THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER (THE PRINCESS AND THE COBBLER CUT)

Last year, I tackled on the history of animator Richard Williams' disastrous attempt of making his "magnum opus" "The Thief and the Cobbler". Following the history, I reviewed the second cut of the film, which was the infamous "Miramax"cut for being the version that was available to audiences on Home Video releases. Now it's time to rewind a bit in history to review the first cut of the film released in 1993...

This was the Allied Filmmaker's cut of the film when Fred Calvert reluctantly took over the project after Williams' was kicked-off. The film didn't receive a wide release unlike the second version, as it was only screened in Australia and South Africa, making it a hard version to find. But thanks to the wonders of the Internet, we can see the version that Fred Calvert directed before "Miramax" made their version. I want to make it clear that this will be a short review because most of the pros and cons I have talked about in the second version are present this version as well. The animation is spectacular; Vincent Price is very entertaining as the villain; the forced songs are dreadful; and the writing for the some of the characters and the three magic gold balls is terrible. Nevertheless, it does have a few differences that are worth comparing.



Vincent Price, Clive Revill (as King Nod), Kevin Dorsey (as Mighty One Eye), and the voice actors for the Brigands are the same actors that are heard in the "Mirmax" cut, but the rest of the main characters and supporting characters are all voiced by different people. Serving as the voice of the protagonist Tack is Steve Lively who definitely gives a better performance than Broderick. When voicing Tack, and providing the narration we hear two different voices for the character. He carries a sweet and sincere sounding voice whenever we see Tack talk to the characters that is similar to Broderick's delivery, only it isn't bland. And when narrating the events, he doesn't speak in the same exact voice. He instead sounds older, establishing the fact that Tack is a ruler nearly as old as King Nod is, who is reflecting back on the past to when he was a young Cobbler. It's a much more appealing narrative voice than Broderick's (who I hate bashing) for how big it sounds. But much like how Broderick almost never shuts-up with the narration, the same applies here. It's not as constant, however whenever the voice is heard during a moment that can speak for itself, it becomes just as annoying. Thankfully Calvert was smart enough to keep the Thief silent (aside from making a few appropriate sounds), who is funnier than having Johnathan Winters doing a lame imitation of "Mystery Science Theater 3000". Zig-Zag's pet vulture Phido isn't made as a terribly dubbed Iago rip-off. He acts like a regular bird with the use of screeches performed by Donald Pleasence (that admittedly is a waste of a great actor. If he were alive, he would be perfect to guest star in a Season 1 episode of "South Park" by voicing a pet, like how George Clooney and Jay Leno did). Bobbi Page gives the same serviceable performance that Jennifer Beals brought to Princess Yum-Yum, while Mona Marshall is just as annoying as Toni Collette is as the Nanny and the Witch.



The voice cast isn't the only difference this film has over the "Miramax" version. There are a few scenes that didn't make it into the second version. Some include a longer introduction, and more footage of the "War Machine" sequence. Fred Calvert, who had so much trouble cutting the film for how magnificent the animation looked, went as far to show some of the bits that were cut during the closing credits. One biggest difference the film has is giving the witch more screen-time. Unlike how she just appears for about less than a minute and vanishes from the film leaving no impression for how she's just a puff of smoke with an old lady face, we see her materialize as an old lady for a few minutes. She discovers that Tack's the one to save the city by using her stethoscope, randomly swings on a rope accidentally hitting the Thief in the process, and kills herself by creating an explosion to turn herself into a ghost. The reason for the scene being cut was for depicting suicide in a kid’s movie. Personally, I've seen worse for how goofy its played out! I'm not even sure to call it suicide considering that she's already shown to be supernatural by appearing as a floating eyeball before taking her human form. Furthermore, noting how nobody cries about her "demise” nor exits the film in a mournful fashion after telling Tack what to do, for all we know her taking a ghostly approach is part of her powers since she is shown to shape-shift. Even if her dying is the intention of the scene, it seems likely that kids will overlook that detail for containing no drama whatsoever. That does not mean the scene still doesn't have a massive problem because it does, and that's the Witch herself. After having so much build-up you'd expect her to have some kind of strange or otherworldly design, but instead she's just an old lady who looks like she's related to Yoda and Mama Odie from "The Princess and the Frog". It's a rather forgettable design compared to many of the others. And her personality is so irritating, especially when hearing her scream and cackle. She is such a headache to listen to that I'm now wishing to hear Johnathan Winters’ commentary again. It's so disappointing that such an important plot-point connecting to the film's climax can be handled so immaturely in such an unimaginable way.



One thing in the "Miramax" version that has bothered me is seeing Might One-Eye not getting a proper defeat. It's clear that he and his army have fallen at the end of the war, except we don't get to see him suffer. All we see is a shot of him being blown-away that is shown so quickly that it's hard to catch. In this cut, he gets thrown-over a cliff by green women who served him. The reason for this demise for being cut was that these women were his sex slaves. Long before they kill him, we see them dancing seductively for him, and act as his furniture when Zig-Zag enters the palace in an impressive back-tracking shot revealing we're seeing this from One-Eye's perspective. It's a suggestive and adult topic for a family film. However, this one of those scenes that will go over kids heads as seeing sex slaves in Jabba the Hutt's palace, or Aladdin accidentally entering a brothel. On top of it, we're seeing them fight against the creature who imprisoned them, so it's not like this is supporting his treatment towards them.



A big con the film has that transferred over to the "Miramax" version are the songs, except for one. There were only three songs shown in the cut that had a wide release, when in this version there were originally four. The song that didn't make it to the second version takes place in the final scene of the movie as Tack and Yum-Yum get married titled "It's so Amazing". The song itself is as bland and painfully slow moving as the other songs sung by Tack and Yum-Yum, only the visuals are worse. Rather than adding something in the visuals to fit the song, what we get are flashbacks of the things we’ve see them do together for two minutes or so. At this point, it feels that the film is holding us hostage as we wait for the end credits to roll. It doesn't do the sensible thing by either having it play during the credits, or animating a sequence based around it, or better yet, not including it at all! That along with shortening the witch's scene are the only good things that the "Miramax" version has over the original.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Between this and the "Miramax" version, this one is the better film. Steven Lively is a more suitable choice for Tack. The thief works much better as a silent character. Zig-Zag's pet Vulture Phido isn't given a voice over that's worse than the thief in the other version. And the film has a bit of an edge that will still be overlooked by kids from the darkness shown within these scenes that didn’t make it to the “Miramax Cut”. That does not mean it’s a great movie. Most of the characters are either bland or greatly annoying (the scenes of the Witch being the biggest offender in that category). And the fact that this film has an additional unnecessary song in the last scene of the film almost makes the "Miramax" film have a tiny ounce of mercy by ending the film quickly. If there were no “Recobbled Cut” of the film, I would highly recommend this film. However since there is one in existence, this film won't be missed. But if you're looking for a complete version of the film that may not follow Williams' vision but doesn't look unfinished like the "Recobbled Cut", than this is the best version to see in that regard.