▁Shakespeare ▁is ▁as ▁important ▁as ▁it ▁is ▁to ▁our ▁own ." ▁Grace ▁was ▁also ▁very ▁keen ▁to ▁avoid ▁creating ▁anything ▁Disney - es que ; ▁" Dis ney ▁has ▁condition ed ▁a ▁mass ▁audience ▁to ▁expect ▁sentiment ality ; ▁big , ▁go o ey - ey ed ▁cre atures ▁with ▁long ▁l ash es , ▁and ▁wins ome , ▁sim per ing ▁female ▁characters . ▁This ▁style ▁went ▁with ▁enorm ous ▁fla ir ▁and ▁ver ve ▁and ▁com ic ▁pan ache ; ▁but ▁a ▁lot ▁of ▁it ▁was ▁k itsch ." ▁ ▁The ▁series ▁was ▁constructed ▁by ▁recording ▁the ▁scripts ▁before ▁any ▁animation ▁had ▁been ▁done . ▁Act ors ▁were ▁h ired ▁to ▁rec ite ▁abbre vi ated ▁versions ▁of ▁the ▁plays ▁written ▁by ▁Leon ▁Gar field , ▁who ▁had ▁written ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁pro se ▁adapt ations ▁of ▁Shakespeare ' s ▁plays ▁for ▁children ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 5 , ▁Shakespeare ▁St ories . ▁According ▁to ▁Gar field , ▁editing ▁the ▁plays ▁down ▁to ▁thirty ▁minutes ▁whilst ▁maintain ing ▁original ▁Shakespeare an ▁dialog ue ▁was ▁not ▁easy ; ▁" lines ▁that ▁are ▁selected ▁have ▁to ▁carry ▁the ▁weight ▁of ▁narr ative , ▁and ▁that ' s ▁not ▁always ▁easy . ▁It ▁frequently ▁meant ▁using ▁half ▁a ▁line , ▁and ▁then ▁ski pping ▁perhaps ▁twenty ▁lines , ▁and ▁then ▁finding ▁something ▁that ▁would ▁sust ain ▁the ▁rh ythm ▁but ▁at ▁the ▁same ▁time ▁carry ▁on ▁the ▁story . ▁The ▁most ▁difficult ▁by ▁far ▁were ▁the ▁com ed ies . ▁In ▁the ▁tra