Next (1990 film)

1990 British film

Next

Directed by| Barry Purves[1]
Written by| Barry Purves
Based on| Plays of William Shakespeare
Produced by| Sara Mullock
Cinematography| Dave Alex Riddett
David Sproxton
Edited by| Helen Garrard
David McCormick
Music by| Stuart Gordon
The Hautboys

Production
company

Aardman Animations

Release date

* 28 November 1990 (1990-11-28) (UK)

Running time

| 5 min
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English

Next is a short film created by Aardman Animations. Its full title is "Next: The Infinite Variety Show".[2]

## Plot

[edit]

William Shakespeare auditions for an undetermined role in front of a bored Peter Hall with references to his play in under five minutes.[3]

## Plays present

[edit]

* "Henry V"
* "Julius Caesar"
* "Antony and Cleopatra"
* "Coriolanus"
* "Henry VIII"
* "Romeo & Juliet"
* "Henry IV"
* "Richard II"
* "Henry VI"
* "Richard III"
* "Troilus & Cressida"
* "A Midsummer Night’s Dream"
* "Hamlet"
* "Othello"
* "Titus Andronicus"
* "Timon of Athens"
* "The Tempest"
* "As You Like It"
* "Macbeth"
* "Alls Well Ends Well"
* "The Taming Of The Shrew"
* "Much Ado About Nothing"
* "The Merry Wives Of Windsor"
* "The Merchant Of Venice"
* "King John"
* "Pericles, Prince Of Tyre"
* "King Lear"
* "Love’s Labour’s Lost"
* "Twelfth Night"
* "Two Gentlemen Of Verona"
* "A Winter’s Tale"
* "Measure For Measure"
* "Cymbeline"

("The Two Noble Kinsmen" is Missing)

## Cast

[edit]

* Barry Purves - Will, a poor player (animation)
* Roger Rees - Peter, a Producer (voice)

## Production

[edit]

The film was commissioned by Channel 4 as part of a 5-part series of Aardman animations titled Lip Synch: Creature Comforts (1989), Going Equipped (1990), Ident (1990), Next (1990) and War Story (1989).[4]

Peter was voiced by Roger Rees[5] and is reading one of Hall's books. The halo indicates that he represents Saint Peter, and that Shakespeare is auditioning to get into Heaven. The film references all of 37 Shakespeare plays.[4]

A clip of this short was shown in the 2003 documentary Animated Century.[6]

## Critical reception

[edit]

On IMDb, Next received a rating of 7.3/10 from 188 users.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ BFI
2. ^ a b "Next (1990)". IMDb. Archived from the original on Jan 15, 2015. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
3. ^ Stewart, Jez (2017-08-11). "Puppet thespian: Barry Purves, keeper of the flame | Sight & Sound". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on Oct 5, 2023.
4. ^ a b BFI Screenonline: "Next (1989)".
5. ^ "Next". Barry JC Purves. Archived from the original on Aug 8, 2022.
6. ^ "The Animated Century" - Rembrandt Films.

## External links

[edit]

* Next on IMDB
* Excerpt on Vimeo
* Next on YouTube

* v
* t
* e

Aardman Animations

Filmography

Short films|

* Animated Conversations
* Down and Out (1977)
* Confessions of a Foyer Girl (1978)
* Conversation Pieces
* On Probation (1983)
* Sales Pitch (1983)
* Sweet Disaster: Babylon (1986)
* Sledgehammer (1986)
* My Baby Just Cares for Me (1987)
* Barefootin' (1987)
* A Grand Day Out (1989)
* Lip Synch
* Creature Comforts (1989)
* Going Equipped (1990)
* War Story (1989)
* Ident (1990)
* Next (1990)
* Rex the Runt: How Dinosaurs Became Extinct (1991)
* Rex the Runt: Dreams (1991)
* Adam (1992)
* Never Say Pink Furry Die (1992)
* Loves Me, Loves Me Not (1992)
* Not Without My Handbag (1993)
* The Wrong Trousers (1993)
* Pib and Pog (1995)
* A Close Shave (1995)
* Rex the Runt: North by North Pole (1996)
* Wat's Pig (1996)
* Pop (1996)
* Owzat (1997)
* Stage Fright (1997)
* Humdrum (1998)
* Al Dente (1998)
* Viva Forever (1998)
* Minotaur and Little Nerkin (1999)
* The Deadline (2001)
* Len's Lens (2002)
* Angry Kid: Who do you think you are? (2004)
* The Pearce Sisters (2007)
* A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008)
* Dot (2010)
* Gulp (2011)
* Timmy Time – Timmy's Christmas Surprise (2011)
* Timmy Time – Timmy's Seaside Rescue (2012)
* Wallace & Gromit's Jubilee Bunt-a-thon (2012)
* A Pig's Tail (2012)
* The Pirates!: So You Want to Be a Pirate! (2012)
* Darkside trailer (2013)
* Sphere (2013)
* Ray's Big Idea (2014)
* Special Delivery (2015)
* Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer's Llamas (2015)
* Robin Robin (2021)
* Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas (2021)

Television series /
series of shorts|

* Animated Conversations (1977–78)
* The Amazing Adventures of Morph (1980–81)
* Conversation Pieces (1983–84)
* Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986, Penny cartoons, Season 1 only)
* Lip Synch (1989)
* The Morph Files (1996)
* Rex the Runt (1998–2001)
* Angry Kid (1999–2019)
* Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions (2002–03)
* Creature Comforts (2003–07)
* episodes
* Planet Sketch (2005-07)
* Purple and Brown (2005–08)
* Pib and Pog (2006)
* Shaun the Sheep (2007–present)
* episodes
* Chop Socky Chooks (2007–08)
* Timmy Time (2009–12)
* episodes
* Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention (2010)
* Canimals (2011–present)
* DC Nation Shorts: DC's World's Funnest (2012–14)
* Counterfeit Cat (2016–17)
* Star Wars: Visions ("I Am Your Mother"; 2023)

Feature
films|

* Chicken Run (2000)
* Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
* Flushed Away (2006)
* Arthur Christmas (2011)
* The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012)
* Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)
* accolades
* Early Man (2018)
* A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019)
* Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)
* Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)

Franchises|

* Morph (1977–present)
* Creature Comforts (1989–2011)
* Wallace & Gromit (1989–present)
* Angry Kid (1998–2019)
* Chicken Run (2000–present)
* Shaun the Sheep (2007–present)

People|

* Peter Lord
* Nick Park
* David Sproxton

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