MOVIE OF THE WEEK: THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER

If you're a lover of unique film, this is a good choice for you. I like a lot of things about "The Thief and the Cobbler," but the best part is the eye-popping animation. It’s so amazing, it’s really all you can focus on. The characters are all second tier except Vincent Price in his last film role, and what a way to go. His character rhymes and flows like a snake in a basket and he’s very fun to watch (and listen of course). There's a long production story to this film, but I'll explain that later.

The movie is set in the ancient middle east. The two main characters are Tack the mute shoemaker, and a silent, unnamed thief. After a misunderstanding, Tack is arrested by the king’s grand vizier, Zig-Zag. However, the king’s daughter has a crush on him and saves him from execution by asking for a shoe repair. Zig-Zag is bitter and slinks away, plotting his revenge.
The plotline revolves around three golden balls resting on top of the tallest minaret. If the balls are removed, terror will grip the city, in which only the simplest soul can save everyone. That’s where the thief comes in. The only reason I could think of for having him in the film is so he could steal the balls and screw things up for the other characters. But, that’s okay. When the thief does steal the balls, it’s up to Tack to get them back and fight against Zig-Zag, who has joined up with the evil “One-Eyed Army.”
You’ve probably never heard of this movie and there's an unfortunate reason for that. Director Richard Williams began production on it in 1968 and made the story and most of the animation himself. He would work with other studios to earn money for the film and while keeping the stack of animated cells in a safe, calling them his “reason for living.” In other words, this movie was important to him and it was going to be his masterpiece. But in the early 90s, he took the movie to Warner Brothers so he could finish it and have it distributed quicker. The only problem was that he didn’t meet the required deadline and the whole film was yanked out from under his feet.
The film was finished as quick as possible by a new director. Different voices were dubbed into the film, corny new songs were added, and new animation replaced some of the old. The film was barely released in 1995 and forgotten as fast as you could say “Arabian Knight.” It was kind of similar to Aladdin and that may be part of the reason for the flop, but still, yuck!
Thankfully, there are plenty of fans who care about “The Thief and the Cobbler.” I just watched a great work print of the movie on Google Video. It’s called the “Recobbled Cut” and it features the movie the way it was meant to be shown. They’ve cut out all of the new footage, songs, and voices and kept whatever was needed as Richard Williams might have done. My only complaint is that this version drags from time to time from the loose patches of animation that would’ve been better had the true director finished it.
But I suggest you go ahead and watch the work print and pray that perhaps one day Richard Williams’ glorious film will be appreciated. And that's why it's the movie of the week. Enjoy.

P.S. I’ve included a couple of clips below. The first is a great chase scene between Tack and the Thief and the second is Zig-Zag consulting the One-Eyes.