Reception The Thief and the Cobbler

1 reception

1.1 influence
1.2 restoration attempts
1.3 academy preservation
1.4 documentary

reception

the miramax version of film commercial failure , received mixed-to-negative reviews. film website rotten tomatoes gave film score of 50% based on 8 reviews. carn james of new york times criticised songs sung princess, calling lyrics horrible , melodies forgettable , though did praise williams s animation among glorious , lively ever created . animation historian jerry beck felt added voiceovers of jonathan winters , matthew broderick unnecessary , unfunny, , fred calvert s new footage didn t meet standards of original williams scenes. however, in 2003, online film critics society ranked film 81st greatest animated film of time. in addition, film won 1995 academy of family films award.

alex williams, son of original director, criticized changes made calvert , miramax, called finished film more or less unwatchable , found hard find spirit of film conceived . years, richard williams devastated film s production , had never publicly discussed since then. in 2010, did speak thief , cobbler in interview silent animated short, circus drawings, project shelved in 1960s before started work on film. 3 years later, later participated in q&as screenings of 1992 workprint @ samuel goldwyn theater on 10 december 2013 , @ bfi southbank in london on 1 june 2014. williams said has never seen calvert , miramax versions of film, saying m not interested, son, animator, did tell me if ever want jump off bridge should take look.

influence

the secret of kells , song of sea, 2 irish-animated films based style on traditional native art, had thief , cobbler cited 1 of main inspirations. tomm moore, director of both films, said friends in college , inspired richard williams s unfinished masterpiece thief , cobbler , disney movie mulan, took indigenous traditional art starting point beautiful style of 2d animation. felt similar done irish art.

restoration attempts

richard williams workprint bootlegged, after calvert s versions released, , copies years have been shared among animation fans , professionals. problem in creating high-quality restoration after completion bond company had finished film, many scenes williams removed disappeared – many of these had fallen hands of private parties. before losing control of film, williams had kept artwork safe in fireproof basement. additionally, there legal problems miramax.

at 2000 annecy festival, williams showed walt disney feature animation head roy e. disney workprint of thief, disney liked. williams support, roy disney began project restore thief , cobbler. sought out original pencil tests , completed footage. roy disney left walt disney company in november 2003, , project put on hold. disney film producer don hahn later made project supervisor of restoration. since roy s death in 2009, project once again put on hold.

in 2006, filmmaker, artist, , fan of williams s work named garrett gilchrist created non-profit fan restoration of william s workprint, named thief , cobbler: recobbled cut. done in high quality possible combining available sources @ time, such heavily compressed file of williams s workprint , better-quality footage japanese dvd of arabian knight. edit supported numerous people had worked on film (with exception of richard williams himself), including roy naisbitt, alex williams, andreas wessel-therhorn, tony white, holger leihe, simon maddocks, neil boyle, , steve evangelatos, many of whom lent rare material project. minor changes made make feel more finished film , adding more music , replacing storyboards of fred calvert s animation. scenes, wedding ending, had redrawn frame frame gilchrist due flaws in footage. gilchrist described complex independent restoration of film ever undertaken. edit gained positive reviews on internet. twitch film called best , important fan edit ever made .

the recobbled cut has been revised 3 times in 2006, 2008, , 2013. each version incorporated further higher-quality materials donated animators film, including 2 rare workprints fred calvert production contained footage not available in released versions. mark 3 version released in 2008 incorporated 21 minutes 49-minute reel of rare 35mm film. gilchrist s last version, mark 4 , released in september 2013 , edited in hd. mark 4 features 30 minutes of film in full hd quality, restored raw 35mm footage gilchrist edited frame frame. artists commissioned contribute new artwork , material. gilchrist s youtube account, thethiefarchive , serves unofficial video archive of richard williams films, titles, commercials, , interviews, including footage nasrudin production. williams said while hasn t seen gilchrist s recobbled cut, acknowledged role fan edits had played in rehabilitating film s reputation.

academy preservation

on october 2013, williams announced workprint of film, subtitled moment in time , screened on 10 december 2013 in los angeles. williams stated workprint, 13 may 1992, archived , digitally duplicated academy of motion picture arts , sciences. academy has it, s in golden box , s safe, williams said. workprint, along selection of art babbitt s animation film, have been placed in archive collection named art babbitt collection . collection of artwork thief stored in disney s animation research library in feature animation building.

the workprint screened @ academy s samuel goldwyn theater, on 10 december 2013, williams in attendance. attending screening other notable animation artists, crew disney s aladdin attended screening, including animator eric goldberg, composer alan menken, , directors john musker , ron clements. after screening williams discussed origins of film , production history. on 1 june 2014, moment in time screened in london, many of original crew present.

documentary

persistence of vision documentary kevin schreck, richard williams , production of thief , cobbler, film calls greatest animated film never made. because williams did not participate in documentary, instead documentary perspective of animators , artists had worked richard williams , studio during film s lengthy production. williams featured in documentary, through archival interviews. garrett gilchrist , helge bernhardt of recobbled cut , richard williams archive provided rare materials schreck production, funded via kickstarter.

first premiering in 2012 @ vancouver international film festival, has received many awards @ festivals , has gotten positive critical reception. williams given copy of film, said doesn t plan on watching it.