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The Canterbury
Tales
The animated Canterbury
Tales brings together three distinguished animation teams from Wales,
England and Russia to realize three of the classic tales, with Geoffrey
Chaucer himself as guide and commentator. As these pilgrims progress,
their banter and their stories unfold in an original and sometimes sardonic,
sometimes streetwise, script by Jonathan Myerson.
As the pilgrims ride out of Southwark on a showery April morning, a story-telling
competition is suggested in order to spice up their three-day journey
to Canterbury. The Nun's Priest begins and his farmyard allegory about
a henpecked husband is realized in bright, vibrant colors. When he finishes,
the Knight embarks on a tale of two suitors -- ill-fated playthings of
the Gods -- in another, completely differently drawn, animation style.
Finally, it is the turn of the Wife of Bath, whose tale, in original,
hand-rendered drawings, poses the age-old question, "What do women
want?"
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The Canterbury
Tales is one of those bedrock British myths, but how do you bring
a myth to life? We'd always known we wanted completely different
styles for each tale. Joanna Quinn was an obvious choice for
The Wife of Bath's Tale, bringing out its feminist side. Aida Ziablikova,
a genius with puppet stop-frame animation, was always penciled in
for the Pilgrims.
Then we had to find the right voices to bring the Pilgrims alive
-- Sean Bean to deliver a perfect deadpan, no-nonsense Yorkshire
Nun's Priest, Billie Whitelaw to breathe bumptious life into the
lascivious Wife of Bath, and, most importantly, Bob Peck's quiet,
world-weary, if amused, voice was the one I always wanted for Chaucer
himself.
--
Jonathan Myerson
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Writer
and Executive Director Jonathan Myerson. (Pilgrims
Directed by Aida Zyablikova. Nun's Priest's Tale Directed by
Ashley Potter and Dave Antrobus. Knight's Tale Directed by Dave
Antrobus and Mic Graves. Wife of Bath's Tale Directed by Joanna
Quinn.)
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Running Time:
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27 minutes
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Production:
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S4C.
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