The Princess and the Cobbler (1993)

When Tack upsets Zigzag the Vizier, the wizard drags him off to the royal castle, where Princess Yum Yum falls for the bashful boy and saves him from execution. Unfortunately, Zigzag plans ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Williams

Writers:

Richard Williams (screenplay), Margaret French (screenplay),

Stars:

Vincent Price, Anthony Quayle, Jennifer Beals

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vincent Price	...	ZigZag (voice)
Anthony Quayle	...	King Nod (original version) (voice) (as Sir Anthony Quayle)
Hilary Pritchard	...	Princess YumYum (original version) (voice)
Joan Sims	...	Nurse / Mad Holy Old Witch (original version) (voice)
Windsor Davies	...	Chief Roofless (voice)
Paul Matthews	...	Mighty One Eye (original version) (voice)
Clinton Sundberg	...	Dying Soldier (voice) (as Clintron Sundburg)
Donald Pleasence	...	Phido the Vulture (voice)
Kenneth Williams	...	Goblet / Tickle (voice)
Stanley Baxter	...	Gofer / Slap (voice)
George Melly	...	Dwarf (voice)
Eddie Byrne	...	Hoof (voice)
Thick Wilson	...	Hook (voice)
Frederick Shaw	...	Goolie (voice) (as Fred Shaw)
Miriam Margolyes	...	Maiden from Mombassa (original version) (voice)

Storyline

When Tack upsets Zigzag the Vizier, the wizard drags him off to the royal castle, where Princess Yum Yum falls for the bashful boy and saves him from execution. Unfortunately, Zigzag plans to marry the princess in order to succeed her father, King Nod. The Thief, meanwhile, is more interested in gold than love and takes off with the protective orbs topping the palace. Together Tack and Yum Yum attempt to retrieve them in order to prevent Zigzag and the One-Eye army from conquering the city.

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Plot Keywords:

gold | minaret | ball | troubled production | back scratcher | 

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1993 (South Africa)

Also Known As:

Arabian Knight

Box Office

Budget:

$24,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$669,276 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Richard Williams Productions, Allied Filmmakers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min 91 min (working print)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR (theatrical print)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Over 1000 on-screen deaths occur in the uncut 90 min. version, not counting animals. The 80 min. version version released as The Princess and the Cobbler has only 98. Arabian Knight, the 72 min. Miramax Films version, shows 54.

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Goofs

During the song sequence in the desert scenes, it is said they are all illiterate, but earlier they were seen reading.

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Quotes

Tack the Cobbler: [freeing himself] Who needs a genie, when a tack will do the trick?

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Crazy Credits

The end credits of the South African/Australian prints of "The Princess and the Cobbler" show scenes from the movie that were scrapped from the edited versions, including the Thief narrowly avoiding getting his arms chopped off, behind the credits. However, the prints of "Arabian Knight" only use a black background behind the credits.

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Connections

References Mickey's Fire Brigade (1935)

User Reviews

Edited "Thief and the Cobbler" misses the magic

Here at last is the long-awaited theatrical release of Richard Williams' "The Thief and the Cobbler." Begun in the late 1960s but not brought close to completion until after Williams created "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" in 1988, it was conceived as an exercise in expression through animation, with an amazing roster of animation legends new and old [Art Babbit, Grim Natwick, many of Disney's and ILM's new masters] passing in and out of the project over many decades, all widescreen and 60s-groovy, baby. But now it comes to us at last, and it's really not all that good. The reason? Miramax, a subsidiary of Disney and perhaps fearing the very obvious parallels to their own "Thief" remake, "Aladdin," has cut the film to shreds. Not only have they added three truly awful songs, deleted one character [the witch, now just an eye], and removed much of the original's best shots, but the rather nice original soundtrack has been replaced with a crass, narration-heavy butchery that adds constant voice to Williams' great silent characters. Those who know anything about the original will consider this a hack job. But see it anyway, if only for the still-groovy animation and to see where "Aladdin" came from. Now why wasn't Disney sued for this? A great work, by one of the great masters, and please Miramax, your version sucks, so let's see the original sometime soon, ok?