LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

sdavmor This is the only version to get of "The Thief And The Cobbler" if you want to see something close to Richard Williams' vision for the story. You'll have to do some legwork online, download it, and then burn it. Because that's the only way to acquire it. It's gone through several revisions over the years. There is a Mk 3 edit out now, and one day a Mk 4, etc., as Garrett Gilchrist finds better versions of footage and/or continues his laborious work of carefully fixing footage. If you have seen and enjoyed any of the other versions getting hold of a copy of the "recobbled" Mk 3 DVD will be well worth your while. One day a properly restored/completed version may come into existence (don't hold your breath) but for now this will have to do. Starting point for your search should be the word "Fanedit".

rldnlvalentine It was just amazing. Why? Well, this Richard Williams work is so awesome that Disney, Richard Rich, Don Bluth, nor even Chuck Jones couldn't do it better than Richard Williams.The characters are the sneaky, greedy Thief. He doesn't hate himself. He just likes his job. He can steal anything, including the three golden balls. He reminds me of Jason from the Friday the 13th film series, except he doesn't kill anybody. You know what, fine, he reminds me of Scrat from the Ice Age film series.Then, there's the hero, Tack the cobbler, whose also a lonely, silent shoemaker. When I look at him, he reminds me of Jojo from Horton Hears a Who. The Blue Sky Studios version. Anyway, Tack finds his true love, Princess YumYum, who reminds me of Megara from Disney's Hercules, except not a Daria-like princess, nor a manly woman princess. Just a kind, innocent, sensitive princess.There's the villain, ZigZag, which is voiced by none other than the great Vincent Price. He says his sentences in rhymes, which is a cool concept for a villain. Along with him is his bird, Phido.There's a plot where the cobbler, Tack is getting arrested by ZigZag, however, King Nod, the Nanny, and Princess YumYum allowed Tack to be hired as a shoemaker. The thief tries to steal the shoe, and then, Tack chases the thief.But, the thief is willing to get the three golden balls. Meanwhile, King Nod had a vision that the One-Eyes are going to take over Baghdad. But, it was not a dream.ZigZag, however, was about to do his evil stuff... because he's a villain. Yes, don't ask. Anyway, the thief gets the balls, and then, the balls were dropped, as ZigZag gets the balls so he can give them to the one eye.Tack, the Nanny, and YumYum travel to fight the One-Eyes. This results with the band of Brigand and the old hag witch.Then, they battle, with the Thief getting the balls back, and trapped in the fire and in the battle for his wild ride.Tack, the nanny, and YumYum defeated ZigZag and the one-eyes, as they get the balls back to King Nod.This has got to be the greatest animated classic ever! Really! In fact, there's a bootlegged fan DVD of it restored with classical music playing. This could be the best bootlegged fan DVD ever.FINAL VERDICT (for the original, adult-oriented, uncut, better-than-sex version): 10/10!Now, it's been 3 decades in the production, and of course, it was about to be released in 1992 for Warner Bros., but ended up unreleased due to Disney's release of Aladdin.So, Fred Calvert completed The Thief and the Cobbler as fast as he can, and of course, he alienated the lost, unfinished, animated masterpieces of all time.This results in The Princess and the Cobbler, released in the UK, Australia, and South Africa in 1994 by Allied Filmmakers (those that are responsible for the awful 1993 movie, Super Mario Bros. (based on the popular NES/SNES game) and Tim Burton's produced stop-motion film, James and the Giant Peach), and they call it, The Princess and the Cobbler.This is mediocre. It added '90s pop-like songs from characters that are rejects from either Richard Rich films or Don Bluth films. They do keep the original Vincent Price voice. Notice that even though the Thief isn't talking in this version like the original version, he only screams, grunts, and gasps.Overall, this is not all the way as good as the original.FINAL VERDICT (for the Allied Filmmakers version): 5/10Now, in 1995, one year after that version was released in Australia, UK and South Africa, Miramax used that version, but they called it Arabian Knight, and... oh my god! What am I doing? Why am I reviewing the Weinsteins' version? WHY?!? Well, here we go.This one is brain dead. In fact, they added the inappropriate voice of Mathew Broderick. What?!? However, they do keep the Vincent Price voice, so I'll give Miramax a bit of a credit. Then, there's the Thief, and what have they done? They made the Thief TALK in this film... IN HIS MIND! But, the thief isn't the only one, the alligators and Phido also talk in their thoughts. What, the director of Homeward Bound took over the production?! And of course, the montage, and the great parts were all distorted and cut-out. That's a very generic idea for Miramax! Overall, it sucks! It's worse than Disaster Movie, Batman & Robin, Catwoman, High School Musical, Superman IV: Quest for Peace, Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen, and every single Uwe Boll movie ever made.FINAL VERDICT (for the Miramax version): 0/10!!!So please, watch the original version. You may like it. In fact, a long time ago, Roy E. Disney was to restore the original version. So there has to be hope! Maybe.

emasterslake Back in the mid-90s, I first discover this movie on TV. And I immediately found it to be another movie to enjoy.Since then, it wasn't until the early 2000s, when I learn about it's shocking and tragic history."The Thief & Cobbler/Arabian Knights" takes place in a fictional desert world. The story focuses on a partly silent cobbler name Tack & a silent thief. The kingdom they're in, is known for the protected treasure of 3 golden balls. If those balls were to be removed from their place, and fall into enemy hands. Then the kingdom will fall. Tack was a poor cobbler until he got convicted for leaving tacks on the road of the visor's parade. And was saved from imprisonment when Princess Yum Yum had a liking for him, and asked for a cobbler to fix her shoes. Not only did Tack found what appears to be the girl of his dreams. He soon finds himself to be a possible hero of the kingdom.Meanwhile the visor: Zig-Zag plots to steal the golden balls and present them to the enemy side: The One Eye Army. With the gold balls in their possession, they'll destroy the kingdom with their number of soldiers and weapons of all kinds. Can a cobbler like Tack, really be able to save a country? In development for more than 28 years. Making this film the longest animated/feature length film to be in production. The version I saw on TV, was considered to be an alternate and less convincing movie than the other kind that was attended to be seen. As I learn the original animators and writers spent so much time, the whole thing was shelved by various distributors.After seeing the revised version(which has numerous storyboard/UN finished scenes). I was remotely surprised on how different it is. Minus all the changes and unnecessary dialog & songs used in the Miramax version.A lot of people consider this to be a rip off of Aladin. But trust me, it's way different from Aladin. Not as well known as Aladin. But it's one of those movies that deserve more. If it was finished by the original dudes who put their life's work into. Then people would recognize it as a classic.It's yet to get a better DVD release. And the revised version of this film is out there, but hard to find. This and Twice Upon a Time are perfect examples of animated movies that became fan favorites over the years.The original version is intended for sophisticated viewers. While the Miramax version was made to be kid friendly.

missxlexie If you've seen the ORIGINAL VERSION, this is not true. Disney DID NOT originally help the creator of this movie. I don't know the entire movie, but if you go to www.thiefandthecobblar.com it includes a short biography of the man who originally began this project. I watched the original movie when I was VERY VERY little. You can NO LONGER PURCHASE IT ((if you can...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME...)) Although some minor video stores still carry it. The original, if found, was BEAUTIFUL and I must say, absolutely hilarious. No matter who watched it with me, it was always loved. Just this evening I watched the version I'm certain that you speak of. The dubbed version, I believe bought by Disney, is total CRAP. It hurt me to watch it. I don't even want to know what happened when they renamed it Arabian Knight. All I know is if you can find the original, it's an incredible animated masterpiece.