The reviewer struggled with Miramax's changes, and the unfortunate comparisons with Aladdin, but enjoyed the original artwork present therein.
I bet she would have really liked the real thing ... or even Princess and the Cobbler ...
The New York Times
FILM REVIEW; A Late Finisher About Old Araby
By CARYN JAMES
Published: August 26, 1995, Saturday
In 1968, long before he animated "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," Richard Williams began an ambitious, elaborate feature called "The Thief and the Cobbler," about a brave cobbler, an Arabian princess and a bumbling thief. His decades-long project, retitled "Arabian Knight," opened yesterday in an end-of-summer slot usually reserved for films being tossed away. "Arabian Knight" deserved better. It's no dog, though it is a fascinating problem.
Mr. Williams's wide-screen animation is among the most glorious and lively ever created. The backdrops feature beautiful, jewel-like mosaic walls in old Baghdad. The thief leaps and scampers like a slapstick comedian. When Princess Yum Yum and the cobbler, named Tack, try to save the city from an army of one-eyed villains, the colorful battle scenes whiz along using ingenious Rube Goldberg weapons. "Arabian Knight" is amazing to watch.
But no one can ignore the fact that while Mr. Williams and his crew were lovingly plugging away, Disney's "Aladdin" came along. "Aladdin," of course, also features a poor but brave young man who loves an Arabian princess and is upstaged by a comic sidekick. "Aladdin" has livelier characters and far better songs, too. Now "Arabian Knight" seems like a pleasant-enough clone, with a truncated love story and weak comic asides that are no match for its dazzling animated action.
Apparently, a last-minute rescue mission was mounted to try to strengthen "Arabian Knight." Just four months ago, the film's publicity material listed a different set of actors' voices. The major exception was Vincent Price (who died two years ago), who had always been listed as Zigzag, the evil sorcerer. Recently, the movie was dubbed with Matthew Broderick (the voice of the adult Simba in "The Lion King") as Tack, Jennifer Beals as Princess Yum-Yum and Jonathan Winters as the thief.
Tack is shy, with the loose limbs of a scarecrow. He usually has a couple of cobbler's nails in his mouth, and his white face and wide blue eyes make him look a bit like another juvenile hero, Casper the ghost.
The princess falls for the commoner the minute she sets her violet eyes on him. Princess Yum Yum looks like Barbie, but she is a proto-feminist determined to prove she is as smart and brave as any man. She asserts this in two of the film's four songs. The princess (sung by Bobbi Page) sings these horrible lyrics to forgettable melodies: "She is more than this/There's a mind in the body of this pretty miss." She sings of Tack: "I know he's just a pauper/ But I really like him."
Price uses his trademark smooth villainous style for Zigzag, who nonetheless will never escape the shadow of Jafar in "Aladdin." Zigzag is usually pale blue, but his face changes colors when he gets annoyed, and his eyes turn heart-shaped when he asks for the hand of Princess Yum Yum in marriage.
The thief has a ferrety face, with flies always buzzing around his head. He finds gold so irresistible that he pole vaults to the top of a minaret to steal the three gold balls. Mr. Winters's voice-over gives us the thief's thoughts, which should have been funnier.
Some of the best scenes feature bulky and admittedly stupid brigands who live in the desert and sing a finger-snapping melody to the words, "Beem bom, boogedy boogedy, bibbity boo/We're what happens when you don't finish school." The brigands have taken on the same color as the sand, and such delicious visual surprises pop up throughout "Arabian Knight." There are geometric floor patterns and stairways inspired by Escher, which send characters tumbling down. There is the illusion of swift camera movements, as if this were a live-action feature. And there is the sumptuous, entrancing court of Baghdad. Some viewers will fall in love with the art of "Arabian Knight," even though its story lacks the allure of a mainstream hit.
ARABIAN KNIGHT Directed by Richard Williams; director of Los Angeles production, Fred Calvert; written by Mr. Williams and Margaret French; score by Robert Folk, with songs by Mr. Folk and Norman Gimbel; produced by Imogen Sutton and Mr. Williams; released by Miramax. Running time: 81 minutes. This film is rated G. WITH THE VOICES OF: Vincent Price (Zigzag), Matthew Broderick (Tack, the Cobbler), Jennifer Beals (Princess Yum Yum), Eric Bogosian (Phido), Toni Collette (Nurse and Witch) and Jonathan Winters (Thief)