There are a number of adaptations of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales out there -- especially, as you'd expect, of the more confessional stories like the "Pardoner's Tale" and the "Wife of Bath's Tale" -- but they're not always terribly compelling. (Patience Agbabi's Telling Tales is the exception that proves the rule, of course!) But a student discovered, in the depths of YouTube, a series of stop-action animations of certain Tales -- originially aired in Britain in 1998 -- that are good fun. The clay puppets lend themselves to exaggerated facial features, expressions, and gestures, giving the whole story a kind of grotesque humor that is particularly fitting for the "Pardoner's Tale." They are retellings more than adaptations, capturing plot and pilgrim interaction more than Chaucer's central thematics, but they're great examples of that kind of revivification of Chaucer's tales. Here's the "Pardoner's Tale" for your viewing enjoyment, or you can go over to YouTube and start the series from the beginning.
