A Timeless Classic... updated
Ok so Scott says that william's pulled the plug on the project. I don't believe that.
After serving as animation director on the successful Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Williams got funding and a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was not finished by its 1991 deadline, and Disney's similarly-themed Aladdin beat it to theatres the following year. Warner took the project from Williams, and had producer Fred Calvert complete the film. Calvert cut a significant amount of Williams' finished footage from the film, added songs, recorded voices for previously mute characters, and added Jonathan Winters' narration. The finished film was distributed outside of the United States as The Princess and the Cobbler, and in the US by Disney subsidiary Miramax. The film did underwhelming business, and was quickly released to VHS video.
In the late 1990s, Walt Disney Feature Animation head Roy E. Disney began a project to restore The Thief and the Cobbler to as close to Williams' original intent as possible. He sought out original pencil tests and completed footage, much of which was by this time in the possession of various animators and film collectors. Roy Disney left the Walt Disney Company in November 2003, and the Thief and the Cobbler restoration project was put on hold. There are bootleg videos that have the footage that Williams himself and his animators completed. The future of the restoration project looks bleak. Artwork is missing (rumor has it that Richard williams disposed of some of it in despair over his project being taken away from him). Negotiations between Roy and Williams broke down when it was revealed that Williams wouldn't be paid because of budget problems, even though he would be promised a release of the result.
The Thief and the Cobbler was destined to be an animation milestone. It was 26 years in the making. Created by the same man who animated Roger Rabbit this film was to be distributed by Warner Brothers.
With the voice talents of VINCENT PRICE, DONALD PLEASENCE and SEAN CONNERY it would have been a wonderful addition to any child's library of videos and a masterwork of animation.
This milestone became a millstone.
Warner screwed up and scrapped the project. 26 years of hard work gone with one lightning penstroke.
Little remains of original film. Cannibalized for lesser direct to video products. Why settle on one great cartoon when you can squeeze two crappy direct to video screensavers out of the the same hard work?
The film was worked on for 26 years, with a team of master animators like Ken Harris and Art Babbit. This film inspired Disney's Aladdin. Ruined versions of it were released as Arabian Knight and The Princess and the Cobbler.
Here is the WB licensing promo that promised a whole new world of THIEF AND COBBLER merchandise.
Here is how this film could have started if Warner Brothers didnt get cold feet.
In 1993 the basardized film was finally released however it was reimagined as THE PRINCESS AND THE COBBLER. While the "buzz" over the film has now repackaged the film under its original title, the vision was distroyed.
You can see the castrated version. Try NETFLIX. Be aware, if you've seen Disney's Aladdin, you will need to be reminded that this film was made before it. So many things have been ripped off by Disney that the original director must have had lousy lawyers not to walk off with a fortune. Lawyers aside this is a masterpiece of animation and humor. If you are over 5 and don't think this is hilarious, then the curse of Disney has already claimed your soul.
If you have seen the film by this name on video, you might be surprised to know that it's far from the version that the Director (Richard Williams) intended. Much of his original film was cut out and replaced with other segments. His film sufferd a similar fate as those by Orson Welles such as The Magnificent Ambersons or the unfinished Don Quoxite.
Richard williams started this ambitious animated film way back in 1968. Working with him were some of the original Disney animators such as Art Babbit and Grim Natwick as well as Ken Harris and Emery Hawkins from Warners. The film was originally self financed by Williams with money coming in from his animated commercials. After winning an academy award for Roger Rabbit he got the film financed externally so it could be completed. This turned out to be a bad decision because after going over budget the investors got nervous and pulled the film from him, having it completed by someone else. The film had about 10 to 15 min left to complete when it was taken out of Williams hands. Instead of just completing the film, the person in charge of the completion decided to re-work the film to make it more "mainstream". He replaced much of the original scenes with song segments and farmed out the animation . The resulting film was released in a few different edits. On called "The Princess and the Cobbler" in Australia and one called "Arabian Knight" in the US by Miramax. The Miramax version is much worse because they added constant narration and voices to characters who were intended to be silent. After Disney purchased Miramax, it's version ended up on home video under the original title "The Thief and the Cobbler".
Richard Williams "Work Print" which is the work in progress version is the only way we can tell what this film could have been. It has not been released, but can be found as a bootleg.
My apologies to my friends at Warner Brothers. I feel the people that made the decision to halt this project are spineless worms. (I guess thats better than spined worms because that would make them snakes.)
