Hamlet A.D.D.

2014 American film

April 10, 2014 (2014-04-10) (Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art)

Running time

100 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Hamlet A.D.D. is a 2014 American independent film and web series^{[clarification needed]} directed by Bobby Ciraldo and Andrew Swant and produced by Special Entertainment. It re-imagines William Shakespeare's Hamlet as a bizarre and comical tour through the ages.^[1] The world premiere was held at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA LA) in April 2014.^[2]

This version of Hamlet is a comedy shot entirely in front of a green screen and features live-action characters in an animated world. The story begins in 1602 and leaps chronologically through time to the present, then into the distant future.

Guest stars include Dustin Diamond (Saved by the Bell), Mark Metcalf (Animal House), Majel Barrett Roddenberry (Star Trek), Trace Beaulieu & Kevin Murphy (Mystery Science Theater 3000), Mark Borchardt & Mike Schank (American Movie), Kumar Pallana (Rushmore) in his final film role, Leslie Hall (Yo Gabba Gabba!), Samwell ("What What"), Tay Zonday (Chocolate Rain), Michael Q. Schmidt (Tim & Eric Awesome Show), and comic Gregg Turkington as his character Neil Hamburger (Tim & Eric Awesome Show).^[3]

Scenes from the film have been shown at White Columns gallery (New York City), the Green Gallery (Milwaukee), the Frederick Layton Gallery (MIAD), INOVA gallery (UW-Milwaukee), and appeared as a special feature on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 XV box set. The film was supported by the Mary L. Nohl Fellowship for Artists.

Plot

Hamlet is an easily distracted prince who is not quite ready to do the task at hand. Challenged to kill his uncle Claudius by the ghost of his recently dead father, Hamlet enthusiastically proceeds to do everything but. From practicing stage acting in the 1800s to producing a television drama in the 1950s, from dancing at the discothèque in the 1970s to culinary prankery in the distant future, Hamlet always manages to find something to distract himself from taking revenge for his father's murder.

Cast

Bobby Ciraldo as Hamlet
Robert Richard Jorge as Claudius
Andrew Swant as Horatio
Xav Leplae as Polonius
Harmony Murphy as Ophelia
Dustin Diamond as Bernardo
Mark Metcalf as Speedy McSpitty
Majel Barrett Roddenberry as Queen Robot (voice)
Trace Beaulieu as Evil Robot (voice)
Kevin Murphy as King Robot (voice)
Mark Borchardt as Gravedigger
Mike Schank as Gravedigger's Friend
Kumar Pallana as Kumar
Neil Hamburger as Osric
Michael Q. Schmidt as Officer Norton
Samwell as Communications Officer
Tay Zonday as Laertes (voice)
Leslie Hall as Zombie Killer
Laura Klein as Gertrude
David Robbins as Norwegian Captain
Jerod Duris as Laertes
Eric Ziegeweid as Rosenstern
Eric Gerber as Fortinbras
Sarah Price as Triplet Judges
Scott Reeder as Don London
Drew Rosas as Daniel / Nathaniel

References

^ Schumacher, Mary Louise. "Milwaukee Duo Brings Hamlet A.D.D. to Life," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2014. http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/milwaukee-duo-brings-hamlet-add-to-life-b99179692z1-241724871.html Archived 2014-01-27 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Watch the trailer for the long-in-the-works Hamlet A.D.D." 7 April 2014.
^ "The "What What in the Butt" Guys Are Kickstarting a Gonzo Hamlet Adaptation". 25 November 2013.

External links

Official website
Hamlet A.D.D. at IMDb
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article about the film
Urban Milwaukee interview with the filmmakers

William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Characters

Soliloquies

Words and phrases

Terminology

Dumbshow
Induction
Quiddity
Substitution

Influence

Common phrases from Hamlet
Cultural references to Hamlet
Cultural references to Ophelia
Language of flowers
Human skull symbolism

Performances

Moscow Art Theatre (1911–1912)
Richard Burton (1964)

On screen

1900
1907
1908
1912
1913
1917
1921
1935
1948
1954
1961
1964
1969
1974
1990
1996
2000
2011

Adaptations

Films	The Rest Is Silence (1959) The Bad Sleep Well (1960) Ophelia (1963) Johnny Hamlet (1968) One Hamlet Less (1973) The Angel of Vengeance – The Female Hamlet (1977) Strange Brew (1983) Hamlet Goes Business (1987) The Lion King (1994) Let the Devil Wear Black (1999) The Banquet (2006) Doubt (2009) Karmayogi (2012) Haider (2014) Hamlet A.D.D. (2014) Hemanta (2016) Ophelia (2018) The Lion King (2019)
Novels	Hamlet Had an Uncle (1940) Too, Too Solid Flesh (1989) Gertrude and Claudius (2000) Dating Hamlet (2002) The Dead Fathers Club (2006) Something Rotten (2007) Hamlet's Father (2008) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (2008)
Plays	Hamletmachine (1977) Dogg's Hamlet (1979) Fortinbras (1991)
Musicals	Rockabye Hamlet (1973)
Television	Hamlet (Australian TV, 1959) Hamlet at Elsinore (BBC, 1964) Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (BBC, 1980) Hamlet (BBC 2, animated, 1992) Hamlet (BBC 2, 2009)

Parodies

15-Minute Hamlet
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
I, Hamlet
The Klingon Hamlet
"Lyle the Kindly Viking"
To Be or Not to Be: That is the Adventure
"Tales from the Public Domain"
The Skinhead Hamlet

Songs

"My Robin is to the greenwood gone" (16th century)
"Pull Me Under" (1992)
"Song for Athene" (1997)

Opera/classical

Hamlet (Thomas)
Amleto (Faccio)
Hamlet (Tchaikovsky)
Tristia (Berlioz)
Die Hamletmaschine (Rihm)
Hamlet (Dean)

In popular culture

Films	To Be or Not to Be (1942) A Performance of Hamlet in the Village of Mrduša Donja (1973) To Be or Not to Be (1983) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) Last Action Hero (1993) Renaissance Man (1994) In the Bleak Midwinter (1995) War (2002) Hamlet 2 (2008) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead (2009) Three Days (2012)
Plays	Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966) Stage Blood (1974) I Hate Hamlet (1991) To Be or Not to Be (2008)
Novels	Hamlet, Revenge! (1937) Theatre of War (1994) "The Undiscovered" (1997) The Shakespeare Stealer (1998) Interred with Their Bones (2007) Hamnet (2020)
Television	"The Producer" (1966) "The Conscience of the King" (1966) "Born to Be King" (1983) "Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow" (2001) Slings & Arrows (2003)
Video games	Last Action Hero (1993) Hamlet (2010) Elsinore (2019)
Books	Asterix and the Great Crossing The Seagull Sharpe's Havoc