose most famous quote is a stage-direction (The Winter's Tale; "exit, pursued by a bear")

[Gmackematix]

This animation is great but I'm not sure about the order given. Twelfth Night comes before 2 Gentlemen whose dog leads straight into the Winter's Tale bear. Timon of Athens is surely the bit with the Acropolis before Henry VIII. I'm not sure where Coriolanus comes in.

[omphalosceptic]

@Gmackematix Coriolanus is the bit with the Acropolis - he's trying to destroy Rome, but his mother stops him. Timon of Athens is the feast scene (between Titus and the Tempest)

[Gmackematix]

Are you sure? Coriolanus is not set in Athens where the Acropolis is, so I'm sure that is Timon of Athens. Surely, the person dining is the mother of the two characters just killed by Titus Andronicus about to eat the just prepared pie.

[omphalosceptic]

@Gmackematix

At first I thought that entire table sequence was Titus Andronicus, but if that were the case, it would be the only play to last for 8 bars of music instead of 4.

I read an interview with Barry Purves once where he specifically mentioned the Coriolanus/mother one, so I'm sure about that. So presumably our Acropolis is actually the Pantheon.

[Gmackematix]

@Omphalosceptic. Well, that all sounds perfectly reasonable and your username suggests to me that you don't believe in navel-gazing! I like the "uncover dogs and lap" scene in Timon but had got it into my head that the other scene was Alcibiades and the Acropolis from Timon, but hadn't quite worked out where the dummy fitted in! Not possessing Coriolanian pride, I'll admit that you are probably right.

[rowewhite]

We have this on our old Aardman video and I loved it. It's such a classic, I remember watching it and being creeped out by it mainly since I didn't understand it at all.

Now watching it today, it still scares me but after doing English Literature at A-Level, I completely understand it.

They should show this in classes =]

Aardman <3

[TeamFortressHeavy]

looking back at it,this is just a little creepy.

i had a video with this one when i was really young,it also had the Cook and Heat Electric adverts on,some of the old creature comforts,War Story and one about prison which i can't remember.i used to watch it all the time and loved it,but yeah,like i said,it's a bit creepy/

[Supersandwich72]

I've always loved this. The music is fantastic, it's hard to believe for me that it was solely composed for this short.

[IlaughedIcried]

@Supersandwich72 I LOVE the music for this! In fact, I looked up "Next" just now on YouTube specifically to listen to the music -- I 'm writing a Shakespearean ballad spoof and wanted to hear this as inspiration.

[mimkyodar]

I always used to try and guess them all - I was waiting for someone to list them.

Of course, it is better if you know where all the references are from.

[HiveFleetDerilect]

This is really cool how it does al of shakespears plays in under 5 minutes

[jefferson1170]

I did English Literature at A-Level and i think they should habe shown this as an example that Shakespeare does'nt always have to be as in a play.

If anyone get's me.

[milograamans]

That is really cool. But are all the plays really in there? Just curious. Great job!

[GCmediacourse]

@milograamans I'm not sure as well. I cannot find Henry V in the video.

[RyanTF2]

its been a while since i've seen this

[lemonmali]

I remember watching this when I was younger.

[GayGeisha]

I have watched this far too many times. Pure Genius!

But does anyone know where I can get my hands on the music???

Thanking you in advance!

[TheCrippledSilence]

I've been trying to track down the music from this short for ages. Seems it's impossible to find since it was composed solely for this short. It's a shame, it's terriffic. I was thinking of just ripping an Mp3 of the audio directly from my computer's soundcard. It'd still have the sound-effects intact though, but I think that's but a minor distraction.

[CBRPILOT6]

Simply put, this is breathtakingly brilliant and the music is supurb.

[numnumnumla]

I used to have absolutley no idea what this was about. It's utterly bizzare however amazing :)

[magiclychee]

i used to watch this when i was very little and never understood what it was about! i get it now lol

[justejust]

my english isn't very good - what exactly did the producer say in the end? can someone help me

[comedyandromancefan]

he says

lord what ools these mortals be..

next

(he laughs)

Next

(he laughs again)

I hope this helps you.

[justejust]

ools..?

thanks very much

[comedyandromancefan]

sorry fools***

[RonWardProductions]

i rememeber watching this god i lvoed it had the video lost it and know i can watch it again many thanks

[Tashiekins]

I've been looking for this everywhere, you genius!

xxx

[animegirl19791]

god i haven't seen this is years! and i now know much more about what he's meant be going on about lol. thanks for posting!

[AililMacRoth]

lol me and my brothers havent seen this in a long time, we had the video but we lost it.

