Richard Williams' "The Thief and the Cobbler" coming to DVD! (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

http://www.davisdvd.com/archives/news/1104.html

DavisDVD reports that it's coming...

But it'll be the 1995 "raped" version of the film. It's basically the animated "Magnificent Ambersons" Richard Williams labored for decades on the film (production started in 1966!) but it was taken out of his hands in the 1990's. Only 15% of the movie needed to be finished... yet, the Completion Bond Company had scenes re-animated, shots added, and musical sequences added. If that wasn't enough, a new audio track featuring MUTE characters talking was added by the time Miramax got the film.

Unless the DVD is in pan & scan (it's a 2.35:1 CinemaScope film), we should support the DVD as much as possible. If Miramax sees that the cut version fares well, maybe there is a chance they can be convinced to restore the film.

I'm hoping that since the price is so high, perhaps Miramax would be good enough to get a hold of the uncut "work print" that Richard Williams had for years. That, combined with the '95 cut, would give a great picture of the masterpiece that wasn't.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

For those who don't know, the film was already put on DVD, about three years ago... oddly enough, only available in cereal boxes sold in Canada. It's a barebones and P&S release, but it WAS on DVD!!!

 

[AndrewR]

I got one of those!

Man, did they mess that movie up! What could have been.

Andrew

 

[Ernest Rister]

I think you mean Miramax Films' "Arabian Nights" is coming to DVD. As far as I'm concerned, Richard Williams' "The Thief and the Cobbler" remains unfinished.

Maybe someday.

Every time I'm reminded of what happened to "The Thief and the Cobbler", I get a cold shiver down my back and a tremendous feeling of nausea. Where was the advocacy of the Disney company and Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Robert Zemeckis? -- Williams (under the insistence of Chuck Jones) took on the insanely difficult Roger Rabbit -- where were all these people when Mr. Williams needed them?

 

[ChrisPearson]

If the director's cut ever sees the light of day, Thames TV's 1982 documentary "Richard Williams and the Thief Who Never Gave Up" would be a great extra.

And am I alone in wanting a DVD comp of Williams's short films and TV commercials?

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I know Roy Disney was making significant efforts towards getting this completed and restored. But thanks to the Eisner clique I expect all that work has been junked along with Roy.

 

[Richard Waller]

As if I needed another reason to hate that man.

 

[Jim Barg]

After scanning the fascinating website DavisDVD linked to, Ernest, I'm inclined to echo your sentiments. Without Williams, it's probable that Roger Rabbit wouldn't have even been finished (I think this is alluded to on the DVD's documentary). It's a shame, really.

 

[Ernest Rister]

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is one of the most important films ever made in the history of animation. The effect of that film was seismic - it was a massive hit and it pulled in teenagers and adults and regenerated interest in animation. Some people - for whatever reason - credit The Little Mermaid as being the film that jump-started the Second Golden Age of animation. This is wrong -- it was Spielberg, first with Don Bluth on An American Tail, and then with Zemeckis and Williams on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. These films proved that money could be made in animation, and Disney, bolstered by the revenue from releasing their classics on home video, invested heavily in their animation unit. But it was most specifically Who Framed Roger Rabbit, with animation direction by Richard Williams, that pulled in a large teen and adult audience, and therefore increased the consumer base for feature animation in America, and this audience played a large part in the success of Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and everything after. Williams is therefore one of the most important figures in American animation history. Imagining the modern era without Who Framed Roger Rabbit is like imagining feature animation without Snow White.

 

[Rodney]

Any information on "The Thief and The Cobbler" coming out 11/21 by Genius Products?

 

[Patrick McCart]

Just that it'll be widescreen and there will be some cheesy popup packaging. The shortest and most altered Miramax cut, of course. I doubt it'll even have a trailer, but even with it being the worst edit, having it in the full Panavision format is a step up from the VHS quality P&S DVD that was released last year.

 

[The Dreamer]

I Dont understand the butchery they are talking of. When i was little this was my favorite movie. I have no doubt that the orginal would have been good. But the miramax one is soo funny! i loved it as a kid, and now i get the adult jokes in it too. I loved how the animation looked, it was one of the movies that made me go to school to be an animator.