SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

American television satirical animation series. The episode follows the story of Hamlet (Bart). Hamlet’s uncle Claudius (Moe) kills his father (Homer) and marries his mother (Marge). When Hamlet has a play put on to make Claudius feel guilty, Claudius realises that Hamlet knows what he did and tries to kill him as well. When Hamlet tries to kill Claudius, he kills Polonius (Chief Wiggum) accidentally and causes Laertes (Ralph) to avenge his father’s death against Hamlet. Hamlet kills both Laertes and Claudius, the queen kills herself and the kingdom is returned to its rightful state.

Series

Simpsons, The

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Television

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Transmission details

17 Mar 2002 (Channel: Fox)

Duration

22 mins

Availability

No known distributor (2006).

Credits

Director

Mike B Anderson

Writer

Andrew Kreisberg; Josh Lieb; Matt Warburton

Cast

Nancy Cartwright	Bart Simpson (Hamlet)
Hank Azaria	Moe (Claudius)
Julie Kavner	Marg Simpson (Gertrude)
Hank Azaria	Chief Wiggum (Polonius)
Nancy Cartwight	Ralph Wiggum (Laertes)

Additional Details

Production type

Animation

Plays

Hamlet

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

General

The series features a fast food restaurant named ‘Shakespeare Fried Chicken’.

History

TALES FROM THE PUBLIC DOMAIN is the fourteenth episode of THE SIMPSONS 13th season.

Reviews

Burt, Richard ‘U.S. Television’ in Burt, Richard (ed). Shakespeares After Shakespeares: an Encyclopedia of the Bard in Mass Media and Popular Culture. 2 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006 (p. 599, entry 2713). Burt notes ‘Hamlet becomes a metaphor for the continual re-animation of Shakespeare, now both trash and profitable’.

Production Company

Name

Gracie Films