Editor's Notebook
Beyond that, it is necessary to retrieve and preserve
all the unused footage and art work produced over the some 30 years it was in production. For most of that period, The Thief and the Cobbler was mostly used as a training exercise. Thus, when Williams received full funding to finish his film in 1990, only about 10 minutes of what was to be about a 90 minute film were actually finished. This discarded material
includes not only the work of Babbitt, but of such legendary masters as Ken Harris (the film's "Master Animator" who used to hang his
shingle at Warner Bros.), Lantz veteran Emery Hawkins, and Betty Boop creator Grim Natwick (who was brought out of retirement to work on the film); in addition, it includes some marvelous work of such younger talents as Eric Goldberg, co-director of Disney's Pocohantas, whose animation was mostly left on the cutting room floor by Calvert and company.
Harvey Deneroff
In these days, when the box office returns are being dominated by the newly restored "Special Edition" of George Lucas' Star Wars
trilogy, perhaps it is time that the animation community started thinking about getting involved in some serious restoration work of its own. While ASIFA-Hollywood's Adopt-a-Cartoon project is a good starting place, perhaps Disney should step in to get the ball rolling. After all, as seen in its work on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, it certainly has the necessary
expertise to do the job right. But more importantly, through its wholly-owned Miramax subsidiary, it now owns the rights to The Thief and the Cobbler.
As Miramax supposedly bought the film after all the damage was done by the Completion Bond Company, it would engender enormous good will and somewhat
erase whatever stigma it might have by distributing the current version. It would also help honor the memory Art Babbitt, of one of its greatest artists, the fifth anniversary of whose death is this month.
harvey@awn.com
Editor-In-Chief
Animation World Magazine
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