Thief And The Cobbler, The – Recobbled Cut

I hate to say this about such a labor of love, but it's hard to recommend this to anyone other than ardent fans. If you know what you're in for and you really just want the maximum amount of anything ever available relating to The Thief and The Cobbler: well, this is that. A+ marks for assembling everything possible, and putting it all together as well as possible. That said, putting it together well just isn't very possible.

My thoughts on the film as a whole are here: https://boxd.it/5sZB6J In short, I'll say that just having MORE doesn't make this a good film. The quality of animation cut in varies wildly in this, from almost stick figure sketches to still frames to widescreen restorations. It's impossible to ever sink into this as a film because you're constantly aware of the visuals changing up. Some of the transitions between footage are very fast and are accomplished well, but there are some rough ones, too. Overall, given what there is to work with, this is about as good as you could technically expect, but that doesn't make it anything that is very much fun to watch.

For some people who have bought into the internet hype of this version of the film as some kind of Orson Welles lost masterpiece that would've shaken the foundations of the world, this edit is going to be a godsend. They can watch and let their imaginations of what the film COULD be run wild. But for anyone just watching what the film IS: this edit doesn't save it. What was released was an Aladdin wannabe that had some moments of inspired animation. This takes that, cuts out the songs, and adds in a bunch of unfinished animation gags, but nothing which really improves the story or adds any depth or humor...it's just MORE.

Recommended as a Preservation for die-hard fans. As a film: pass.

A fascinating look into what could have been. I wrote a full review on Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/3OY7AJ

But basically, this edit is an incredible accomplishment, rivaling the Star Wars Despecialized Editions as being one of the most important fan edits to ever exist. Anyone studying animation or is interested in it should watch this film, and the documentary based on it called "Persistence of Vision".

Probably nothing could have fixed how incoherent the story is, even Richard Williams himself couldn't in time, but thankfully it remains an incredible piece of art that challenges conventions, especially when it comes to animation.

March 9, 2012 @ 6:26 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

December 31, 2011 @ 3:12 am

A great effort by the editor. You can tell a tremendous amount of time and talent went into producing it. I think what mars it for me was that the quality of the .avi I downloaded was just too pixelated and choppy to enjoy on a big (100″ projected) screen. This is a film I think my nieces would really enjoy if a higher quality cut of it was available (even with the rough story board scenes included). That said, its an amazing curiosity piece of what could have been. It’s edits like these that continue to draw me to fanedit.org and fan edits in general. 7/10 for the effort alone.