Synopsis:

In the making for 30 years, starting back in the 60s, before its creator's vision disappears forever, Richard Williams's (Who Framed Roger Rabbit? / Pink Panther) masterpiece uses the most expressive, hand-crafted and surreal animation of all time to tell, in every detail, the story of a silent cobbler trying to win the heart of a young princess - something that sounds more like a distant dream. At the same time, however, the sneaky and manipulative Zigzag, the evil grand vizier who often speaks in rhymes, is also trying to win the Princess's hand from her... always-sleepy father, King Nod. To their unawareness, however, a genocidal army of fearsome warriors and conquerors known as "The One-Eyes" are approaching the Golden City planning a bloody depredation! It will all depend on one mute little thief to fix the whole situation... BY MISTAKE! Students of the I.C.S.D.. and S.A.F.M. Departments of Samos, in collaboration with young artists and collectors from all over the world, present for the first time, fully complete with vivid colors and new shots, but also carefully dubbed in Greek, Richard Williams' lost masterpiece as faithfully as possible to the original vision of the creator! A project that started as a Fan-Edit and, proudly, ended up being the official Greek version of the film after a successful Theatrical Run in Festivals and Cinema Clubs during Summer 2023!

Intentions:

"Welcome to "The Thief and the Cobbler", a film by Richard Williams, which anyone who knows the story behind its production could describe it as quite a troubled one. The 21-year-old young digital creator Stathis Tsasakos, in collaboration with students from the I.C.S.D. and S.A.F.M. departments of Samos Island, as well as with young artists and older archive collectors from around the world, gave us the version you are about to watch today. Today's screening could be considered quite important for the cinematic history of this film, as apart from belonging to its first public screenings, for the first time it includes clear, vivid colors, HDR Treatment, 10 animation shots that today here are going to be shown for the first time globally in full color, but most importantly? It's the first cut that stays as loyal as possible to the original vision of the creator, according to his workprint. In addition, in collaboration with Mr. Nondas Tsirepas, they have added excellent public domain music tracks to make the magic of the film an even more breathtaking experience. We wish you to have fun and have a great summer everyone." -Gaggou Beach Film Festival 2023, Samos Island-

Change List:

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Additional Notes:

In February 2023, a new unofficial restoration attempt from students of ICSD and SAFM of University Of Aegean, was announced to be released in summer of the same year. The Thief And The Cobbler : Tsasakos Cut (? ??????? ?? ? ?????????) , as it was named after the project's director name, Stathis Tsasakos, released two trailers that included color-corrected and HDR processed footage of the original film, as well, as completed shots in full color for the first time, by young digital artists all over the world! It was announced that the new version is running at 92 minutes of full color and complete footage, as close to the original Richard Williams's workprint as possible, with the source they were provided by archive collectors on Youtube.

Other Sources:

We completed 10 Pencil Tests. Unfortunately the rest of them where either deleted scenes, or dirty/blur enough that we were unable to complete them. Storyboards were cut, but thanks to our team we managed to keep the story going close to the original script using footage from all existing versions. Finally, some scenes were unnecessary as they were slowing down the film (this was a result of a first test screening). And now we managed to get it running on 92 minutes of full color (the original workprint was 98)

Special Thanks:

*Josh Elliott for giving access to his archive of workprints and material to work on(and the permission to use it) *All of the artists for helping this project come to life by putting their love into it, including professional animator Dennis Van Hout. *Miramax and Paramount for replying and informing us about the film's Copyright. *Nontas Tsirepas for being a great helping hand in Music Direction. *Selene Kyriakou for handling the Audio Editing and Wrapping in the final cut.