Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Episode guide
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
IMDbPro

The Canterbury Tales

  • TV Series
  • 1998–20001998–2000
  • 28m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
223
YOUR RATING
The Canterbury Tales (1998)
Animation
Animated adaptation of Chaucer's famous narrative poems, using a variety of groundbreaking animation techniques. On a pilgrimage from London to the tomb of Thomas Becket in Canterbury, a gro... Read allAnimated adaptation of Chaucer's famous narrative poems, using a variety of groundbreaking animation techniques. On a pilgrimage from London to the tomb of Thomas Becket in Canterbury, a group of travellers from all walks of medieval society recount tales and stories to each othe... Read allAnimated adaptation of Chaucer's famous narrative poems, using a variety of groundbreaking animation techniques. On a pilgrimage from London to the tomb of Thomas Becket in Canterbury, a group of travellers from all walks of medieval society recount tales and stories to each other to provide amusement on the journey.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
223
YOUR RATING
  • Stars
    • Robert Lindsay
    • Neil Dudgeon
    • Tim McInnerny
  • Stars
    • Robert Lindsay
    • Neil Dudgeon
    • Tim McInnerny
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 5User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar

    Episodes3

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated

    Photos

    The Canterbury Tales (1998)
    The Canterbury Tales (1998)
    The Canterbury Tales (1998)
    The Canterbury Tales (1998)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Robert Lindsay
    Robert Lindsay
    • Harry Bailey
    Neil Dudgeon
    Neil Dudgeon
    • The Miller
    Tim McInnerny
    Tim McInnerny
    • The Pardoner…
    Michael Feast
    Michael Feast
    • The Summoner
    Bill Nighy
    Bill Nighy
    • The Merchant
    Billie Whitelaw
    Billie Whitelaw
    • The Wife of Bath
    John Wood
    John Wood
    • The Knight
    Imelda Staunton
    Imelda Staunton
    • The Prioress
    Ronan Vibert
    Ronan Vibert
    • The Squire
    David Troughton
    David Troughton
    • The Friar
    Bob Peck
    Bob Peck
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    Juliet Aubrey
    Juliet Aubrey
    • Theodora
    Sean Bean
    Sean Bean
    • The Nun's Priest
    Tom Baker
    Tom Baker
    • Simpkin
    Bernard Cribbins
    Bernard Cribbins
    • Carpenter
    Tony Curran
    Tony Curran
    • Algarsyf
    Amita Dhiri
    Amita Dhiri
    • Canacee
    Ken Dodd
    Ken Dodd
    • Canon
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Famous Fred
    6.0
    Famous Fred
    Harvie Krumpet
    7.9
    Harvie Krumpet
    Canterbury Tales
    7.3
    Canterbury Tales
    The Canterbury Tales
    6.4
    The Canterbury Tales
    Canterbury Tales
    8.8
    Canterbury Tales
    Canterbury Tales
    Canterbury Tales
    Gli altri racconti di Canterbury
    5.8
    Gli altri racconti di Canterbury
    The Canterbury Tales
    The Canterbury Tales
    A Canterbury Tale
    7.4
    A Canterbury Tale
    Lorna Doone
    5.8
    Lorna Doone
    6.6
    Chaucer & the Canterbury Tales
    Canterbury n° 2 - Nuove storie d'amore del '300
    5.3
    Canterbury n° 2 - Nuove storie d'amore del '300

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Alternate versions
      The series was broadcast in the UK in three languages - English, Welsh and Middle English.
    • Connections
      Follows Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1992)

    User reviews5

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Captures the bawdy bustle of Chaucer, but not the sublime.
    Every Christmas, people complain about the dire schedules, but among the exhaustedly-repeated films and bloated 'specials' can be uncovered animated gems like this. I don't know why Christmas should be deemed appropriate for a profusion of 'adult' cartoons, but the viewer wins regardless, because they are daring, inventive and witty in themselves, even without a festive background of mediocrity to shine against.

    I watched the first part of this last year, but only finished it last night because I'd lost the tape. I'm afraid I didn't dare watch it in its original Middle English, an option admirably open to me. To my eternal discredit, when I was at college, despite the best proselytising efforts of an amiably barmy lecturer to affirm his bawdiness, flexibility and great humour, I'd always avoided Chaucer because, you know, 14th century English. What does it mean? How can you even read it without a luggage load of notes? So I can't really discuss the film's success in visualising Chaucer's text.

    What I can tell you is that it does achieve an extraordinary recreation of medieval life, in all its squalor, bustle, yet fertile energy. Far from being the received scowling monks and yobbish yahoos, Chaucer's pilgrims are recognisably human in their flaws, desires and talents, yet strictly grounded in the medieval social order that produced them. Each story they tell to ease the boredom of the journey to Canterbury, reflects, however obliquely, both its teller and his time.

    The framing narrative of the pilgrimmage is told with puppets, but each tale utilises a different mode of animation. Being an expert neither in animation or Chaucer, I cannot tell whether there is an apt connnection between form and content. But the fluidity of each story; the ability to depict experience, emotion and event unavailable to live action; the exquisite, glaring colours; the remarkable draughtsmanship alternating between painstaking detail and broad flourishes are all a joy to behold.

    As are the stories. The second part features a rich old blind man cuckolded by his young wife; a TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE-like tale of gold greed and murder; and an aristocratic Romance about a loyal wife who is forced to sleep with a courtier after a supernatural miracle. The mixture of bawdy comedy and touching pathos is superbly contrived.

    If I have a complaint (or two) it is that it is often difficult to hear the dialogue (realistic but ANNOYING), and that the arrival in Canterbury fails to grasp a sublime that is Chaucer's counterpoint to earthiness. But then we have the Archers' immortal A CANTERBURY TALE, so that's alright than.
    helpful•5
    3
    • alice liddell
    • Jan 26, 2000

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 21, 1998 (United Kingdom)
      • Russia
      • United Kingdom
      • English
      • Middle English
    • Also known as
    • Production companies
      • BBC Wales
      • Christmas Films
      • Home Box Office (HBO)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 28 minutes
      • Color
      • Stereo

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    The Canterbury Tales (1998)
    Top Gap
    What is the English language plot outline for The Canterbury Tales (1998)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page
    Add episode

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.