Watching Thief and the Cobbler

WATCH FULL UNCUT RECORDINGS HERE!
/ saberspark

[@Kinzokugia]

"Would Tack be a Tumblr sexyman if this came out today?" 1000%

[@khaliyahjefferson832]

maybe

[@danielgudinojuarez6729]

Most yes!!! His outfit say it all

[@thirdcoinedge]

Oh, absolutely.

[@CuzcoBeMovingIt]

I mean... He is hot. Oh God I'm simping. HELP

[@noobsybot9926]

The Recobbled cut might be unfinished but it’s still the superior version.

[@danielgudinojuarez6729]

In deed, it's now deemed as a cult unfinished favorite for 18 years

[@rickmartinez3268]

This is movie is really old

[@cyborgparrot1996]

I wish some freelance animators helped finish it up.

[@alfredroman5801]

You’re damn right it is.

[@theotherjared9824]

I'm convinced more people have seen the recobbled cut than any theatrical release.

[@alfredroman5801]

"I'm taking my balls and leaving" is one of the best quotes in this movie.

[@Movypro23]

Pretty much every movie these days

[@fataleflare]

Take a shot every time someone says BALLS

[@doubleking7070]

THE best.

[@slothfulcobra]

You're not even seeing the work of 30 years, you're seeing what Richard Williams didn't throw away, because reportedly he had a habit of scrapping sequences to start them over

[@TheVizWiz811]

First off his name is Richard Williams, and the only reason why he would scrap sequences is because either they looked outdated, The producers asked him to, or he maybe just wanted to cut down a few shots

[@Movypro23]

It was mostly because of the studio requests on editing

[@CyrilDyewold]

Fun fact: all the Fantasia conversations are funny once you realize that Art Babbitt, an ACTUAL animator on Fantasia(he animated the Mushroom Sequence), actually was one of the core animators behind this movie with Ken Harris, Grim Natwick and Emery Hawkins

[@yourpalal4596]

And he animated the camel from the Raggedy Anne movie!

[@HI-qz8rb]

@@yourpalal4596Richard Williams also worked on that film too!

[@theycallmejojo6090]

I agree that this movie would have worked if it was released around the 70s, especially since Disney was in that awkward “post golden age, pre renaissance” era.

[@Imagemerald]

The war machine scene was completed in 1978.

[@Movypro23]

Likely 1976 or 1977

[@altalt479]

Again tho? What was their target audience? Because most kids definitely wouldn't enjoy this film and animation was definitely not what adults used to consider watching back then

[@Movypro23]

@@Imagemerald AC/DC would approve 👍🏻

[@Amanda_Axolotl]

The way this movie was officially finished is loved by my parents, but the unfinished version is absolutely the superior version! The Cobblers voice at the end kills me every time!

[@Movypro23]

One of animation’s biggest head scratcher sort of situations

[@LexyconDevil]

Literally one of my favorites. The old woman beating the piss out of the thief takes me out everytime. Also the Princess was a genuine childhood crush, beats out like most of the Disney princess line up with her big anime eyes for me. Even the shitty kid version of this movie is good, imo. It was enough for me to have a fascination with it and love how much craft and effort went into it. Edit: I meant to say I seriously saw this as a kid, which was the version where the thief has an overflow of dubbed over lines like he's Robin Williams meets Garfield since his mouth doesnt move...

[@sofiarojo8512]

@TheDorkSwimmeryeah that’s what I say that I like the ‘’remastered’’ version of ttatc for the tack voice, but the richard william’s version is better but I don’t like the tack’s voice of the final

[@sofiarojo8512]

@TheDorkSwimmer oh! He’s 20 😮

[@TheBronyCraft]

It just hit me. The Sultan is always sleepy from doing all nighters with his harem and concubines. :0

[@Movypro23]

Vegas hangover style ruling of the kingdom

[@TheCommenterDragon]

"The Thief and the Cobbler" is another one of my all time favorite films! Even if it is unfinished I always thought of it as a masterpiece!

