*Understand that this review is for the Recobbled Cut, not the butchered Miramax Version of the film*Some people have the gall to call this the "poor man's Aladdin". Though the play on words may be intended, it is not justified in the least. The Thief and the Cobbler is probably animation's most treasured sympathy story. The tortured tale of one man's dream to create his passion project had never been so depressing and inspiring at the same time. In 1964, animator Richard Williams began work on a new project known as, "Nasruddin!". It was to be a feature length animation based on a famous Eastern folk lore of the same name. In 1972, after some run ins with copyright restrictions and the owner of the story demanding 50% of the profits(among other disheartening factors), Williams decided not to scrap the project altogether, but to give rebirth to the idea itself as a re-imagining of what he originally wanted. Thus, The Thief and the Cobbler was... well, not born, but tragically put into development. After creating a new script from scratch, based on no existing material, Williams was to create a film about a young "street rat" who happens to work as a very talented cobbler, or tailor if you will. A crafty thief would also be a main character, who'd basically act as Scrat does in the "Ice Age" film series, posing as a background character who somehow is always involved with the main plot of the film. By 1973, production on the film had began and would actually run all the way until 1986. By now, Williams had already recorded all principle voice overs, with an all-star cast including, Vincent Price, Donald Pleasence, Sir Anthony Quayle, and even Sean Connery in one line of dialogue. However, in 1986, Williams ran out of money to continue the film's production schedule. The film would then remain in limbo for a couple more years.Williams tried to obtain financial backing for the picture, but no one would provide their faith in the project to do so. Eventually, Robert Zemekis and Steven Spielberg caught wind of the film and decided to hire Williams to direct the animation for their new little film, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". After winning 2 damn Oscars from Roger Rabbit's glorious special effects, Williams got major backing and put Cobbler back in production by 1988. The backer was none other than Warner Bros, and gave him a deadline of 1991 to finish and release the film. Williams did not meet this date, and lost control of his baby to Time Warner's claws. After Warner saw that it was a highly artistic film built on ingenuity and masterful artistry, Warner thought it was shit that wouldn't sell. To make matters worse, Disney had just released a new movie called, "Aladdin" and now Warner Bros. needed to compete with it. They took Williams original cut of Cobbler and bastardized the living hell out of it. Adding musical numbers and new scenes teaching life lessons to kids as a way to appeal to the family market. Needless to say, this cut of the film made wide-release... but not much money.The film was shit, and Warner was too blame for such. Comparing the 2 side by side, Aladdin cannot be considered a fair competitive rival, blowing Warner's faux Cobbler out of the water. Richard Williams, now down on his luck and all but given up on seeing his passion come to life after almost 35 years, knew it was most likely over. Most of the cast members were now dead and everyone's expectations were met with a low-budget knock off of what they had been given at a wider reach. But light shined through a dark tunnel in 2006, when filmmaker Garrett Gilchrist released an unofficial cut of the film entitled, "The Recobbled Cut". After tracking down all existing and unused scenes and animation cels, Gilchrist pieced together a version of the film that is thus far the closest it has ever been to Williams' original vision. This version is not a Director's Cut, and is not necessarily a legal purchase, but it has been given full blessing by Williams himself and is now widely available. Once seeing it, you'll know why this film is considered one of the most underrated animations in history. Taking place in the middle east, the simple plot of the film can easily be seen as an early version of Aladdin considering the glaring similarities to the latter film. Starring a poor protagonist with a heart of gold, the villain being the king's(or Sultan's)vizier, and them fighting over the city's princess for her love and affection in some way. The main difference between the two, and main reason why Cobbler is such a divine gem, is the incredibly fluid art style and artistic integrity that is The Thief and the Cobbler. The whole film is a love letter to the medium, never stopping to take a break from it's many on screen astonishments. Looking like a mixture of Chuck Jones' art style and Salvador Dali's never ending mind-warping visuals, the film stands out among it's peers as an achievement no one knew about soon enough. To this day it goes unnoticed, unwatched and unloved. All three being an honest crime, this film is like an old dog at an animal shelter. No one wants it, because no one knows it's around for adoption. Just as taunted and abused as said dogs are, this gem must be seen to believe, as it has lasted the test of time as one man's thesis to his life passion. Any work of art that has gone through what it has deserves a chance to be appreciated. As soon as the Criterion Collection decides that animation is a serious medium, you can expect this title to be among their listings. No doubts about that here.- The Spork Guy
