Visual Language: Form, Flow and Force The Thief and the Cobbler

The Thief and the Cobbler is the unfinished masterpiece by legendary animator Richard Williams. Taking more than thirty years to develop it was in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the longest production of any film. Unfortunately it was never finished and due to budget and time issues the film was eventually taken away from Williams and re-touched to be entirely different. This new version is only available on DVD in Australia.








Unfortunately it is fairly easy to see why the film was never completed. It is visually stunning and the fact that it was entirely created with hand-drawn animation is in itself a staggering achievement. The characters look so 3D to me because of how smooth the 3D is. No one is ever just stood still in a static position, everyone is always moving about. This movie contains excellent examples of form, force and flow because the characters look incredibly lifelike and their movements are incredibly fluid for something that begun production so many years ago.