[@animezilla4486]

I agree

[@MrJamaigar]

The production process itself could make for a movie; a melodrama even. About an animator ambitious beyond reason, who wasted nearly 30 years in a drawn-out project he'd end up losing control of. All Williams had to show for it was a quickly-and-cheaply-finished Aladdin knock-off flick.

[@codenamexelda]

"I'm taking my balls and leaving!" has to be my new favorite saying when I wanna leave a situation.

[@Movypro23]

I think I overheard someone saying that once while playing poker and not getting good cards

[@colbyboucher6391]

Being happy that someone you love is info-dumping without caring about what they're talking about _at all_ is a mood

[@pizzathefox8809]

Raggedy Ann and now THIS!? Y'all got a good lineup this time! I've seen this film four times and I'm still fascinated by it!

[@unripetheberrby6283]

I know right! :)

[@Movypro23]

Old school toon fans eating good this year

[@drewwinslow2105]

Plot armor, thy name is Thief.

[@fatcat1414]

This movie and its production have always served as a double-edged warning to me as an artist. That while perfection is not necessarily the enemy of good, it is the enemy of done. The story of this film's director put the fear of dying before I could ever finish the projects that mean something to me straight into the core of my heart.

[@rebeccabecbeku]

1:01:50 Actually from what I've heard from native Mongolian speakers, Genghis Khan is pronounced with no GE sound at the beginning. Instead it has a CHI sound. So it's pronounced more like Chingus. I've been living with this knowledge since I traveled to Mongolia as a kid and I can't hold it in any longer. Whenever people say Genghis like gang-gus I have to summon all my power to not turn into the nerd emoji meme... Just thought as a Mongolian history enjoyer, Saber might enjoy this tidbit if he sees it!

[@DerpDerp3001]

Big Chingus

[@Painocus]

In my language (completely unrelated to Mongolian) it's for some reason pronounced Jenges, actual -ges sound, not -gus. I thought the -gus ending was just a weird English-ism.

[@rebeccabecbeku]

@@Painocus Yeah, thinking about it some more, the -gus ending might not be as acurate. I just really remember the begining being a -chi. 😅

[@havenm6181]

Me: I'm a mature adult Also me: Haha golden balls

[@colbyboucher6391]

Surely they knew what they were doing, they literally have the Thief's big ol' ball sack swinging around

[@qliphalpuzzle5453]

I watched this as a child, and it felt like a fever dream that pops up in my head at random moments

[@micshork]

There is an amazing documentary called “Persistence of Vision” that is goes into this film’s troubled production. I highly recommend it.

[@Imagemerald]

lies

[@soggypieceofwetbread]

​@@Imagemeraldnot lies

[@jilliancorvus]

All of the "man this has NOTHING for kids" comments made me laugh so much- me and 2 friends I grew up with LOVED this, but our other siblings never got into it. All 3 of us wound up going to art school for college. So there ARE things in it for kids... but just very weird, doomed ones xD

[@MrJamaigar]

@@jilliancorvus Parents in the 70's would've thought the same thing; imagine trying to explain them that animation isn't a "kid-oriented genre", and was never meant to be. Richard Williams and Ralph Bakshi were each doing similar things, with the same objective. They both hated the idea of making animated movies exclusively for the kiddies.

[@chenstormstout9456]

34:03 that’s the thing! It’s sounds absurd but he actually started storyboarding HALFWAY INTO making the movie!

[@danielgudinojuarez6729]

In my eyes, this is the greatest unfinished movie ever produce!!! 😃😃😃

[@Movypro23]

Hollywood works in mysterious ways

[@DPlumes]

as an animator, this movie is something that my classmates and i in university admire. richard williams released a dvd collection giving advice about how to animate and our professor somehow got his hands on them. amazing to watch. top tier animator.

[@alobaymar]

Thief and the Rizzler

[@JordanVanRyn]

I was literally a kid when I saw this. The animation in this was so trippy and it's been in my list of favorite films ever since.

