History WesternAnimation / TheThiefAndTheCobbler

* DisproportionateRetribution: Zigzag has Tack arrested, thrown in jail and almost fed to a vulture just because he accidentally stepped on a tack fell from him by accident.

** [[NoteworthyLooneyTunesStaff Ken Harris]], number one animator in the Chuck Jones unit [[LooneyTunes during production on the original golden-era batch of Warner Brothers cartoons]]. Ken's animation of the Thief is similar to his work on Wile E. Coyote.

* GoryDiscretionShot: During [[spoiler:Zigzag's]] death scene, he falls into a pit and is eaten alive by a pack of crocodiles. All that can be seen is a silhouette and a pair of eyes being munched by the crocs' teeth, until all that remains is his still talking head, which is then eaten by his pet vulture. It cuts to complete darkness as his head is eaten.

*** "Now that I have the balls, I'll go see the King!"
*** "I'm taking my balls and leaving!"
** The messenger's struggled "[[UnusualEuphemism One-Eye]] is coming!" before he dies.

** The second time is when [[spoiler: the enourmus war machine is collapsing, {{Justified}} by the fire.]]

'''''The Thief and the Cobbler''''' was directed by RichardWilliams (of ''WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' fame). At more than 30 years, it holds the record for the longest production time for a motion picture - much of it spent in DevelopmentHell. Also goes under the titles '''''The Princess and the Cobbler''''' and '''''Arabian Knight''''', depending on which version you're watching. Often considered one of the lost treasures of [[WesternAnimation animation]] (some critics consider it the [[MissingEpisode greatest unfinished film of all time]]) the movie began as a pet project which Williams and a few colleagues worked on out of his garage. It was picked up by a studio after Williams won an Oscar for ''Roger Rabbit'', but funding was pulled with just a few months left to go in production. Williams is an ''incredibly'' meticulous animator so his work takes a really, really long time to produce, even by animation standards. This amazing attention to detail really shows in the film; but it may also be what doomed it to incomplete status.

Sadly, the movie was [[ExecutiveMeddling meddled with to death]] before its release. Williams lost control over the film in 1992 after having worked on it since 1964, prompted by competition with a [[{{Disney/Aladdin}} certain upcoming film]], and the film fell into lesser hands who [[{{Macekre}} severely edited it]], turning it from an adult art epic to a more "mainstream" Disney-esque musical. In a twist of DramaticIrony, some overseas-edited editions of the film even advertise it as TheMockbuster version of ''Aladdin''. Fortunately, a "[[http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=18B0CA620B61D076# Recobbled Cut]]" is freely available online, and it is considered to be the closest one can get to Williams' original vision. A workprint version also exists online.

* ChekhovsGun:

* DerangedAnimation: Taken UpToEleven in the original version.

* OffModel: Happens pretty often, as one could expect from an animated film in production for ''decades'' and, in the case of the Calvert version, [[hottip:by several different animation studios around the world: The animation itself was largely handled by members of Sulivan-Bluth Studios in Ireland, Kroyer Films in America and Premier Films in the UK. With WangFilmProductions in Taiwan handing the bulk of the ink and paint, which in turn went to their Thailand-based studio]]. It doesn't help that Calvert outsourced the remaining animation work to cheaper studios, creating a drastic difference in quality between the original Williams-animated scenes and his scenes.
** A very noticeable instance is [=YumYum=] as Zigzag says .”..of course, oh rose of the land, your slightest whim is my command..." This is because the footage was recycled from an older test reel Williams had created to pitch the film to potential investors.

** The original, unfinished version of the film by Richard Williams. He put together a workprint in 1992 before he was forced to leave. The Recobbled Cut is a restoration of this, with only some cosmetic changes (adding more music and replacing storyboards with Calvert's animation where it didn't differ too much).

* SpikesOfVillainy: The War Machine of the One-Eyes.

