[ mood | enthralled ]
[ music | "Scheherazade" - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov ]
On the evening of June 27th, I finally saw Richard Williams' The Thief and the Cobbler, restored by Garrett Gilchrist, and have been gathering energy to write this review, as this film may very well be one of my all-time favorite animated films (right up there with The Incredibles and others), and just plain inspiring! I've been watching it quite often, and I think that Garrett's version, as well as Dick's original workprint (which I've also seen recently), is the version of this film that must be seen, period.
First off, I had been aware of this film since 1995, when it was released here by Miramax as Arabian Knight (but I'll bet into that more in a bit). I saw the commercials on TV and much of the animation looked incredible. But, of course, they marketed it as a cynical Aladdin ripoff, and just had to see what the critics were saying. At least two of them said something like "This film is a butchered version of Richard Williams' ill-fated animated feature, The Thief and the Cobbler" and so on. So I was stunned by this, and swore off seeing any of the bastardized versions until I could find the "real" version. I heard often of a workprint which was floating around, with lots of completed animation, and with pencil tests & storyboards and stuff. But even better, in mid-June this year, comic-book writer James D. Hudnall posted on his blog a link to the trailer of a "restored" version! I was really, really excited! Upon watching the trailer, the animation was heartbreakingly beautiful and absolutely mind-blowing. And shortly after, I read Amid Amidi's interview with Garrett on Cartoon Brew! After this, I immediately sought and finally watched the DVD of the restoration (more on that later), and it was worth the download! I became addicted to this film, and watched it many times since.
This film has had a very intriguing and sad history behind it:
It began production in 1968 as The Majestic Fool and then, The Amazing Nasruddin, as a co-production between Richard Williams and Omar Shah (the late brother of the equally late Idries Shah, who wrote books on Nasruddin, which Dick illustrated for). I read the script for it, and thought it was really strange, but it's probably better to have seen it than just to read about it (much like the books Dick and Shah worked on; Those were fun). Given a lot of publicity, the production even got praise by Woody Allen! But in 1972, Dick had a falling out with the Shah family and the project was dropped. Williams did keep all of the characters he created for the project, but changed their names, changed the story heavily, and replaced Nasruddin with a lovable cobbler named Tack. Thus, in 1973, The Thief and the Cobbler was born! Williams was gradually making this film well into the late 80s, and also used the project to train younger animators, who would help work on it on their spare time. But in the mid-1980s, this project came to the attention of Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, who brought in Williams to direct the animation for 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which became a huge box-office success. And upon the success of the film, Dick got the funding from Warner Brothers to finish The Thief and the Cobbler. Production began in 1990, after Dick storyboarded the film in 2 weeks. But perfectionist that Dick was, the film was taking too long to complete. Dick also did not want to make The Thief and the Cobbler into a "Disney" film (songs and such), the kind of film Warners was expecting (see Brad Bird's The Iron Giant). To add insult to injury, Disney was getting ready to release Aladdin, which, let's face it, blatantly ripped off this film. Not wanting to compete with Disney's Aladdin, Warners dropped the film, and the now-defunct Completion Bond Company (which was attached to the film since 1991) confiscated the film from Dick, and subsequently, closed down his studio.
With Dick out of the picture, the Completion Bond Company hired animator Fred Calvert to not only finish the film, but ruin it as well, by cutting out 40 minutes of the film, changing the story around, adding absolutely bad songs, and having the silent hero Tack as a speaking character. This Power Rangerized version became known as The Princess and the Cobbler, which was released only in Australia and South Africa, and bombed in both. But in 1995, Miramax came along and made it worse. They redid the film as a cynical Aladdin ripoff, dubbed over the characters with celebrity voices, cut out even MORE footage, and had the Thief (the OTHER silent character) as another speaking character! Not only that, but the voiceovers of the Thief and Tack's "narration" just wouldn't shut up for a second! The result was Arabian Knight, which is the current version available on video today (sadly, under the title The Thief and the Cobbler), and it also bombed in theaters here.
Any way you look at it, Richard Williams was devastated by the whole ordeal. So much that he refuses to talk about the film publicly. Now you see why this film has become both a tragedy and a legend in the animation community. He has become an animation messiah of sorts, but that's probably just an exaggeration on my part.
However, considering the huge overhaul at Disney early this year from Pixar, there is hope. Disney has much of the neccesary materials for this film, and Roy E. Disney and producer Don Hahn (both of whom are true fans of Williams' film) have been trying since the last decade to start a restoration project for the film. Garrett Gilchrist's restored version is partly intended to encourage Disney to consider restoring and properly finishing this film. It's in good hands, and with or without Richard Williams, they'll do it justice this time. (Personally, I hope Dick will be able to finish the film.)
My opinion on the film? It's a true masterpiece! All-around spectacular. It's very sad that this film never got finished as Williams intended. But this was a noble masterwork. It's not just an animated film, but a work of art! And that was the intention. The finished animation is absolutely beautiful, colorful and fluid! The "camera" movement (ie. panning up and around 3-dimensional structures) is pure genius. Had this film been finished, it would've been a mind-blowing classic! But its fate is in Disney's hands now, and I look forward to that day. The two "released" versions do it a lot of injustice.