[@Mat7920H]

As an animator, I can feel the torture in each finished shot

[@Alte.Kameraden]

13:35 at this time in history animated films were not geared toward children. I think that didn't happen until around the late 70s were the perception that animated films in America are for 'kids.' Even the Flintstones TV series as well as the Jetsons was originally geared toward Adult Audiences during the early sitcom era. Warner Brothers Cartoons were also adult oriented, they had to be censored later in history for TV. You know Bugs Bunny and all that. This is why you have heavily censored versions sometimes with entire characters replaced.

[@rebecca_rh]

EXACTLY

[@TallManVanitas]

Well that was fast 😳 Btw if you guys want the most recent version, Garrett Gilchrist uploaded Mark 5 of the Recobbled Cut earlier this year!

[@Imagemerald]

this is the mark 5

[@TallManVanitas]

@@Imagemerald Yeah, I may have been premature on that one 🤣 Haven’t seen Mark 5 with the songs at least, so that’s different!

[@soggypieceofwetbread]

where?

[@Imagemerald]

@TheDorkSwimmer Its an edited version of the Mark 5 WIP that has 2 songs in it.

[@yourpalal4596]

What I came for: Appreciation for Richard Williams top tier animation LIKE THE BACKGROUNDS IN THE CHASE SCENE What I took away: Wanting Saberspark to talk more about Mongolian history

[@MarionRobbins]

I thought I was the only one who knew about this movie, glad the fandom is still alive!

[@ecyor0]

13:30 I will say, if you can get hold of it, the Australian release of this film (The Princess & the Cobbler, Miramax Films), while it's not the original vision, is an exceptional children's movie. Yes, kids aren't going to appreciate the sheer craft of the animation, but as someone who grew up on that version and adored it, it's a very good way to introduce it to a younger audience. The main thing is the Thief doesn't talk in that version, unlike in the US release, so it's easily the best compromise short of the recobbled cut itself.

[@MillyKKitty]

if Richard just had got someone to help him, considering his craft was animation, on the script. And if he had just focused on perfecting scenes he was personally working on, and let the other animators just finish their scenes, maybe this would have come out fine enough and in the 70s-80s.

[@DerpDerp3001]

I have read the script for the film and it reads like a teenager wrote it.

[@kayleighfish8220]

I still quote a lot of Vincent Price's parts from this movie constantly 😂. I still love ZigZag's into song.

[@TheBronyCraft]

Watched this as a kid with severe adhd. It was eye candy to me. One of the few films I've watched until the tape died.

[@darrenheideman2546]

I always love the moment when Zigzag is brought to One-Eye.

[@CountofBeretania]

Absolutely! That shot from Zigzag to the King of the One-Eyes!

[@Movypro23]

Bakshi Lord of the rings vibes

[@byrine]

yall keep saying he needed to tune it down, but nah man its art its forever dont compromise

[@colbyboucher6391]

The thing is, this is the result. An unfinished movie that never got anywhere and literally took 1/3rd of his life.

[@puppiekit]

@@colbyboucher6391 At the end of the day money is to blame... Money is the only thing stunting the progression of art at this point seriously...

[@byrine]

@colbyboucher6391 yeah but people are still marveling over it all this time later, that's getting somewhere to me

[@rickmartinez3268]

19:24 I love the Nanny's amazing glasses

[@Coconut-219]

Watching one saberspark video in my recommended feed in (I think 2020?) and then watching this one in my recommended feed with zero inbetween context is a trip.

[@ServantofBaal]

I remember my 4th grade teacher put this on one day in class and my ring of fire ADHD brain couldn't have focused on it if my life had depended on it.

[@mercuropheliac]

Just started watching, but please tell me someone made a virgin ZigZag vs. Chad Tac meme

[@derekstein6193]

1:09:56 "Get on with it." Edit: 1:10:30 "Yes, get on with it!" Edit of the edit: 1:10:58 "GET ON WITH IT!" Edit x3: 1:42:42 Once again, "Get on with it!"

[@derekstein6193]

27:10 This entire song should never have been put in; totally unnecessary. And Tak should've stayed the silent protagonist.

