The Thief and the Cobbler: A History

Do the names "Tack", "Zigzag", and "Yum-Yum" ring any bells for you? If not, then you haven't seen Richard Williams' magnum opus, "The Thief and the Cobbler". This animated film has a very interesting history behind it, which I was not aware of before watching the review that the Nostalgia Critic went and did.

At first I thought he'd verbally beat this movie to a pulp like he does in his other videos, but Doug Walker has actually taught me something about my old childhood favorite (the term "favorite" is used very loosely here, btw).

The movie was conceived in 1964 by Canadian animator Richard Williams, who would later go on to be the Director of Animation for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" among other things.

Due to its independent funding and complex animation, "The Thief and the Cobbler" was in and out of production for over two decades. In 1990 Richard Williams went and secured a deal to have Warner Bros. finance and distribute the film.

Warner Bros. backed out in 1992, however, after the project went past deadline and Disney's "Aladdin" gave them all a run for their money. Still the movie had to be finished, so producer Fred Calvert took over the whole operation. Whole scenes were removed and replaced. Unnecessary musical numbers and voice-overs were inserted. To make a long story short, Richard Williams creation was changed beyond recognition.

2 different versions of the movie was released: one issued in Australia and South Africa in 1993 as "The Princess and the Cobbler" and the other in the U.S.A. in 1995 as "Arabian Knight" (which was later re-released on home-video with the original title, "The Thief and the Cobbler"). Talk about confusing!

Neither version received much financial success or positive reception, but the film has earned cult-status among animation-circles for it's rich history and creator's original intent.

Personally, I remember watching it with my sister when we were both little. It mustn't have made much sense to us at the time, but it was a piece of both our childhoods. "The Thief and the Cobbler" was just one of those movies that stay with you long after you outgrow it. I am glad that Nostalgia Critic decided to do this review.

Now I have more animated-movie trivia than I know what to do with. What now?

I know! *publish post*

There, now the rest of you know what I know. Thanks for reading!

*~Information courtesy of the "Thief and the Cobbler" and "Richard Williams" Wikipedia articles.~*

Do you LOVE Animation?

I have recently discovered Cartoon Brew.com, an incredibly awesome news website dedicated to animation. It is absolutely and totally amazing! I stumbled onto it on my Google-Reader account, and after exploring around for a bit I am hooked! All the articles and videos on this site are excellent and informative, and a few videos and articles really made me grin like a Cheshire Cat.

For example, here is a review for the new Disney movie Tangled (which I haven't seen yet by the way) that does not reveal any spoilers, but still gives me a balanced opinion of what I can expect from this movie. Personally, just from watching the trailers, I don't hold out much hope for a story of Rapunzel retold in "dazzling, modern" CGI animation, but I'll at least give the film a chance after reading the review.

If you are like me, you appreciate fine animation, the kind that makes you see things in a new, different way, pulls you into the world of the story that it's telling without making you feel self-conscious, and gives you something memorable to take away from it. Here is a short video that illustrates what I'm talking about. It's called "Howdy Doody and His Magic Hat", and despite the title or the time period it came from (1953), it's a short that'll have you giddy and smiling from beginning to end.

I've also seen a couple "silent-squeal-inducing" teaser-trailers for some upcoming animated movies (namely "Cars 2" and a brand new "Winnie the Pooh" movie).

(Wait, Pooh's getting a new movie?)

(Yeah, I was pretty surprised too.)

I am not going to give you the links to these sneak-peeks; you're just going to have to find them for yourself at Cartoon Brew.com: All animation, All the time!

Now it's November

1. October is over, November is here,
2. We're in the penultimate month of the year.
3. So far it's been great, I've had some good fun,
4. I've done a lot and learned a ton.
5. I've discovered Doug Walker and deviantArt,
6. Joined onto Twitter, for the most part.
7. Toastmasters has helped me to grow leaps and bounds,
8. My self-confidence today simply astounds.
9. Also Thanksgiving will soon be here,
10. My uncountable blessings fill me with good cheer
11. As my poem ends, I'd just like to say,
12. Have a good month and a very nice day.

Everything I write in this poem is true.

Line 1: Obviously a fact if you're reading it this time of year.

Line 2: "penultimate" means second-to-last.

Line 3-4: this applies to the year in general.

Line 5: Nostalgia Critic and Chester A. Bum are my favorite reviewers on the internet. Please check out some of their wacky videos on YouTube or their website ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com. Be warned, he drops some f-bombs and other colorful curses sometimes, so if you'd rather not expose yourself to such things, then don't. My dA account is CartoonConnoisseur. I don't have a lot of art up yet, but I will soon.

Line 6: My Twitter account is here. I finally joined because my dad found a lost wallet at the library yesterday and because he had no email-address, home address, or phone number in his wallet, but he did have an ID card, we thought of Googling his name, and we found his Twitter account. It was private, so I decided to join Twitter and try to open up the lines of communication. This morning though Benny had a better idea: go to the bank and use the guy's credit cards to learn his information. Benny called him up today and the guy came to our house and got his wallet back. Hurray! And I'm on Twitter now. Hurray!

Line 7-8: On Tuesday the 2nd I was a speech evaluator for someone giving their Icebreaker. It was the first meeting of the month, so we had a whole potluck party that day. On a sidenote, have you ever had the experience of walking straight into a sliding door because the glass was so clean you couldn't see it? Well that actually happened to me 2 days ago, and I'm pretty sure a couple AIU students saw me. Now I've got a bruise on my nose and an eye on those clear glass doors.

Line 9-10: I love Thanksgiving. Right after my birthday and Halloween, it's my favorite holiday ever.

Line 11-12: I mean what I say. =)