Persistence of Vision is a 2012 documentary film based on animator Richard Williams' ill-fated attempts to produce his film The Thief and the Cobbler. Directed by Kevin Schreck, its tagline is "the untold story of the greatest animated film never made". The film premiered in Canada on 4 October 2012 at the Vancouver International Film Festival.
Canadian animator and filmmaker Richard Williams struggled to finish his masterpiece, a long-term vanity project called The Thief and the Cobbler. Originally entering production in 1964 as an adaptation of middle-eastern folk tales, the project continued to grow in scope and complexity over several decades while Williams and his studio sought proper funding. In 1988, Williams was hired as animation director on the hit film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and his long-laboured project was finally given the greenlight by Warner Bros.
Unfortunately, Williams' meticulous attention to detail, as well as the forthcoming release of Disney's similarly themed Aladdin, proved to be too much for the studio, and on May 15, 1992, after three decades of work, Williams and his team were fired from the project. The film was then recut and hastily released in various editions which bore little resemblance to Williams' original vision. Williams himself retired from animation and refused to speak about the film for several years afterward. He eventually released a bestselling instructional book, The Animator's Survival Kit, and became a legendary mentor and instructor to a whole new generation of animators.
Though Williams did not participate in the making of the film, archival footage of him is combined with interviews of his co-workers.[1]
Drew Taylor of IndieWire called the film "a heartbreaking account" and a "Herculean accomplishment".[2]The Globe and Mail rated the film 3.5/4 stars and called the film "gripping".[3] Jeff Shannon of The Seattle Times rated the film 3.5/4 stars and described it as "engrossing" and "surprisingly suspenseful".[4]
Awardsedit
Year
Nominee / work
Award
Result
2013
Persistence of Vision
Buffalo International Film Festival Audience Award for Best Of Festival
persistence, vision, film, persistence, vision, 2012, documentary, film, based, animator, richard, williams, fated, attempts, produce, film, thief, cobbler, directed, kevin, schreck, tagline, untold, story, greatest, animated, film, never, made, film, premiere. Persistence of Vision is a 2012 documentary film based on animator Richard Williams ill fated attempts to produce his film The Thief and the Cobbler Directed by Kevin Schreck its tagline is the untold story of the greatest animated film never made The film premiered in Canada on 4 October 2012 at the Vancouver International Film Festival Persistence of VisionDirected byKevin SchreckBased onThe Thief and the Cobbler by Richard WilliamsProduced byKevin SchreckCinematographyKevin SchreckEdited byMaureen GoslingKevin SchreckMusic byAdi YeshayaProductioncompanyKevin Schreck ProductionsRelease dateOctober 4 2012 2012 10 04 Vancouver International Film Festival Running time83 minutesCountriesCanadaUnited KingdomUnited StatesLanguageEnglish Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Cast 3 Reception 3 1 Awards 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksSynopsis editCanadian animator and filmmaker Richard Williams struggled to finish his masterpiece a long term vanity project called The Thief and the Cobbler Originally entering production in 1964 as an adaptation of middle eastern folk tales the project continued to grow in scope and complexity over several decades while Williams and his studio sought proper funding In 1988 Williams was hired as animation director on the hit film Who Framed Roger Rabbit and his long laboured project was finally given the greenlight by Warner Bros Unfortunately Williams meticulous attention to detail as well as the forthcoming release of Disney s similarly themed Aladdin proved to be too much for the studio and on May 15 1992 after three decades of work Williams and his team were fired from the project The film was then recut and hastily released in various editions which bore little resemblance to Williams original vision Williams himself retired from animation and refused to speak about the film for several years afterward He eventually released a bestselling instructional book The Animator s Survival Kit and became a legendary mentor and instructor to a whole new generation of animators Though Williams did not participate in the making of the film archival footage of him is combined with interviews of his co workers 1 Cast editOmar Ali Shah archive footage Art Babbitt archive footage Howard Blake Richard Burdett John Culhane Antonia Dewhurst Greg Duffell Charles Fleischer archive footage Julianna Franchetti Ken Harris archive footage Roy Jackson archive footage Chris Knott Ramon Modiano Roy Naisbitt archive footage Brent Odell Philip Pepper Michael Schlingmann Richard Williams archive footage Robin Williams archive footage Robert Zemeckis archive footage Reception editDrew Taylor of IndieWire called the film a heartbreaking account and a Herculean accomplishment 2 The Globe and Mail rated the film 3 5 4 stars and called the film gripping 3 Jeff Shannon of The Seattle Times rated the film 3 5 4 stars and described it as engrossing and surprisingly suspenseful 4 Awards edit Year Nominee work Award Result2013 Persistence of Vision Buffalo International Film Festival Audience Award for Best Of Festival Won 5 2013 Persistence of Vision Buffalo International Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary Won 5 See also edit2012 in film The King and the Mockingbird the 1980 French animated film by Paul Grimault also similar in production time List of films with longest production timeReferences edit DOC NYC Persistence of Vision Is A Heartbreaking Account Of A Thwarted Animated Masterpiece Indiewire 2012 11 09 Retrieved 2013 10 18 Canada 2012 10 03 VIFF movie review Persistence of Vision The Globe and Mail Retrieved 2013 10 18 Shannon Jeff 2013 08 15 Persistence of Vision Documenting mystery of unfinished masterpiece The Seattle Times Retrieved 2013 10 18 a b 2013 Audience Awards Buffalo Film Festival 2013 08 13 Archived from the original on 2014 01 18 Retrieved 2013 10 18 External links editPersistence of Vision at IMDb nbsp Persistence of Vision at Rotten Tomatoes Trailer on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Persistence of Vision film amp oldid 1190612405, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