** While Princess [=YumYum=] is bathing, the Thief steals two of her back scratchers. In the re-cuts, nothing comes of it. In the original version, the Thief [[ChekhovsGun uses them to escape having his hands cut off.]]

** And there has to be a mention for the thief and a certain polo ball. You can't help but either [[YourMileageMayVary pity the poor guy or laugh out of spite.]] [[TakeAThirdOption Or both.]]

* CurseCutShort: "Oh [=fffffffffffffffffPhido=]!" (original version).

* TheEnd: The words "The End" appear in golden letters. [[ImpossibleThief The Thief steals it.]]

* {{Gainaxing}}: Princess [=YumYum=] at times and also the Witch and the dancing One Eyes' slaves.

** King Nod having sex with the "Maiden from Mombossa" (though it's not actually shown, it's very obviously implied).

*** "I'm taking my balls and leaving!" Except that one ''didn't'' get past the radar (The Calvert and Miramax versions have a slightly awkward edit from "my" to "the").

* LimitedAnimation: Completely subverted. Despite the [[DoingItForTheArt complete stylization]] which was original for the time he began work on it, Williams painfully crafted it cel-by-cel at a high frame-rate.

* DerangedAnimation: [[UpToEleven In]] [AC:[[UpToEleven Spades]]] in the original version.

* [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs What Do You Mean, It Wasn't Made On Drugs?]]: The original version is probably the second trippiest animated film, after ''YellowSubmarine''.

* AnimationBump: RichardWilliams put an amazing effort in the animation, and it really shows. It runs at full 24 frames per second, TheTwelvePrinciplesOfAnimation are excellently followed, [[SceneryPorn lots of minor stuff happen in the background all the time]], and many scenes even ''move in perspective''!! [[BeyondTheImpossible Not to mention the climax, which has more flying debris and arrows, flashes of light and rotating wheels than you can possibly count]]. All, believe it or not, drawn entirely by hand. This is basically animated VisualEffectsOfAwesome turned UpToEleven.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Some have accused Disney's ''{{Aladdin}}'' of being a rip-off of this film. While the plots are dissimilar, the animators of ''Aladdin'' have admitted to watching clips of the film and basing their own character designs, such as the Genie and Jafar, off the ones in this film. Which later led to critics thinking ''this'' film, which was released later, was ripping it off. Of course, the Miramax cut did in fact rip off certain elements of ''{{Aladdin}}'' during the process of [[{{Disneyfication}} Disneyfying]] it.

* '''DoingItForTheArt''': Unfortunately, this film's creation process is a frightening examination of what happens to The Art when RealityEnsues.

** GrimNatwick, responsible for KrazyKat, BettyBoop, Disney/SnowWhite and MisterMagoo, and was in fact 90 years old when he tackled the drawings for the Mad Witch.

* TheEnd: The words "The End" appear in golden letters. [[ImpossibleThief The Thief]] [[PaintingTheFourthWall steals it]].

* OffModel: Happens pretty often, as one could expect from an animated film in production for ''decades'' and, in the case of the Calvert version, [[hottip:by several different animation studios around the world: The animation itself was largely handled by members of Sulivan-Bluth studios in Ireland, Kroyer Films in America and Premier Films in the UK. With WangFilmProductions in Taiwan handing the bulk of the Ink and Paint, which in turn went to their Thailand-based studio]]. It doesn't help that Calvert outsourced the remaining animation work to cheaper studios, creating a drastic difference in quality between the original Williams-animated scenes and his scenes.

* OffModel: Happens pretty often, as one could expect from an animated film in production for ''decades'' and, in the case of the Calvert version, by several different animation studios around the world. It doesn't help that Calvert outsourced the remaining animation work to cheaper studios, creating a drastic difference in quality between the original Williams-animated scenes and his scenes.

** GrimNatwick, responsible for KrazyKat, BettyBoop, SnowWhite and MisterMagoo, and was in fact 90 years old when he tackled the drawings for the Mad Witch.