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Princess and the Cobbler Review

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I just got finished watching The Princess and the Cobbler, the so-called "ruined" version of Richard Williams's The Thief and the Cobbler. And I honestly have to say, it's not really that bad.

I'm planning to burn a copy of The Thief for my 4-year-old cousins for Chritsmas, and personally, I think the best choice would be the Princess cut, and for several reasons:

1. It's a finished film. My cousins won't want to watch something that's not finished. At least until they're older. BTW, it was easy to notice the transition from Williams animation to Calvert animation, but I was able to cope with it, and so will they.

2. The story makes more sense. The love tension between Tack and YumYum helps brighten up the story, because with all the animation cut from the Thief stealing the balls and the One-eye sequences, those won't be enough to interest my cousins.

3. It's a reasonable length. Even for me, the Recobbled Cut seemed to drag a bit. The same reason above helps make the movie go faster.

4. The music and the songs. I actually like the music in the Princess cut better than in the Original cut. And the songs, although uninspiring, will appeal to my cousins, who are growing up with those oh-so Disney classics.

Now I haven't seen the Workprint yet, but I did enjoy the Recobbled Cut. And I'd like to see it the way it was originally intended. But to me, the Princess cut is a much more kid-friendly adaptation, and I deem it the best choice to make for my cousins this Christmas. Maybe later on, I'll burn them the Recobbled Cut...

As for Arabian Knight, that's a different story. I have yet to see it, but judging from what I've heard, it's probably not going to be pretty. I'm getting it from Garrett himself, paid him the money, and hopefully I'll get it in a few weeks...
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That Korea-animated version is so wrong, so amazingly wrong, I cannot find words to descbribe it, compared to the original version. I've seen the restored rough cut of the original, and it is simply amazing. No, there are no "cute songs", and the main characters almost never say a word (with a brief exception at the end). The final action sequences are so breathtaking there's no words to descbribe them. The whole thing works and it works well, and if properly completed would be the best western world piece of animation ever. Unfortunally money talks louder than art, and the production was taken away from the original animators (after 30 YEARS of production) and taken to korean animators, who dumbed down the plot, added dialogue and songs to make it "more commercial" (the movie bombed big time, though). The korean animators even LOST some of the reference material, old rough animations, cells, a lot of material that could be used to finish the film. I absolutely dispise the "Arabian Nights" or "Princess and the Cobbler" or whatever it's called bastardized version of Thief and the Cobbler...

ZigFried have you seen the fan restored rough cut of the original film?
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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I already said it: Yes I've seen the Recobbled Cut, Yes I enjoyed it, and Yes I would like to see it in its completed form.

I just think my cousins would like the Princess cut better for the reasons in my firsrt post.
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Originally posted by: ricarleite
The whole thing works and it works well, and if properly completed would be the best western world piece of animation ever.


That's quite a statement. Do you have a low opinion of Western animation or a high opinion of this work? (I've never heard of it myself.)

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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High opinion on this work, but also somewhat of a low opinion on western animation, as Thief and the Cobbler can only scratch the surface (a deep scratch, though) of what the japanese were able to do. Also, it resorts to no computer assistance, being a piece of animation done by traditional animation techniques.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Yes, very interesting. I looked up the film after discussing it with you. I remembered seeing commercials for it when I was younger, but I never went to see it (it was an odd looking movie). I read about what the investors did to the animator. Very horrible treatment. I assume he signed over his rights to the investors? (Otherwise, if he had worked on so much of the film for so many years, he should have had more rights.) Makes me wish that someone would fund a project to reassemble the film into its original form.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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Apart from the fan made restorations, there's no chance to see this movie as it was supposed to be. Miramax owns the rights for it now, and they have expressed no desire in further investing on this film. The korean animators misplaced and lost all the reference material and animation sent to them. All in all, a precious little gem lost forever.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Hmm, I just read that Roy Disney once tried to reassemble the film to the original state as best as possible, but then he left the company and that project ceased. Since Disney owns Miramax they could do that if someone there were interested enough. They currently own a lot of the material that wasn't lost as well.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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Disney has no desire to do so. A preview screening of this movie to some Disney animators and writters ended up being the start point for the movie Alladin. In case you are not aware, that's pretty much how Disney used to come up with ideas for all their animation films back in the 1990s: stealing.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Heh, yeah, I remembered thinking, when I was younger, that the arabian movie (or whatever is was called at the time) was sort of a a rip-off of a alladin. Now I know it's the reverse. I also found the comparisons between Kimba the White Lion and Simba from The Lion King to be funny.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005