The Thief And The Cobbler [DVD]

An absolutely appalling butchery of a long in development movie from a master animator. Richard Williams must have been devastated what they did to his cherished project! The added songs, the voiceover for the the Thief. I still purchased it, as there are still wonderful moments to treasure. The animation, as you would expect, is stunning in places, particular the cobbler in a chase sequence, and the really complex climax. You can see the love and attention Williams put into it. All destroyed because the moronic money men tried to "salvage" a movie they felt wasn't viewer friendly enough! its a real shame!

i chosed this rating cause it was interesting,there was nothing i disliked about this dvd and would recommend to my friend.

At best it is disingenuous to say that this animation is the work of, and directed by, Richard Williams. At worst it is a totally false claim. The history behind this film is well to known to anyone who admires the work of Richard Williams ..... he devoted a substantial part of his recent life, and virtually all his private savings, to creating a film into which he wanted to pour his entire knowledge and understanding of animation techniques and storytelling. In the end, the project bankrupted him and his all work was bought by Harvey Weinstein's group who then set about finishing it ...... but in doing so they went the full hog and added truly abysmal, schmalzy songs; animation sequences that are as flat as a pancake when compared to RW's originals; and voice-overs and character-voices which are so lifeless that they drain the life out of everything. Only a few original recordings which were completed and left intact suggest what we should have been able to hear and experience. (eg: the Brigand leader).The only reason to buy this movie now is to seek out and marvel at RW's original sequences. It is no coincidence that you can currently only buy this as a Region 1 DVD. However, the most telling fact is that RW wanted his name removed from the credits but it has been retained against his wishes. There is nothing else to recommend this mish-mash except for the knowledge that buried within its Americanised, sugary dullness there are still whole sections which show RW at his imaginative best. That is why I award this movie 2 stars ..... but if you hope to see a true Richard Williams movie, look elsewhere or you will be totally disappointed.

Thoroughly enjoyed watching this animation. I especially enjoy the characters, the simplicity, the backgrounds with all the patterns and 3-dimension-suggesting tricks.I recomend it to anyone who enjoys animation. Other reviews write a lot about the history of the making of the film. I just appreciate it for what it is. Life is too short...

Purchased this in an effort to relive memories of the original release I saw Australia. The release in Australia was titled "The Princess and the Cobbler" and has a number of differences to this version.The main difference is that the Australian release kept the thief silent. I assume this DVD is the version that was released in the USA, as there is a voiceover on the thief and the voices for the Cobbler and the Princess are different.The voiceover on the thief in this version is just appalling - completely unnecessary and actually detracts from the character. The beauty of this film was the fact that the animation created most of the story and built the characters - dialogue was minimal and only included where necessary. The voices for the Princess and the Cobbler also seem disconnected and inappropriate to the animation. These differences made the whole thing so disjointed that I ended up turning it off. I have no words for how disappointed I am that they butchered this film in such a manner. The animation, especially in the chase sequence, is amazing and deserves much, much better.I'm still holding out hope that they will release the Australian release version on DVD.

I knew and worked with Dick for some years. He was a brilliant animator and I must agree with most of the reviews in that this film has bee ruined by the take over. But buy the film and appreciate the brilliant parts that were Dicks and try to put aside the rubbishy parts that have been added.