The Thief and the Cobbler. The Thief and the Cobbler. An unreleased poster made near the end of the film's production, before it was taken from Richard Williams. Directed by. Richard Williams. Produced by. Richard Williams. Imogen Sutton. Gary Kurtz(mid- 1. Written by. Richard Williams.
Margaret French. Starring. Vincent Price. Narrated by. Felix Aylmer(original version)Music by. Original version: David Burman. Peter Shade. David Cullen.
Released versions: Robert Folk. Cinematography. John Leatherbarrow. Edited by. Peter Bond. Productioncompany. Distributed by. Majestic Films (Princess)Miramax Family Films(Arabian)Release date. September 1. 99. 3 (1.
Princess (Australia))2. August 1. 99. 5 (1.
Country Channel Name; Italia: IT: Rai 1 HD: Italia: IT: Rai 2 HD: Italia: IT: Rai 3 HD: Italia: IT: Rai 4 HD: Italia: IT: Rai 5 HD: Italia: IT: Italia Uno HD: Italia.
Arabian (United States))Running time. Workprint)8. 2 minutes (Princess)7. Arabian)Country. United Kingdom. United States. Canada. Language. English. Budget$2. 8 million[1]Box office$6. The Thief and the Cobbler is an animatedfantasy film directed, co- written and co- produced by Canadian animator Richard Williams.
The film is famous for its long, troubled history. Due to independent funding and complex animation, The Thief and the Cobbler was in and out of production for over three decades. It was finally placed into full production in 1.
Warner Bros. agreed to finance and distribute the film.[3] Negotiations broke down when production went over budget and behind schedule. Warner Bros. pulled out and a completion bond company assumed control of the film. The film was re- edited and re- structured by producer Fred Calvert without Williams' involvement, and released in Australia and South Africa as The Princess and the Cobbler in 1. Miramax Films, at the time a subsidiary of Disney, released an even more heavily edited version of the film in North America under the title Arabian Knight. With The Thief and the Cobbler being in and out of production from 1. Guinness record[4] previously held by Tiefland (1. This was, upon release, the last film of Kenneth Williams, who died in 1.
Sir Anthony Quayle, who died in 1. Vincent Price, who died in 1. This is also, to date, the final film to feature Stanley Baxter. The film opens with a narrator describing a prosperous city called the Golden City, ruled by the sleepy King Nod and protected by three golden balls atop its tallest minaret.
According to a prophecy, the city would fall to a race of warlike, one- eyed monsters, known as "One- Eyes", should the balls be removed, and could only be saved by "the simplest soul with the smallest and simplest of things". Living in the city are the good- hearted cobbler Tack, named for the ubiquitous pair of tacks held in his mouth, and a nameless, unsuccessful yet persistent thief. When the thief sneaks into Tack's house, the two fight and stumble outside, causing Tack's tacks to fall onto the street. Zigzag, King Nod's Grand Vizier, steps on one of the tacks and orders Tack to be arrested while the thief escapes. Tack is brought before King Nod and his daughter, Princess Yum- Yum. Before Zigzag can convince Nod to have Tack executed by beheading, Yum- Yum saves Tack by breaking one of her shoes and ordering him to fix it.
During repairs, Tack and Yum- Yum become increasingly attracted to each other, much to the jealousy of Zigzag, who plots to take over the kingdom by marrying the princess. Meanwhile, the thief notices the golden balls atop the minaret and decides to steal them.
After breaking into the palace through a gutter, the thief steals the repaired shoe from Tack, prompting the cobbler to chase him through the palace. Upon retrieving the shoe, Tack bumps into Zigzag, who notices the shoe is fixed and imprisons Tack in a dungeon. The next morning, Nod has a vision of the Golden City's destruction by the One- Eyes. While Zigzag tries to convince Nod of the kingdom's security, the thief steals the balls after several failed attempts, only to lose them to Zigzag's minions; Tack escapes from his cell using his cobbling tools during the ensuing panic. Nod notices the balls' disappearance when a mortally wounded soldier warns them of the invading One- Eyes. Zigzag attempts to use the stolen balls to blackmail the king into letting him marry Yum- Yum. When Nod dismisses him, Zigzag defects to the One- Eyes and gives them the balls instead.
Nod sends Yum- Yum, her nurse, and Tack to ask help from a "mad and holy old witch" in the desert. They are secretly followed by the thief, who hears of treasures on the journey but fails in stealing any. In the desert, they discover a band of dimwitted brigands, led by Chief Roofless, whom Yum- Yum recruits as her bodyguards.
The protagonists reach the hand- shaped tower where the witch lives, and, after the witch kills herself, learn that Tack is prophesied to save the Golden City. The witch also presents a riddle: "Attack, attack, attack! A tack, see? But it's what you do with what you've got!" before destroying the entire tower with a storm cloud. The protagonists return to the Golden City to find the One- Eyes' massive war machine approaching. Remembering the witch's riddle, Tack shoots a single tack into the enemy's midst, sparking a Goldberg- esque chain reaction that destroys the entire One- Eye army. Zigzag tries to escape, but steps in the tack which leads to him falling into a pit where he is eaten by alligators and his fat lazy vulture, Phido.
The thief, avoiding many deathtraps, steals the golden balls from the collapsing machine, only to have them taken from him by Tack. With peace restored and the prophecy fulfilled, the city celebrates as Tack and Yum- Yum marry. The story ends with the thief stealing its reel of film and running away. Changes made in subsequent versions[edit]The Allied Filmmakers cut is drastically different from Williams's workprint.
Four musical numbers have been added; the film originally had none. Many scenes have been cut: These primarily consist of scenes involving the thief, most notably his attempted theft of an emerald and his subsequent evasion of capital punishment for it, and the subplot wherein Zigzag tries to feed Tack to Phido. Also removed are any references to the maiden from Mombassa, whom Zigzag gives to King Nod as a "plaything" in the workprint. Tack, almost mute in the workprint, speaks several times and narrates most scenes in past tense; the workprint had narration only in the beginning by a voice- over. Some subplots have been added; in one, Yum- Yum is tired of living a life of "regal splendor", and wishes to prove her worth to her father.
Another subplot sees the nurse initially disliking Tack, and scolding Yum- Yum for harboring romantic feelings for him, but warming to him later on. There are also several lines of alternate or removed dialogue. Arabian Knight (1. Miramax)The Miramax cut includes all changes made in the Allied Filmmakers cut. In addition, several previously mute characters are given voices, most notably the thief, who narrates over all of his scenes in the form of an inner monologue. The Golden City is now referred to as Baghdad. Most scenes featuring the Mighty One- Eye's slave women in detail have been removed, although he can still be seen sitting on them.
The sequence featuring the witch has been almost entirely removed, as is most of the climactic battle sequence, which had already been greatly shortened in the Allied cut. Watch Opposite Day Online Ibtimes. One- Eye's death is cut, though he can be heard crying: "My machine!" as the war machine burns, whereupon he presumably burns with it. The Recobbled Cut (2. Garrett Gilchrist's fan restorations mostly follow Richard Williams's workprint very closely, at least in their intent, using most of its original audio track and editing structure. In order to present a more complete film, Gilchrist added additional music (some from the released versions) and sound effects, and also included finished footage that does not appear in a finished state in the workprint, whether taken from the released versions or from other rare sources.