The Thief and the Cobbler is a British-American-Canadian animated fantasy film directed, co-written and co-produced by Canadian animator Richard Williams. The film is known for its long, troubled history; due to independent funding and ambitiously 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 1988 when Warner Bros. agreed to finance and distribute the film. 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 1993; two years later, 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.
The Thief and the Cobbler | |
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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 |
Written by | Richard Williams Margaret French |
Starring | Vincent Price |
Narrated by | Felix Aylmer (original version) Steve Lively (Allied Filmmakers version) Matthew Broderick (Miramax version) |
Music by | Original version: David Burman Peter Shade David Cullen Released versions: Robert Folk |
Cinematography | John Leatherbarrow |
Edited by | Peter Bond |
Production company | Richard Williams Animation Productions Allied Filmmakers |
Distributed by | Majestic Films (Australia) Miramax Films (United States) |
Release date | 23 September 1993 (The Princess and the Cobbler) 25 August 1995 (Arabian Knight) |
Running time | 93 minutes (Workprint) 82 minutes (The Princess and the Cobbler) 74 minutes (Arabian Knight) |
Country | United Kingdom United States Canada |
Language | English |
Budget | $28 million |
Box office | $669,276 |
With The Thief and the Cobbler being in and out of production from 1964 until 1995, a total of 31 years, the 20-year Guinness record previously held by Tiefland (1954) is surpassed by it. This was, upon release, the last film of Kenneth Williams, who died in 1988; Sir Anthony Quayle, who died in 1989; and Vincent Price, who died in 1993, a month after the film's release. This is also, to date, the final film to feature Stanley Baxter.
Screenplay
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 on the tack which leads to him falling into a pit where he is eaten alive 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 film ends with the thief stealing the reel of film and running away.
Changes made in subsequent versions
- The Princess and the Cobbler (1993, Allied Filmmakers)
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 (though many of these scenes appear in the credits), 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.
- Arabian Knight (1995, 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. 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 (2006, 2007, 2013)
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. Most of the story changes made by Fred Calvert and Miramax are not present, but it does include a few minor Calvert-only scenes or alterations, either as a side effect of using Calvert's footage as replacements for unfinished scenes in the workprint or because Gilchrist felt these scenes were useful to the plot. For this reason, Gilchrist does not refer to his edit as a "Director's Cut."
Character | Original version (The Thief and the Cobbler) |
Allied Filmmakers version (The Princess and the Cobbler) |
Miramax version (Arabian Knight) |
---|---|---|---|
Zigzag the Grand Vizier | Vincent Price | ||
Tack the Cobbler | Unknown (Only one line)a | Steve Lively | Matthew Broderick (Speaking) Steve Lively (Singing, uncredited) |
Narrator | Felix Aylmer | Steve Lively | Matthew Broderick |
Princess Yum-Yum | Sara Crowe | Bobbi Page Sara Crowe (One line)b |
Jennifer Beals (Speaking) Bobbi Page (Singing) |
The Thief | Unknown (Never speaks)c | Ed E. Carroll | Jonathan Winters |
King Nod | Anthony Quayle | Clive Revill Anthony Quayle (Speech scene, uncredited)d | |
Princess Yum-Yum's Nurse | Joan Sims | Mona Marshall | Toni Collette |
Mad and Holy Old Witch | Joan Sims | Mona Marshall Joan Sims (Some lines)e |
Toni Collette |
Chief Roofless | Windsor Davies | ||
Mighty One-Eye | Christopher Greener | Kevin Dorsey | |
Phido the Vulture | Donald Pleasence | Eric Bogosian | |
Dying Soldier | Clinton Sundberg | ||
Goblet | Kenneth Williams | ||
Tickle | |||
Gofer | Stanley Baxter | ||
Slap | |||
Dwarf | George Melly | ||
Hoof | Eddie Byrne | ||
Hook | Thick Wilson | ||
Goolie | Frederick Shaw | ||
Maiden from Mombassa | Margaret French | ||
Laughing Brigand | Richard Williams (Uncredited) | ||
The Brigands | Joss Ackland Peter Clayton Derek Hinson Declan Mulholland Mike Nash Dermot Walsh Ramsay Williams |
Joss Ackland (Uncredited) Peter Clayton Geoff Golden Derek Hinson Declan Mulholland Mike Nash Tony Scannell Dermot Walsh Ramsay Williams Rik Mayall (Uncredited) | |
Singers for the Brigands | Randy Crenshaw Kevin Dorsey Roger Freeland Nick Jameson Bob Joyce Jon Joyce Kerry Katz Ted King Michael Lanning Raymond McLeod Rick Charles Nelson Scott Rummell | ||
"Am I Feeling Love?" pop singers | Arnold McCuller Andrea Robinson |
Notes
^a According to Richard Williams, Sean Connery was going to record Tack's one line, but never showed up at the studio, so the line was instead performed by a friend of his wife's. However, Connery's name remains credited in the end credits of the "Recobbled Cut" version.
^b While Yum-Yum's dialogue was mostly re-voiced by Bobbi Page for the Allied Filmmakers version, one line of Crowe's dialogue is retained when Yum-Yum throws her pear at Zigzag in disgust during the polo game.
^c In both of the 1992 workprints, the thief is heard making short grunts/wheezes in a few scene
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