modmad asked: I just have to say it; thank you. Thank you, we love you, thank you, we love you. The Thief and the Cobbler is one of the greatest pieces of artwork in cinematic history and it deserves this second chance. I've been lucky enough to see Mr Williams lecture twice, and you could see in the words that he didn't say how much the film meant to him. There are thousands of us out here who are just so, so grateful for this, so thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
It’s hard to know what to say. What can I say, except thank you. Thank you all.
I bought a plane ticket the other day. A ticket to see Richard Williams present his cut of The Thief and the Cobbler for the first time ever in public, over twenty years after production shut down. And maybe that’s what this has all been leading up to, ever since making that first Recobbled Cut in 2006, or watching the film for the first time in 1998, or seeing the trailer in 1995, or first hearing about the film in 1989 …
I could only afford this due to the amazing generosity of 44 people, who donated a startling amount of money to make this possible. And I still don’t know what to say.
I was reluctant to ask for any kind of charity. But it was killing me that I couldn’t be there. I didn’t really expect that people would donate, but felt it couldn’t hurt to ask.
This isn’t the first time, either. People donated so that we could transfer the 35mm film of The Thief, Raggedy Ann and The Little Island in 2007, and again in HD for the Mark 4. With your help we’ve done amazing things, I think, and preserved Richard Williams’ legacy in a way that makes it freely accessible to the entire internet.
I wouldn’t have spent seven years building The Thief Archive, and two years editing The Recobbled Cut Mark 4, without your support. Knowing that there were people out there who cared and appreciated the hard work and care I put into all of this, it made all that time worthwhile. I couldn’t have done any of it without you. Without your help, your enthusiasm. Without you cheering me on. I’ve made friends, and felt I was making a legitimate contribution to cinema.
I don’t think of this as a “fan edit,” or any other reductive term you could apply. It was something that needed to happen. It happened. I made it happen, but all thanks to you.
I’ve met amazing people. Incredible, talented, brilliant animators. I’m not fit to shine their shoes, but I can shine this film.
It was Thanksgiving yesterday. I’ll be celebrating it tomorrow. I’ve had to distance myself from my family. I’ll spend it with friends, I suppose.
It’s a time to think about what you’re thankful for.
I am thankful for you.
I probably haven’t said that often enough.
Very few things in my life have gone the way I’d hoped. As a writer, artist, filmmaker, creative person, you’re always hoping that people will notice, and that your work will get the attention it deserves. It generally doesn’t. I am generally content to keep my head down and not overly promote or explain myself, putting years of my life into creative work that I believe is good but which very few people will ever see.
Dick Williams was and is one of the all-time geniuses of animation, and even with his fame and success and brilliance, in many ways his best work never got the attention and respect it deserved. I feel we managed to right a wrong here, in our small way. I’ve felt something changing in the past couple of years, with respect to the legacy of this film. I had heard rumors that Dick might be planning something. I’d hoped to be involved, but I knew that was unlikely.
In 2006 I made a little fanedit of The Thief and the Cobbler. I made it for myself, really, so that I could have a version of the film which was watchable and complete. I knew that almost no one on the forums where I was posting would have heard of the film. I assumed the edit would be seen by only about fifteen people. And I was fine with that. I did it because it was worth doing.
What surprised me, in the end, was not how many people saw it, but how much they cared - genuinely cared - in the very best sense of the word. How they understood what a crime had been committed upon this film, and how they wanted to see its tarnished legacy restored, and the film gain some respect in the history of animated cinema, as something more than a direct-to-video Aladdin knockoff.
Maybe this is it, then. Maybe this is the end of the road. Whatever Dick’s been up to, whatever he has planned, I’ll be there to see it in person. To meet the man, briefly. And I know that in a way you’ll all be there with me. This is a great moment for the film. A triumphant moment. And that triumph is yours too. Because you believed. You believed that good art, real art, art created with passion and a drive to innovate and do something better, is stronger than anything the business of entertainment might do to crush it. True art survives. And so do true artists. The Thief and the Cobbler exists. It happened. It survived.
I may never Recobble again. I’ve been working on Muppet stuff these past couple of months. Always restoring other people’s films when I ought to be making my own. I guess I was waiting to see what Dick would do, or announce.
I released the most complete Recobbled Cut Mark 4 in September. There’s a lot that’s still unfinished about it, but maybe it’s the last one. It probably isn’t, but it could be. For the first time, I honestly don’t know. I look forward to finding out.
Happy holidays.