[@jamesmoyner7499]

While I am glad it wasn't the butchered Miramax version you watched. Why didn't you watch a more recent version of the Recobbled Cut? Edit: Also there doesn't need to a full fledged story or characters for a film in order for it to work. The film showing what his vision was is a masterpiece by itself. I think of it like Yellow Submarine. Yes, there is a story and characters, but it's more of an experience film to show off and let you enjoy the ride.

[@systemshocker2875]

I think that was the lastest version of the Recocobbled cut, Mark V WIP

[@jamesmoyner7499]

@@systemshocker2875 Oh okay. Thank you for the clarification.

[@TheloniasBrowntail]

"Aladdin ripped the ending from this!" Nope, the thief stole the ending and sold it to Disney.

[@Movypro23]

Emperor’s new groove did it in 2000 with kuzco crossing out pacha “this story’s about me, not him” 😄

[@treydenwatterson2217]

I weirdly love this movie, and I don't know why, I just really love it

[@Boydar]

BALLS! 🟡🟡

[@fastdafox]

I don’t know which version of the movie I watched as a kid but I loved it so much

[@KopaXTani]

Lol! Smear frames are the definition of “don’t pause an animated movie”.

[@stormysketches7600]

Ooh please let us know when you watch Wolf Walkers! It’s my favourite! ❤

[@JaelynMcgee]

For some reason whenever I watch the recobbled cut, I always think about what could have been if kingdom of the sun had stayed its original concept vs what we got with Emporer's new groove, which I absolutely loved but it would have been so neat to see the original concept. Also Apperently at one point, Ralph Bashki offered to have Milt Khan work on his adaptation of Lord of the Rings as an animator but Milt said if he wanted to keep working on shit, he would have stayed at Disney. I always wonder what the finished product would have looked like in his style

[@elijahelizalde4308]

Highly underrated classic

[@invokingvajras]

No one is gonna point out the tall Mr. Popo-like design for the Moorish servants?

[@ninavale.]

Yeah, this movie def isn't for kids and I don't think it was intended for them...I mean the character's not having a lot of dialouge...I mean both Tack and the thief are mute characters...for most of the movie in Tack's case. Yum Yum and her father don't speak a lot too...and there's lots of shots that just showcase animation. It's a very artsy movie. It's kind style over substance/plot.

[@CountofBeretania]

“Recobbled” is a million times better!

[@briancoulombe4517]

This movie gave me an idea for an article or KZbin video someone could do. Five attempts at a masterpiece that went completely to shit

[@treebranches2539]

The music when Zigzag grabs Yum-Yum is known infamously as Symphony no. 9 “The New World” by Dvorak

[@calabasatheotakusaiyan959]

This was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. :)

[@CuzcoBeMovingIt]

7:12 "Have no fear!" *proceeds to snap whips at the towns folk*

[@thatperson278]

"You think kids would still be watching by this point" as a zoomer, yes. I was utterly obsessed with this movie as a kid, watched it several times a week for years 😭 Completely unrelated, i am autistic

[@Yourdemondoll]

13:24 as someone who was a kid when I first watched the movie, it is what got me into art, I was si inspired by it especially around the back grounds during 24:04 So thank you the theif and the cobbler you gave me arthritis 🗣️‼️‼️

[@palomaroggeri8680]

The second girl in the bath scene is because yum yum just- had a twin! At a point in the story, and then they dropped that and never mentioned it again 😂

[@yesikanarvaez5027]

The amount of money spent in the remakes of the movie was insane for the movie

[@Painocus]

I assume the long zoom at the start was there for opening credits that never got added. Strangely, in the cut I have (Recobbled cut Mark 4, I think) during the scene where the thief is lifted up by the guards at the end there are a few more seconds showing him looking around, realizing what is going on and looking proud, making the joke of the scene more clear, that aren't in this cut. The entire sequence is one cut (from the same source) so I don't know why that part is cut out in this. There are also other parts I remember being better paced/more clear/more finished animation (but there are other parts here that weren't in my cut). Maybe some of that was taken from the Miramax version and here switched out with less finished but more authentic older versions, but then why does this have the Miramax-exclusive songs in it?

