The Thief and The Cobbler, Golden Age of Animation, Richard Williams, Hand Illustrated

Created over the course of 28+ years, this amazing, although unfinished film, is not only a masterpiece of art and hand illustration, it's also revolutionary in its innovative narrative and story-telling made possible by the art form. In this piece the story is very much told by the animation, brought to life by a team of the most talented illustrators of the time. It has 3d animated sequences that would rival those brought to us by Dreamworks and Pixar today, and this film was started in 1964. Pencil sketches and rough prints were subbed in to make the end product as close to the dream of Richard Williams as possible, but those moments when fluid, finished animation devolves into pictures of story board or sketches in colored pencil are artistically fascinating, and somehow even heighten the effect of the choices in perspective and cinematography, and all the little details. Though this film has a long and troubled history, I must commend Richard Williams, its mastermind, on a job well done.