After serving as animation director on the successful Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Williams got funding and a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was not finished by its 1991 deadline, and Disney's similarly-themed Aladdin beat it to theatres the following year. Warner took the project from Williams, and had producer Fred Calvert complete the film. Calvert cut a significant amount of Williams' finished footage from the film, added songs, recorded voices for previously mute characters, and added Jonathan Winters' narration. The finished film was distributed outside of the United States as The Princess and the Cobbler, and in the US by Disney subsidiary Miramax. The film did underwhelming business, and was quickly released to VHS video.
In the late 1990s, Walt Disney Feature Animation head Roy E. Disney began a project to restore The Thief and the Cobbler to as close to Williams' original intent as possible. He sought out original pencil tests and completed footage, much of which was by this time in the possession of various animators and film collectors. Roy Disney left the Walt Disney Company in November 2003, and the Thief and the Cobbler restoration project was put on hold. There are bootleg videos that have the footage that Williams himself and his animators completed. The future of the restoration project looks bleak. Artwork is missing (rumor has it that Richard williams disposed of some of it in despair over his project being taken away from him). Negotiations between Roy and Williams broke down when it was revealed that Williams wouldn't be paid because of budget problems, even though he would be promised a release of the result.
The Thief and the Cobbler was destined to be an animation milestone. It was 26 years in the making. Created by the same man who animated Roger Rabbit this film was to be distributed by Warner Brothers.
With the voice talents of VINCENT PRICE, DONALD PLEASENCE and SEAN CONNERY it would have been a wonderful addition to any child's library of videos and a masterwork of animation.
This milestone became a millstone.
Warner screwed up and scrapped the project. 26 years of hard work gone with one lightning penstroke.
Little remains of original film. Cannibalized for lesser direct to video products. Why settle on one great cartoon when you can squeeze two crappy direct to video screensavers out of the the same hard work?
The film was worked on for 26 years, with a team of master animators like Ken Harris and Art Babbit. This film inspired Disney's Aladdin. Ruined versions of it were released as Arabian Knight and The Princess and the Cobbler.
Here is the WB licensing promo that promised a whole new world of THIEF AND COBBLER merchandise.
Here is how this film could have started if Warner Brothers didnt get cold feet.
In 1993 the basardized film was finally released however it was reimagined as THE PRINCESS AND THE COBBLER. While the "buzz" over the film has now repackaged the film under its original title, the vision was distroyed.
You can see the castrated version. Try NETFLIX. Be aware, if you've seen Disney's Aladdin, you will need to be reminded that this film was made before it. So many things have been ripped off by Disney that the original director must have had lousy lawyers not to walk off with a fortune. Lawyers aside this is a masterpiece of animation and humor. If you are over 5 and don't think this is hilarious, then the curse of Disney has already claimed your soul.
If you have seen the film by this name on video, you might be surprised to know that it's far from the version that the Director (Richard Williams) intended. Much of his original film was cut out and replaced with other segments. His film sufferd a similar fate as those by Orson Welles such as The Magnificent Ambersons or the unfinished Don Quoxite.
Richard williams started this ambitious animated film way back in 1968. Working with him were some of the original Disney animators such as Art Babbit and Grim Natwick as well as Ken Harris and Emery Hawkins from Warners. The film was originally self financed by Williams with money coming in from his animated commercials. After winning an academy award for Roger Rabbit he got the film financed externally so it could be completed. This turned out to be a bad decision because after going over budget the investors got nervous and pulled the film from him, having it completed by someone else. The film had about 10 to 15 min left to complete when it was taken out of Williams hands. Instead of just completing the film, the person in charge of the completion decided to re-work the film to make it more "mainstream". He replaced much of the original scenes with song segments and farmed out the animation . The resulting film was released in a few different edits. On called "The Princess and the Cobbler" in Australia and one called "Arabian Knight" in the US by Miramax. The Miramax version is much worse because they added constant narration and voices to characters who were intended to be silent. After Disney purchased Miramax, it's version ended up on home video under the original title "The Thief and the Cobbler".
Richard Williams "Work Print" which is the work in progress version is the only way we can tell what this film could have been. It has not been released, but can be found as a bootleg.
My apologies to my friends at Warner Brothers. I feel the people that made the decision to halt this project are spineless worms. (I guess thats better than spined worms because that would make them snakes.)
posted by Gavin Elster at 3:34 PM
4 Comments:
hey... i still stand by this story. Williams didn't pull the project himself.
Okay, I admit it- I killed it. It was like a really long cartoon or something.
I didn't say he pulled the plug...I said he just stopped making it.
ok. yes then he did stop making it. of course he stopped making it, he wasnt getting paid and they threatened to take it away from him a SECOND time. I would have burned the fuckin thing and be done with it!
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