[@tobbs5410]

Originally the credits were going to be at the beginning of the movie with the zooming in hands - that's why it's such a long shot of seemingly nothing. Obvs it got fucked up before they could do that part which would've made it look so much better.

[@indigovae3579]

I have a question that I'm wondering if ANYONE else has noticed: why does Tack's face shape change? In the beginning, it was more round and puffy no matter which angle tou saw his face at. But all of a sudden, during the battle sequence and during the ending scene, he has defined features like a chin. Why did they just suddenly decide to change his face shape towards the end???

[@yelloweyeball]

The reason that YumYum is called YumYum is because it is a reference to a character the 19th century Opera, "The Mikado" by Gilbert and Sulivan. Just bringing it up since most people seem to be confused about why in the video.

[@viewhole1]

You guys should check out an animation called "The Last Belle" (2011). It's directed by Neil Boyle, one of the animators who worked on this film. I think you could definitely see some influences from Thief come up through it.

[@0CLOWNFISH0]

1:27:23 the song during this scene goes so hard with the amazing animation I repeat every time just to hear it nglll

[@KZesty]

Hearing ZigZag's maniacal laughter reminds me of the laughter in Michael Jackson's Thriller. Is it the same guy? Perhaps. Am I going to remember to Google it? No.

[@Movypro23]

Yep, it’s Vincent price. 😎👍🏻

[@chrisreuter4010]

I'd love the idea of you all going though the Oscars animated nominations some are so interesting

[@Maxisamo1]

You can tell what went wrong with this film when you see how many long, extended, needlessly complicated action sequences were in this film, and then how many more plot-important, yet more simply-drawn scenes were left unfinished. Richard really REALLY needed to prioritize finishing the main plot of this film and needed someone to reign him in on to cut down some of the unnecessary action sequences We didn't need 10 minutes of an old mountain gas-huffing hag having a seizure and do a needlessly complicated sequence to blow herself up... all just to justify why the thief crash-landed and to give directions to the main characters

[@TheVizWiz811]

Well we dont technically need it but Richard needed it, He had been trying to finish that scene since the 60s and he just wanted to see it come to life

[@DerpDerp3001]

That's what happens when a film is formed organically with no storyboarding.

[@TheVizWiz811]

@@DerpDerp3001 There where many storyboards throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, the reason why this myth formed is most likely because Richard hadn't made storyboards for the end of the movie yet so with how word of mouth works it eventually turned into somehow he didn't make any storyboards at all which is stupid since there's so much storyboards online

[@brytilaar]

You guys should also try The Great Mouse Detective as well.

[@Starbean89]

I always figured the princess was called yum yum cause she was a snack.

[@rickmartinez3268]

8:30 amazing curly shoes

[@Movypro23]

Grand vizier retro converse

[@austinmorrison6953]

The Recobbled Cut is not perfect but it’s still a marvel of animation

[@2eoou442]

I always think of what could've become of this if they actually got to finish it, I fully believe it would've been a cult classic

[@astrowolvez]

Years ago when I watched nostalgia critics review of this I immediately got a crush on the cobbler! He’s exactly my type, just his gothic look, man 😮‍💨

[@derworfnet]

I'm almost convinced someone died while animating the War Machine-Sequence.

[@briancoulombe4517]

I just realize what some of these character designs are reminding me of. Smiling friends.

[@sarahostervig]

kinda miss the voice of the thief XD i loved that version where you hear him talk in his head xD

[@rickmartinez3268]

I said I'm getting too old for this

[@MYArt-oe2td]

I like the recobbled version even when it’s unfinished it’s better than the released movie

[@Painocus]

In Miley Cyrus' case, her "going sexual" was actually something she pushed for while her father was extremely against it and it hurt their relationship apparently still to the point she didn't attend his marriage last year. I remember him saying something some years back along the line of him feeling like he has "lost his daughter to the city lifestyle" or something like that in reference to her openly talking about her drug use and her queer relationships/being pansexual, but this has now all gotten mixed-up with some other family disagreement going on, so it's hard to find again. This is in contrast to Britney where a lot of the weird sexualization of her was definitively driven by the people around her. But for Cyrus it seems like the people around her wanted to keep projecting the "wholesome country girl" image and she was the one who didn't want that anymore.

