Everyone knows who Walt Disney is, but who has heard of Richard Williams? A Canadian animator based in England, he has won three Oscars, including two for his work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, as well as numerous other awards for his work in advertising and animated shorts. All the while, Richard was working, always working, on what he described as his “masterpiece” “The Thief and the Cobbler”, which was painstakingly animated over the course of more than 25 years, with some of the greatest animators and voice actors of all time. Richard Williams tale in the pursuit of trying to make “The Thief and the Cobbler” has since become a cautionary tale of integrity vs pragmatism, with the idealistic Williams going up against a failing marriage, inhuman work schedules and ruthless businessmen, as he struggled to try to get his movie made. The crushing moment came when after nearly 30 years and with only 15 minutes left to animate, the whole thing was taken away from him and given to someone who would get it done quickly. The end result was an absolute flop.

The documentary Persistence of Vision is the greatest story about a film that was never made. It covers the 30 year saga of Richard Williams’ herculean attempts to create the animated movie The Thief and the Cobbler, his heart was set on making. Persistence of Vision is Kevin Schreck’s directorial debut. It premiered at the 2012 Vancouver International Film Fest VIFF and was shown at TAAFI in Toronto 2013.

With embezzlement, affairs, shady international deals and deaths, at times it seemed like something out of a Tom Clancy novel, but all the tales are corroborated. There are interviews with some of the animators and other artists (Williams himself declined to talk to be interviewed), as well as behind the scenes footage taken at the studio. There is a lot of stuff to get through, 96 minutes of footage were created without an ending, but director Kevin Schreck handles it well, never leaving viewers lost but never holding their hands either.

Unfortunately, due to copyright issues with some of the animation, it is unlikely Persistence of Vision will ever play anywhere other than the festival circuit. Even though it is a perfect example of fair use, and tells a very important story, it appeared for a while that no distributor willing to run it. This would have been a crime. It seems now that it is indeed playing at indie art house movie theatres. The movie “The Thief & The Cobbler” is available for live streaming on Netflix.

If you are interested in animation, and if you get the chance, go see it. I cannot recommend it enough.

@VIFF @TAAFI #perisistenceofvision #thethief&cobbler #animatedmovie @netflix

Donal O’connor