1993 - Animazione/Avventura - 1h 40m
Regia: Richard Williams
Cast: Vincent Price, Anthony Quayle, Hilary Pritchard, Felix Aylmer, Joan Sims, Windsor Davies, Paul Matthews, Clinton Sundberg, Donald Pleasence, Kenneth Williams, Stanley Baxter, George Melly, Eddie Byrne, Thick Wilson, Fredercick Shaw, Miriam Margolyes, Sean Connery
In a great and beautiful golden city, there is a kingdom that lives in harmony and splendor. In the center of the city on top of the minaret (the highest tower) there are three large golden balls, which according to legend as long as they stand on the minaret the city will continue to exist, otherwise it would fall into the lowest chasm and in disgrace. Everything changes when a mysterious thief decides to steal them.
The film became famous as the greatest animated film "never" finished, this is because the film was made famous not from the same movie that had a limited distribution, suffice it to say that in Italy came only in 2020, but it became famous for its troubled production that lasted thirty-one years, from 1964 to 1995, even if the output is accredited in 1993, the year in which he published the first version of the work. That is why the film entered the Guinness Book Of Records for the longest production in cinema, although according to sources it would be second, behind Orson Welles ' last work: the other face of the wind (2018) with 48 years but this is another story.
The opening scene of the film
A film that smacks of mystery but also of chart success, combining various types of design such as the UPA (from the name of his production house, which created the animated series such as Mr. Magoo and Dick Tracy to speak), which used a drawing with angular shapes and stretched, and the backgrounds are not realistic, which in the film is joined to the design of Disney and thumbnail Persian. Let's say that it did not enchant me for its graphic style that sometimes seemed to me drawn by a child who by professional animators, perhaps because I am a fan of Disney Animation and the type of animation used for the film is not of my appreciation, I must also say that animating frames like this was not even easy.
Precisely because of the troubled production, we always had to change the version of the film that every time it went into production, a different idea came out of it, from retouched scenes to removed and then reset scenes, changes of characters and more. I believe that the poor director, Richard Williams (died in 2019), is turning in his grave for the various vicissitudes he had to face to distribute the work, between funding that never came and agreements with the various production houses that he saw cancel work started, houses such as Warner Bros. that disappointed the Canadian director who had to rely on an independent producer like Fred Calvert to finish the film.
Director Richard Williams back when he won the Oscars for Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
We are still talking about a director who worked as an animator and has in his bulletin board 3 Oscars including 2 for the great animation of the Masterpiece Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Williams has nevertheless created a film that tastes special for all those animated films that anyone should take as an example, managing to create a story made of adventure but also fun and emotions. Let us say that your movie is a real project that aspired to more, and that if it were not for the mishaps, he would have had much more success, why animate the story with a graphic design non-figurative, as you would expect from a classic of animation is excellent, especially if we think that he has distributed the Disney or other distributors famous.
Aladdin's animations are very reminiscent of the film
Although many professionals describe it as a film for a classic Aladdin took a lot of inspiration, by the same characters as the vizier Zigzag, cruel and enigmatic that is very reminiscent of Jafar or the Sultan and princess Jasmine, that are similar to king Nod and princess Yum-Yum, have been created discreetly. Although in my opinion the film is the alternative and bad version of Aladdin, not even to compare even if the story itself tastes of a very convincing and adventurous film. Most of the characters are to be praised, the same thief whose name we do not know and who does not speak is ridiculous in the sense that he makes laugh for how he performs the various actions that return him back, very similar to The Misadventures of Willy The Coyote. But if the vizier Zigzag is a character really well done (big round of applause to the various group leaders), the same protagonist, i.e. the Heel, the cobbler, an easy cobbler ends to the fault of the thief in this amazing adventure, despite not spiccichi a word throughout the movie or the other almost tells a joke in the last scene), his gestures is iconic as the same thief, in his way to interface, with always in the mouth of two nails that will be important in the work itself, is a character really " built following the facial expressions.
Heel the cobbler and the thief
Speaking of the misadventures that Tacco and the protagonists will have to face, I must say that they seem to be a set of events that are very reminiscent of the game of domino, that is, touching a piece all the others fall like the events of the film in the final battle that is all to laugh at. That said, the dubbing cast is a succession of changes as the whole production with only Vincent Price (one of the exemplary actors of the horror genre of the 50s / 60s) who voiced the evil vizier Zigzag in all versions of the film. Cast changes from Anthony Quayle to Felix Aymer and many more; even Matthew Broderick participated by dubbing heel the cobbler in the version of the Miramax of 1994 which was a failure, according to sources even the grnade Sean Connery had to participate but did not duplicate even a scene remaining still credited.
The youtuber 151eg (Enrico Gamba) who directed the Italian dubbing
Different thing for the Italian version that thanks to the famous youtuber 151eg alias Enrico Gamba who in agreement with the director Garrett Gilchrist who restored the film Three Times, decided to direct the dubbing finally in Italian and the work came out in 2020 with the title Il ladro e il ciabattino - the recovered Cut - Mark 4 ( the one that I'm reviewing, definitely the best version), which includes a discreet cast of the Italian dubbing with voice actors especially popular on the web as Marco Merrino, This Is the Moon, Riccardo Ricobello, Ruby Rust and Alberto Loaf of bread, and that thanks to her stunning stamp of voice and his class was one of the possible substitutes as the voice actor of Homer Simpson after the death of Tonino Acolla. As for the soundtrack, there is little to say, composed by Robert Folk for the versions of the Calvert and Miramax, enclose a set of melodies that are very reminiscent of the exotic adventures and a fantastic Aladdin, and that in funny situations bring happiness, with fun melodies. In a nutshell, a film that deserved more if it were not for its production, which unfortunately damaged a work that nevertheless convinced in part and amused What is enough, despite the fact that it carries with it in some parts the boredom of seeing the drawings done badly.
by Giacomo Fantini rating: 3,15
15 June 2021
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