[@Eszra]

I hate the cuts but god do i love the one with Jonathan Winters. He is so funny!

[@nicky55]

Its so artsy!

[@kurasu1735]

YAYYYY THEYRE WATCHING IT

[@rickmartinez3268]

29:20 okay it's no wonder they put these wolves in they're terrifying

[@Ahturos]

The best movie never finished. I do love it but I can see where Richard could have just let it go but at the same time after Roger Rabbit he promised that this was going to be the even bigger hit.

[@generalfluffyproto]

I had this on vhs and the thief had voicelines in that one

[@rivelinorahmadyanirawanpra1469]

THE BALLS ARE GOONNEEE!!!!

[@Firestar-TV]

Yum Yum is what a Cannibal would name their Child🙃

[@GrandCorsair]

So many stunning scenes of animation especially at the end but damn some of the scenes go on for a little too long even if beautifully animated.

[@TheVizWiz811]

They where constantly trying to cut it down themselves, If you look up old pencil tests of certain scenes youll notice how much longer they where

[@singing4dinoz413]

I love this movie with a passion but I would say I actually prefer the one with narration to it compared to none at all. I remember watching it the first time on DVD with no narration and it was amazing but then Netflix came out with the revamped version and I decided to watch it again in middle school and fell even more in love with the voices, it was also funnier in my eyes.

[@Bezaliel13]

I know there are people nostalgic about hand drawn over cgi, but when the beauty can make you hurt with sympathy.

[@senaruryuin2773]

Awww, 1:43:35 - Saber got a Lambie (Lamby?) tattoo, that's so sweet!♥

[@ocpmovie]

I spent about 25 years off and on restoring this film. This seems to be somebody else's reupload of the material, with changes made to ruin the edit. There are lots of people doing that for attention these days. They take my edit, which took years to create, and add dumb stuff to it. The correct version is the Recobbled Cut Mk5 WIP from last year, which in theory I am still working on.

[@tobbs5410]

My brother in Christ, you literally added a bunch of bullshit from the Miramax and Aussie versions of the movie into your own 'original restored' cut. The only true version of this movie is A Moment in Time, one that Mo and Dick actually took the time to restore and keep themselves. Get off your high horse.

[@cheddar-bob-9090]

I know im late but who else's exposure to this movie was the vhs 'honey i shrunk ourselves '?

[@emilybrinkerhoff6825]

Same here!

[@mdroid7755]

I dunno why this version of the Uncobbled Cut kept the two songs because those are not meant to be there. The Cobbler singing with the mellow ballad voice completely skews the end jobs of his one line being delivered in the base Sean Connery voice at the end. And the odd thing about this movie is that when it was finally handed over to the Completion Bond Company after Williams lost it, Miramax, as a subsidiary of Disney, knew about Aladdin and vice versa. The people working on both films ended up referencing elements from each other so it's like a weird Disney incest situation with the final production cycles.

[@TheVizWiz811]

This is a fan edit and not the Recobbled Cut, also I made the Uncobbled Cut which is unfinished but it'll be finished one day. There's a difference between Recobbled and Uncobbled

[@mdroid7755]

​@@TheVizWiz811I understood that, but it still struck as odd things to keep since the songs clash with the rest.

[@TheVizWiz811]

@@mdroid7755 Well i didnt make the cut lol, some people like the songs tho

[@rexamillion8446]

OHHhhhhh I haven't seen THIS movie since I was super leeeettle! What a pull!

[@mokthemagicman]

A beautiful film that ran way over budget and a fantastic animator, Richard Williams lead a team that went down too many rabbit holes of creativity and detail that he lost focus on the big picture...Literally.