Fred Calvert's involvement with the completion of the film is perhaps the most discreditable aspect of the story. Unable to appreciate the remarkable nature of the project he had inherited, he sent the inevitable song sequences to be completed in Korea by animators used to working on Saturday morning children's cartoons. That these sequences look grotesque when juxtaposed with Williams' original work should have come as no surprise. Fred Calvert's leading role in butchering The Thief has become perhaps his most infamous contribution to the medium.

The Thief hiding in a plant

The Spirit of the Film
It is hard, looking at this Miramax video release, to find the spirit of the film as it was originally conceived. The character of The Thief was intended as a mute, a Chaplinesque primitive, subtle and understated. By stealing the three golden balls which protect the Golden City, he unwittingly creates havoc and destruction around him. Superimposed over these scenes is Jonathan Winters' voice, ceaselessly cracking pointless jokes like an unwanted barroom companion. It is as if those responsible for the completion of the film were terrified of silence, overlaying every quiet moment in the film with endless chatter. Matthew Broderick's narration strives to explain what does not need explaining, robbing the story of subtlety or surprises. The film condescends to the the audience, insulting its intelligence.

There remains some beautiful animation in this fractured version of Richard Williams' epic; these include the opening sequence, where The Thief and The Cobbler get tangled up with each other and roll down the steps of the Cobbler's shop, interrupting Zig Zag's march through the city, the chase through the palace through Escher-like optical illusions, and a little of the final war machine sequence. For those courageous enough to sit it out, I recommend watching with the sound turned off. Save for Vincent Price's brilliant valedictory performance as Zig Zag, the evil Grand Vizier, all but a handful of the carefully selected original voice talents have been replaced with other, less suitable, actors. Even John Leatherbarrow's superb camerawork has been made to appear unremarkable, the once subtle colors now vulgar and garish. Finally, the substitution of Baghdad for the Golden City seems in extraordinarily bad taste for a film originally released shortly after the Gulf War.

Zig Zag, the Grand Vizer and The Sultan

Dick Williams spent 30 years trying to pull off an animation masterpiece, a true work of art, the like of which may never be seen or attempted again. It is sad that so little of his original vision made it into this video release. It is probably little consolation to Williams himself that the Completion Bond Company has since gone out of business, largely as a result of the costs of completing The Thief.

The Thief and the Cobbler, partial credits:
Director: Richard Williams, Screenplay: Richard Williams, Executive Producer: Jake Eberts, Musical Score: Robert Folk, Songs by: Robert Folk & Norman Gimbel, Producers: Richard Williams & Imogen Sutton, Director, L.A. Production: Fred Calvert, Producer, L.A.: Bette L. Smith, Art Director: Roy Naisbitt, Master Animator: Ken Harris, Background Stylist: Errol LeCain, Director of Photography: John Leatherbarrow.
Artistic Supervisors: Special Effects: John M. Cousen, Character Animation: Neil Boyle & Tim Watts, Background: Paul Dilworth.
Lead Animators included: Art Babbitt, Steven Evangelatos, Emery Hawkins, Richard Williams, Alex Williams, and many others.

Alex Williams is an animator at Warner Bros. Feature Animation, currently working on The Quest For Camelot. He spent two years animating on The Thief and the Cobbler, which was directed by his father Richard. He also teaches an animation class at The California Institute of The Arts, and does a weekly cartoon strip Queen's Counsel for The London Times.