(*) sort of

I’ve said before, many times, that I think The Tempest is ripe for Disney picking.  Little girl living with her Dad (note no mother figure?) on an island with her playmates, a sprite name Ariel (have to change that to avoid Mermaid confusion) and the mischievous sea monster Caliban.  Enter Prince Ferdinand, with whom she falls madly in love.  Throw in a couple of bad guys Stephano and Trinculo, in league with Caliban, who are easily dispatched, a few other bumbling cast of characters to round it out.  Little girl learns that she’s actually a princess (or close enough, she’s whatever she is when she’s the daughter of the Duke of Milan) and everybody sails home for a wedding and a happy ending.  Perfect.

Until I get that, be sure to check out Sealed with a Kiss, a new animation by former Disney guy Phil Nibbelink (Fox and the Hound, Black Cauldron…).  He’s done his own thing here, a 2D Flash animation with hand-drawn art that depicts Romeo and Juliet as…seals.  Get it?  The big downside is that it’s a highly limited release, strictly in a few California theatres.  If you’re in the neighborhood, though, go see it and tell us how it is!  This is the sort of thing that the second it appears on video, I’m getting it for my kids.  Disney should do more Shakespeare.  Yes, yes, I know it’s not Disney doing it, but I’m sure he’ll keep the flavor and style that we all know and love.

More Animated Shakespeare…

• Review : Sealed With A Kiss
• Sealed With A Kiss, Part Two
• Disney’s Gnomeo and Juliet Is Really Happening!

So I’m going back over Romeo and Juliet for a project I’m playing with, and I just noticed something that I’d never really thought of before. Act I, Scene iv, we see Romeo, Benvolio and Mercutio getting ready for the party . This is where the famous Queen Mab speech comes in. I also think it’s interesting that Mercutio, for such a strong character, gets no real introduction, he’s just that fun guy that you party with. Mercutio’s first line in the entire play is “Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.” Makes me think of characters from Seinfeld or something.

Anyway. The thing I just noticed is this exchange:

Romeo: “I have a soul of led so stakes me to the ground I cannot move.”
Mercutio: “You are a lover, borrow Cupid’s wings, and soar with them above a common bound.”

That sound familiar to anybody? Act II, Scene ii.

Romeo: “With love’s light wings did I o’er-perch these walls, for stony limits cannot hold love out.”

While Romeo is busy wooing Juliet, he’s blatantly stealing lines that Mercutio gave him! That’s actually funny. Maybe that’s something that everybody else has seen before, but I don’t recall my 9th grade English teacher pointing it out. (I do remember her showing us the Zeffirelli(?) film and forgetting to mention there was nudity in it. Never saw anyone run for the Stop button so fast!)

If, just for a moment, you spin the play completely different, where Romeo and his friends really are just college boys looking to get some action after the party (basically what Benvolio and Mercutio wanted), you could have a blast with it. Imagine drunken Mercutio and Benvolio hiding in the bushes underneath the balcony loudly whispering things like, “Tell her Queen Mab hath been with you!” or “Show her your naked weapon!”

Maybe I’m just sleepy, I’m writing this on the morning train to keep myself occupied :).

I’ve noticed that one of the more popular Shakespeare queries that I see is for Shakespeare games. In particular, Romeo and Juliet games. This morning I found one. Shakespeare4Kidz has a games section that combines a flash “shoot out” with a standard quiz about the play — answer a question right to get the chance to kick a ball past the goalie. For some bizarre reason you can customize the goalie, and choices include Ghandhi, Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, Queen Victoria, and Karl Marx.

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Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech is an interesting discussion point for Romeo and Juliet. Technically, as last as far as the plot goes, you can skip it altogether. It goes more toward character development. When I was in school we had lengthy discussions about what the speech tells us about Mercutio. I know one high school teacher of Romeo and Juliet who simply skips it.

I noticed this blog entry about Queen Mab, which includes link to an audio of the spoken word, the speech transcript itself, and some commentary. It’s short, but it’s nice to see a whole post about just Queen Mab.

Technorati Tags: Shakespeare