The Thief and the Cobbler

1993
U
1h 39m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

4.8K

YOUR RATING

Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Beals, and Hilary Pritchard in The Thief and the Cobbler (1993)

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Desert Adventure Hand-Drawn Animation Quest Swashbuckler Action Adventure Animation Comedy Family Fantasy

A lonely princess and a poor cobbler fall in love while trying to reclaim three magical orbs stolen by a bumbling thief, all while outwitting an ambitious sorcerer.A lonely princess and a poor cobbler fall in love while trying to reclaim three magical orbs stolen by a bumbling thief, all while outwitting an ambitious sorcerer.A lonely princess and a poor cobbler fall in love while trying to reclaim three magical orbs stolen by a bumbling thief, all while outwitting an ambitious sorcerer.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

4.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

ZigZag
(voice)

Matthew Broderick

Tack the Cobbler (Miramax version)
(voice)

Jennifer Beals

Princess YumYum (Miramax version)
(voice)

Bobbi Page

Princess YumYum (Majestic Films version)
(voice)
…

Steve Lively

Tack the Cobbler (Majestic Films version)
(voice)
…

Eddie Carroll

The Thief (Majestic Films version)
(voice)
(as Ed. E. Carroll)
…

Clive Revill

King Nod (re-edited versions)
(voice)

Mona Marshall

Joan Sims

Mad and Holy Old Witch
(voice)

Kevin Dorsey

Mighty One-Eye (re-edited versions)
(voice)

Donald Pleasence

Phido the Vulture (original and Majestic Films version)
(voice)
…

Stanley Baxter

Gofer
(voice)
…

Kenneth Williams

Goblet
(voice)
…

Clinton Sundberg

Dying Soldier
(voice)

Windsor Davies

Chief Roofless
(voice)

Frederick Shaw

Goolie
(voice)

Thick Wilson

Hook
(voice)

Eddie Byrne

Hoof
(voice)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The film holds the record for the longest production schedule of a completed feature: 28 years.

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

Quotes
[last lines]
[original version]
Princess Yum-Yum: I love you.
[Tack takes the tacks from his mouth at last]
Tack the Cobbler: And I love you.
[they hug]

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.

Alternate versions
Four major versions of the film exist - the workprint, The Princess and the Cobbler, Arabian Knight, and the Recobbled Cut. Richard Williams' 1992 workprint was bootlegged on video, and copies have been shared among animation fans and professionals for years. It is an unfinished work in progress. A slightly later workprint from 13 May 1992 was preserved by Williams himself as "A Moment In Time," archived and digitally duplicated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "The Academy has it, it's in a 'golden box' now and it's safe," Williams said. The unfinished version was screened at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Connections
Featured in I Drew Roger Rabbit (1988)

Soundtracks
It's So Amazing
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
Music by Robert Folk
Performed by Bobbi Page and Steve Lively

User reviews55

Review

Featured review

10/10

One of the nastiest stories in cinema

This is the greatest animated feature film of all time, but unfortunately Warner Bros took it away from Richard Williams because he went way over budget and schedule.

When they took over they added some terrible songs and dialogue to Tack (who never talked in the real version) and many other nasty changes, then released it in selected cities in the US only.

It took 20 years to get made and has some of the greatest moving images of all time.

The title is supposed to be "The Thief and the Cobbler"

My 8 year old son has loved it for years, never gets sick of it.

Finally, Vincent Price's voice performance is excellent and it was one of his last.