Line #8 Awesome/TheThiefAndTheCobbler


1	'''Moments pages are Administrivia/SpoilersOff. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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3	* The magnificent opening to the movie, even if a lot of the animation was left unfinished, presents the premise inside a swirling crystal ball held by two old, gnarled hands.
4	-->'''Narrator:''' ''It is written among the limitless constellations of the heavens, and in the depths of the emerald seas, and on every grain of sand of the deserts... that the world which we see, is an inward and invisible dream of an inward reality...''\
5	'''Second Narrator:''' Once upon a time, there was a Golden City...
6	* The Thief steals back the three golden balls as the One-Eye's death machine collapses around, over and behind him ''and'' escapes without a ''scratch''.
7	** He then tops that by, as the film is coming to an end, [[StealTheSurroundings pocketing the "THE END" letters followed by]] [[ImpossibleTheft the entire movie!]]
8	** The fact that the Thief was able to avoid the consequences of his job altogether, as the punishment for theft in Muslim cultures was rigorous; the loss of your hands. At one point, the palace guards catch him trying to steal jewels from an urn and try to exact that punishment, but the Thief fakes them out by using a pair of hand-shaped back-scratchers he stole from Princess Yum-Yum.
9	* The introduction to the One-Eyes' war camp. Zigzag, SmugSnake that he is, expects the barbarians to be kissing his feet. Instead, the wizard finds himself ambushed and ''truly'' out of his depth as he's brought to King One-Eye. What follows is a [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O8crsKbeaeU terrifyingly effective]] zoom out from Zigzag's shocked face to the sheer ''breadth'' of the One-Eyes, all their chaos--and Zigzag, who from the current perspective is a pinprick-- under the watchful eye of the cruel King. All of it's underlined by a bombastic war song that communicates both the unfettered hedonism and the sheer brutal unpredictability of the One-Eyes. It's an awesome EstablishingCharacterMoment that seals how far down the pecking chain Zigzag really is compared to the invaders.
10	** And, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness for the first time ever]], Zigzag shows ''self awareness'' of this fact. As he initially negotiates with One-Eye, you can tell the guy is terrified out of his wits, only regaining his usual overconfidence when he's ''sure'' he's convinced him. It's clear that [[EvilerThanThou One-Eye is so bad]] that even Zigzag knows he needs to tread carefully when trying to smooth-talk his way into his good graces... and that if he fails, he's ''screwed''.
11	* The "Recobbled" cut features a truly inspired use of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" to fill in silent sections of the original film. It also removes the pop-culture references, disconnected dialogue, and most of the OffModel animation to present it as the original animated epic it was supposed to be. [[SoOkayItsAverage Sadly, the movie is still only okay]], but to come this close to achieving Williams' vision is an impressive achievement.
12	* Tack takes a level or two in Badassery and destroys the whole of One Eye's death machine with one single well-aimed nail.
13	* The two reworks of the film add a quick scuffle between Tack and Zigzag, giving Tack a more direct and satisfying payback to the petty vizier who terrorized him from the film's start. Zigzag twice tries to choke Tack to death, but Tack kicks him off and then stitches his clothing to bound his hands and legs together, leaving Zigzag to hop away humiliatingly.
14	* The Creator/MCEscher inspired chase [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KGQ4PfQdTc scene.]]
15	* The dying messenger, who, after being shot with numerous arrows and impaled with a flagpole, crawls across the corpse-strewn battlefield, drags himself onto his horse and rides day and night back to the palace so he can warn them of the oncoming war. He only lets himself die when he completes his duty.
16	* Williams' original scenes are amazingly well animated. Not only is it technically excellent, but the characters also often move and act in very inventive ways. Of particular note is Zigzag's playing cards scene, in which Williams animated himself, which ''has'' to be viewed frame-by-frame to catch all the subtleties. The art was so good that some parts, especially the War Machine, looked like animated CGI.
17	** For the latter, the original cut was supposed to be the most incredible animation epic of all time. Therefore, Williams put almost half a century's work into each frame, resulting in animation mirroring CGI because of its sheer perfection, especially the War Machine. The documentary on the film aptly describes the Thief's trek through the collapsing machine as "It looks like someone died making it."
18	** One of the master animators working on the film, Creator/GrimNatwick, was in his ''90s'' when he animated the witch for the film's original cut.
19	** The unbelievably awesome scene of the Thief going through the War Machine was commissioned as a ''test sequence'' after interest was taken into funding the film. Who was the potential investor, you may ask? '''Mohammed bin Faisal Al Saud;''' ''a Saudi Arabian prince.''
20	** One of the funniest and excellent bits of animation that the soundtrack enhanced is the final scene, as we pan out to THE END and the Thief walks in, takes the letters, then grabs something just off-screen, the soundtrack warping, then you see him steal everything except the end credits!
21	* Zig-Zag, despite being portrayed as a scheming coward, for the most part, has two reasonably significant Awesome moments.
22	** First, after One-Eye tries to dispose of him in a crocodile pit, Zig-Zag rides back into the camp ''on the crocodiles'' and coldly tells One-Eye not to underestimate him again.
23	** Second, his death scene. In a tragic twist of fate, he ends up back in the crocodile pit seconds after he walks past a random hole in the ground that, unbeknownst to him, leads to the pit. Though Zigzag initially tries to sweet-talk the crocodiles, they waste no time eating him alive. However, he doesn't scream or beg for his life; he takes the bites as if they're merely pinches. However, he's genuinely heartbroken when Phido joins in on the feast and delivers the killing blow by devouring his head. It’s incredibly awesome considering that he freaked out like a lunatic just from stepping on a nail, TWICE.
24	--->'''Zig-Zag:''' [[EtTuBrute You too, Phido?]] Man's best friend? For Zig-Zag, then, it is... the End...
25	* The King rushing to rally the defenses of the Golden City, especially considering that he spent most of the film half-asleep and indifferent to almost everything. Even if we didn't see it until now, he IS a capable leader.
26	* In the original version, when Zig-Zag tries to blackmail King Nod for Yum-Yum's hand in marriage in exchange for the return of the golden balls, what is the King's response? A BigNever and a furious GetOut
27	* One-Eye showing ''why'' he is TheDreaded, commanding a big, perfectly coordinated war machine that marches on the Golden City... [[BigDamnHeroes until Tack steps in.]]
28	* Princess Yum-Yum has a big fur bed that's a bunch of ''enormous [[WhiteWolvesAreSpecial white wolves]]'' laying in a circle. And [[NobleWolf they're all loyal to her]], as shown when they snarl at the Thief when he sneaks in.

Context Awesome / TheThiefAndTheCobbler