The Thief and the Cobbler
| |
August 25, 1995
| Miramax
| 72 minutes
Directed by: Richard Williams
| Written by: Richard Williams
| Cinematography: John Leatherbarrow
| Editing: Peter Bond
| Costume Design: Richard Williams
| Music: David Burman, David Cullen, Robert Folk, Peter Shade
When Tack upsets Zigzag the Vizier, the wizard drags him off to the royal castle, where Princess Yum Yum falls for the bashful boy and saves him from execution. Unfortunately, Zigzag plans to marry the princess in order to succeed her father. The Thief, meanwhile, is more interested in gold than love and takes off with the protective orbs topping the palace. Together Tack and Yum Yum attempt to retrieve them in order to prevent Zigzag and the One-Eye army from conquering the city.
Cast: Matthew Broderick (Tack the Cobbler), Vincent Price (ZigZag), Jonathan Winters (The Thief), Eric Bogosian (Phido the Vulture), Jennifer Beals (Princess YumYum), Toni Collette (Nurse / Mad Holy Old Witch), Miriam Margolyes (Maiden from Mombassa), Joss Ackland (Brigand)
Production Notes
“The Thief and the Cobbler” is an unfinished animated fantasy film directed by Richard Williams. Originally conceived in the 1960s, the film was in and out of production for nearly three decades due to independent funding and ambitiously complex animation. It was finally placed into full production in 1989, when Warner Bros. agreed to finance and distribute the film. When production went over budget and fell behind schedule, it was heavily cut and hastily re-edited by producer Fred Calvert without Williams’ involvement; it was eventually released by Allied Filmmakers in 1993 under the title “The Princess and the Cobbler”. Two years later, Disney’s Miramax Films released another re-edit titled “Arabian Knight”, which received a new dubbing by prominent participants including Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Beals and Toni Collette. Both versions of the film performed poorly at the box office and received mixed reviews.
