The Thief and the Cobbler

The Thief and the Cobbler is an animated fantasy film directed, co-written, and co-produced by Canadian-British animator Richard Williams. The film is known for its long, troubled history; due to independent funding and ambitiously complex animation, The Thief and the Cobbler was in and out of production for over three decades. It was finally placed into full production in 1988 when Warner Bros. agreed to finance and distribute the film. When production went over budget and behind schedule, Warner Bros. pulled out and a completion bond company assumed control of the film. The film was re-edited and re-structured by producer Fred Calvert without Williams' involvement, and released by Allied Filmmakers in Australia and South Africa as The Princess and the Cobbler in 1993; two years later, Miramax Films, at the time a subsidiary of Disney, released an even more heavily edited version of the film in North America under the title Arabian Knight.

Background
After Richard Williams was ejected from the project, production was moved to Los Angeles under the direction of Fred Calvert. For the new production several changes were done to the film, making it into more of a Disney-esc musical which were very popular during the 90's. The voice cast was the most notable change, using mainly voice actors based in Los Angeles. The voice work for this version was sort of a mixture of pre-lay and ADR. Vincent Price was one of few whose voice was retained from the original, likely due to his celebrity status. Price was also brought on board to record new dialogue for this version, however due to his failing health he was only able to record mainly grunts and very short lines of dialogue. This version would be released in 1993 in Australia and South Africa under the title The Princess and the Cobbler.

The film would not receive a release in the US until 1995 when the distribution rights were picked up by Miramax. The initial plan was to release the Princess and the Cobbler version as it was, but Harvey Weinstein decided to re-cut the film even further. This version featured newly written dialogue by Eric Gilliland, Michael Hitchcock, and Gary Glasberg. Several voices were also re-dubbed with celebrities such as Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Beals, Jonathan Winters, Eric Bogosian, and Toni Collette. This version would be released as Arabian Knight for the theatrical release, though the title would later be switched back to The Thief and the Cobbler for the home video release. This version is the most readily available on home video formats.

Additional Voices

 * Mickie McGowan