Synopsis:

It’s the the great effort to recreate the original version of this lost animation classic.

Intentions:

Acclaimed master animator Richard Williams spent the better part of three decades working on what was meant to be his masterpiece, The Thief and the Cobbler. After his success as animation director on Who Framed Roger Rabbit he was finally able to get studio financing to take The Thief from a career spanning side project to full-blown production. A stolid perfectionist, costs mounted and deadlines loomed with Williams at the helm, and Warner's eventually pulled out when Disney announced the similarly themed Aladdin. With funding gone, the film was taken from Williams by his creditors and was completed by others (under the leadership of Fred Calvert), cheaply and poorly while making massive changes to try to make it more mainstream. This version only saw release in Australia and South Africa, as The Princess and the Cobbler. Later Disney bought it and heavily edited it again, in such a way as to make it appear a cheap knockoff of Aladdin (instead of the film that’s largely believed to be the greatest inspiration behind Disney’s film), while making it almost unwatchable in the process. Released as Arabian Knight, it was a travesty. This Recobbed Cut is a recent fan-created reconstruction of the film as Williams wanted it, or as close to as possible. Based on a workprint of the film from when Williams was nearing completion (shortly before the film was taken away from him). Using the workprint, DVDs of the two officially released cuts of the film, and other related elements taken from various sources this Recobbed Cut reveals the masterpiece that could have been. — This new version, Recobbled Cut Mark II, has been compiled after a widescreen version of The Princess and the Cobbler surfaced shortly after this version became widely available online. This was such a huge find that Garrett felt compelled to recobbled it once again, incorporating more of the fully animated widescreen material that he just didn’t have before. The scenes which are most affected are the witch and war machine scenes, which have been improved in quality. Also added – more “Deleted Characters” footage of the Mullah Nasrudin and the Enchanted Ogre Prince.

Change List:

From the three-time Academy Award winning animator of Who Framed Roger Rabbit … Restored version of Richard Williams’ unfinished animated masterpiece, The Thief and the Cobbler. Unofficial restoration by Garrett Gilchrist. This is not intended for profit, just a fanmade research project and tribute to this classic film. 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. For the first time ever on video, enjoy the original version of this lost animation classic, written and directed by three-time Academy Award winning animator Richard Williams (animation director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit). Nearly 30 years in the making, a labor of love by a team of animation greats, this was to be the masterpiece of Williams career, perhaps the most ambitious independent animated film ever conceived. The film was the inspiration for Disneys film Aladdin, which proved to be its undoing. After over two decades of work, the film was taken away from Williams when he couldnt meet his deadline. It was eventually bought by Disney, recut and destroyed. It has never been seen the way it was intended to be seen … until now. Based on Williams’ original workprint, missing scenes have been restored using storyboards and unfinished animation. Restored to its true form, this lost classic has finally been found - for you at home. When Richard Williams was fired from his film The Thief and the Cobbler (after 26 years of work), Fred Calvert was hired to finish it quickly and cheaply. He did an incredibly poor job. His version was called The Princess and the Cobbler, later recut further by Miramax into the nearly unwatchable Arabian Knight. This “Recobbled Cut” uses footage from Williams’ original 1991 workprint with higher quality footage from Arabian Knight and Princess and the Cobbler … this does include some lower quality Calvert animation with the high quality Williams animation – it’s easy to tell the difference. The film has been carefully reedited to match Willliams’ original 1991 workprint for the film, and his original vision. Calvert footage has only been used if it conforms to Williams’ storyboards – in some cases footage has literally been reanimated frame by frame in Photoshop to make it match Williams’ scenes! The restoration in total took 4 months to complete. Restoration from the editor/filmmaker who brought you Deleted Magic, SW Classic Edition, and Gods of Los Angeles. Story: 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.

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