The Thief and the Cobbler is a 1993 unfinished animated fantasy film co-written and directed by Richard Williams, who intended it to be his magnum opus and a milestone in the animated medium. Originally devised in the 1960s, the film was in and out of production for almost three decades due to independent funding and ambitiously complex animation. It was finally placed into full production in 1989 when Warner Bros. agreed to finance and distribute the film after his successful animation direction for Who Framed Roger Rabbit. When production went over budget and behind schedule, and Disney's similarly-themed Aladdin loomed as imminent competition, Williams was forced out and the film was heavily re-edited and cheaply finished by producer Fred Calvert as a mainstream Disney-style musical. It was eventually released by Allied Filmmakers on 23 September 1993 in South Africa and Australia under the title The Princess and the Cobbler. Two years later, on 25 August 1995, Miramax Films, which was owned by Disney at the time, released another re-edit titled Arabian Knight in the United States. Both versions performed poorly at the box office and received mixed reviews.