The music varies from classical music (most notably Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade") to minor synthesizer music, to apparently original music for the film (the composer of which is still unknown). And they're all great, as is the voice acting. Vincent Price is ever charming as the villain Zig Zag, the Grand Vizier. Sir Anthony Quayle is King Nod, and Hilary Pritchard is his daughter, Princess Yum Yum, the film's heroine. Joan Sims is both Yum Yum's Nurse and the Mad Holy Old Witch, a character I thought was funny and enjoyable. There's also Windsor Davies as Chief Roofless, the leader of a band of desert brigands, and Donald Pleasance as Zig Zag's pet vulture Phido (who doesn't speak, but squawks). Paul Matthews voices the Mighty One-Eye, the orc-like leader of the One Eye Army, and one of the scarier villains in animation. And last, but certainly not least, our two silent title heroes: Tack the Cobbler and the nameless Thief. The two characters are basically silent-era characters in a movie with lots of sound. The Thief (the antihero of the picture) steals this film, both figuratively and literally, and is delightfully funny in every scene. Every time I see the Thief's antics, I am reminded of those of Wile E. Coyote (The late Ken Harris did the animation for him, after all), or a comical act in Cirque du Soleil. The Thief is, BTW, a caricature of Richard Williams! Tack is my personal favorite character, and one who has become really popular these days with younger fans! Silent, shy and cute, he is like no other hero in animated films. He looks like a tall, thin Raggedy Andy as though designed by Tim Burton! (I wonder if Tim was influenced by this film!) Way ahead of his time. Tack also has the most development of all the characters in this film, and he changed like a butterfly! Basically, he evolved from Buster Keaton to Sabu! Incidentally, Tack does talk, but at the end of the film, and is voiced by, of all people, Sean Connery!!! Yes, Tack talks like James Bond! Who would've thought such a cute character had such a strong, sexy voice?
My favorite sequences include the MC Escher-inspired chase scene between Tack and the Thief, Zig Zag's grand entrance, his "magic cards" sequence (which Richard Williams considers his "graduation piece"), and the powerfully impressive One Eye War Machine sequence (pretty much all of which was removed in the Miramax version). Should this movie ever be completed, I'll be surprised to see what else will lie in store . . .
As for the released versions, I've only recently scanned through parts of Arabian Knight, and I get the same feeling as I do watching Power Rangers. They take something cool and ruin it, badly. It's appallingly dumbed down, the voice acting was weak, and even MORE footage was cut than in Fred Calvert's Princess and the Cobbler version (which this edit was based on). But then, this is something Miramax (and the Weinsteins) were notorious for (see Doogal). As I understand it, this version makes the Princess version seem relatively more watchable, as bad as that was.
Now, in 2006, we have Garrett Gilchrist's non-profit "Recobbled Cut" of the film, which I mentioned earlier. He did his best to fix a film that was broke, and the result is as noble as the film itself. He took all existing versions, even going as far as to use Fred Calvert footage (and making changes of his own to said footage), and "cobbled" them together into a film that more closely resembles Richard Williams' workprint. This version has become extremely popular on the Internet as of late, so much that the Weinsteins decided to cash in on its popularity by releasing their version on DVD again. (Not that anyone cares . . . )
The plot? I'll let the opening narration of the late Sir Felix Alymer do the talking, and let your imagination take you from there:
It is written among the limitless constellations of the celestial heavens and in the depths of the emerald seas and upon every grain of sand in the vast deserts that the world which we see is an outward and visible dream of an inward and invisible reality.
Once upon a time there was a golden city. In the centre of the golden city atop the tallest minaret were three golden balls. The ancients had prophesied that if the three golden balls were ever taken away harmony would yield to discord and the city would fall to destruction and death.
But . . . the mystics had also foretold . . . that the city might be saved by the simplest soul with the smallest and simplest of things.
In the city there dwelt a lowly shoemaker . . . who was known as Tack the Cobbler. Also in the city . . . existed a Thief . . . who shall be . . . nameless.
In closing, once again, I think that Garrett Gilchrist's "Recobbled Cut," for the time being, is the version that must be seen, along with Richard Williams' workprint (which is usually available in fair-to-poor condition bootlegs). Those who have seen the awful released versions (The Princess and the Cobbler and/or Arabian Knight) should see this new version, because Richard Williams' The Thief and the Cobbler never started out that way. This film, and the people who made it, had much higher aspirations than what was finally realized, by corporations that do not understand or appreciate animation as a medium. This film is a true classic, and one of my favorite animated films of all time.
Now, you can either watch the Calvert/Miramax versions (readily available on DVD) at your own risk, or find the Williams workprint, or go and search for/download the DVD (via Torrent file - Search for: "thief" "recobbled" etc.). OR, you can do yourself a favor and watch the movie right now in 17 parts and low-res quality on YouTube! It's time well worth spending.