[lsdeimos]

I'm so happy I found this again. I think its interesting how everyone has watched these things so young.

[VashDraven]

Pft, I soooooooooo need the music for this..i just do ^^

[fiofofionomoto]

i have the music, if you want me to send it to you?

[VashDraven]

Omg! You do! GEIF!

*Calms down*

Yes, Yes i would like you to send me it.

^^

[markdaviesYT]

could you send it to me also. Loved it since seeing the animation in the early nineties, but couldn`t find it anywhere.

[Hoddersrevenge]

I too would appreciate the music if you still have it fiofofionomoto please.

[fiofofionomoto]

Could you PM with your e-mail address please Hoddersrevenge (and anyone else who wants the music) so I can send it to you.

[beanminion]

BEST ANIMATION EVER! I must have been about 2 years old when i first saw it. The music just got to me and i loved it so much... I have it on video at home and remember just rewinding it and watching it over and over one afternoon because i was obsessed with it. its beautiful.

The music is the best thing though - it gives me goosebumps...

[elainebrig]

I have loved this for years.

Its so fresh and amazing. Thank you for posting.

[xadicctedx]

i just adore it.. it's beautiful and amazing

[DerOrk]

Im so happy that i found this, i watched it years ago, and yesterday i was looking for hours for that video.

Everytime i see it i get such a strange, feeling, like loosing the contact to reality^^

What ever 5*****

[EvilRazzBeri]

Wow i havent seen this since i was like 5! it always freaked me out for some reason (so did ident but thats just...weird...in a amazing way)

Anyways it makes more sense now lol

[AmosTheTalented]

Ah, Ident...my sister and I watched that one over and over till the tape was too worn.

[EvilRazzBeri]

haha no joke its on my myspace now .)

im starting to love the music on this one...i was humming it today and was like, wtf how do i know this?

[elementkid3]

i havent seen dis since i was like 5 n im 15 now lol n i love d music, im gonna tab it for guitar:P

[brayshay]

if you do tab it send me it please :D ive loved this music since i first saw it, and hadent seen it for years untill the otherday when i was humming it and remembered where it was from :D

[brayshay]

haha omg, me and my bro did too, OVER AND OVER AND OVER when we were alot younger, this was allways one of myu favs just cause o the music, some otehrs were pretty good too, that one where the guy walked throught the mirrors:P

[karlpaananen]

I'm not sure I agree with all of opulent7's list, though I think mostly it is correct. But where exactly was Cymbeline? As far as I could tell it went straight from Measure for Measure into the finale. And I thought the dog was from Two Gentlemen of Verona. Can anyone help me out?

[windsingerbard]

I think the OP's saying Cymbeline WAS referenced in the finale.

By the end of the play, the plot of Cymbeline had gotten so complicated Jupiter had to come down and sort everything out (a technique drama-geeks still call "deus ex machina").

The stage directions call for him to "descend in thunder and lightning, sitting upon an eagle" and to throw a thunderbolt.

[xxkamikazesmilexx]

I last watched this when I was about 5 xD

I think it's unsurprising the references were lost on me.

[Paipig]

very excellent! I`ll never saw this before, cool!!!

[SixDoubleFive321]

I nearly cried to find this on youtube. I first saw this on a VHS rental from Tower Video about 10 years ago when I was 10. I've been looking for this clip since then, checking google here and there, only finding it available on overseas VHS. And finally someone has posted it! Thank goodness. I'm so so happy.

[btoskich]

This is the finest piece of stop motion to date, Barry just outclasses everyone else.

[noodleshusky]

i've still got the collection video with this on it!

[arianrho]

Was wondering if I'd ever find this again! Excellent!

[jitteryjoe]

truly superb. i was brought up on this video - never had a clue wtf was going on till recently tho hehehe

[emrahuytun1977]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[ArcturusRann]

Thank god this was posted here! I've long felt that this is one of Aardman's finest works and am continually tormented by the fact that it remains unavailable for purchase (I actually found this by checking on that again).

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[Hoddersrevenge]

This short is available on the Aardman Classics Video/DVD.

[GalacticPenguin]

many of the segments, like the tempest, they could have done so much more

[NearlySmith]

Really. How?

[aktarros]

Exactly.

[farwicked]

What a beautiful and brilliant achievement! I love all of the representations, they are fantastic and very shrewdly done. The ending just does it for me- it captures the true magic and utter majesty of Shakespeare! ;)

[MrHastyRib]

Very enjoyable and a great job. Some of the prompts are quite clever. The most subtle and sublime is the ending, though...took me a moment to fully realize the connection.