Over the past four decades, The Thief and the Cobbler has become a legend in the animation industry. Richard Williams began this ambitious film in 1968, and over the next 25 years, collaborated on it with such animators as Ken Harris and Emery Hawkins from Warner Bros., as well as Art Babbitt from Disney and Grim Natwick, the creator of Betty Boop. The film was originally self-financed by Williams, but after he received two Academy Awards® in 1988 for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” Williams was able to secure additional external finances so that the film could be completed. The investors ultimately pulled the project from him and it was completed by other animators. The resulting film was released in different versions under the titles “The Princess and the Cobbler” and “Arabian Knight,” but both pail in comparison to the unfinished masterpiece by Williams.