Following text is taken from the The Thief and the Cobbler - Recobbled Cut Restoration Thread:
"Nearly 30 years in the making, a labor of love by a team of animation greats, this was to be the masterpiece of Richard Williams' career, perhaps the most ambitious independent animated film ever conceived. The film was the inspiration for Disney's Aladdin, which proved to be its undoing. After over two decades of work, the film was taken away from Williams when he couldn't meet his deadline. It was eventually bought by Disney, recut and destroyed. It has never been seen the way it was intended to be seen ... until now. Based on Williams' original workprint, missing scenes have been restored using storyboards and unfinished animation. Restored to its true form, this lost classic has finally been found.
The Recobbled cut is a fan created construction of the film, painstakingly restored, as Williams wanted it, or as close to as possible. Based on a workprint of the film from when Williams was nearing completion (shortly before the film was taken away from him), using the workprint, DVDs of the two officially released cuts of the film, and other related elements taken from various sources this Recobbled cut reveals the masterpiece that could have been."
Please be aware that The Thief and the Cobbler was released on DVD by Miramax in 2006 in a shabbily chopped, crappy fullscreen version which sparked a furore among the purists and fans. Stay away from it.
