BSA206 Richard Williams

Richard Williams is the Author of the book, "The Animator's Survival Kit". 

Williams directed Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988. However, since 1964 he had been working on a film that he thought would be his masterpiece. 

The film he was working on was self funded using money he earned by making commercials and animated sequences for live action film. 

As a result of Richard Williams wanting his "masterpiece" to be regarded as an animation classic, he strived for perfection. But his obsessive attention to detail resulted in his undoing. 

In 1990 Williams finally agreed to sign a deal with Warner Bros. to help pay for the film to be finished, unfortunately Williams failed to deliver the finished film by 1991 as he had agreed to because he repeatedly remade scenes. 

Warner Bros. eventually pulled out and the film was taken away from Williams. They finished it without Williams on board. 

The finished project was released in the USA and called Arabian Night. 

However, it was changed massively. Character's were cut, cheaper songs were inserted, voices were dubbed over parts where there was ment to be silence and most of the climactic battle was taken out. 

Of the film's 24 million budget, the film only made back a small amount in sales. At one point it was given away as a free DVD with cereal packets. 

After the film's release, Williams retired from animation and disappeared from public view for a while. Williams still refuses to talk about the film. 

I think that there isn't a clear-cut, right or wrong side on how the making of the film was handled and played out. I can understand that as Williams wanted the film to be his Masterpiece, and as good as he could make it, so that he was very nit picky when it came to making sure every shot was right. I can also understand his upset to see a film he dedicated almost three decades of his life to, becoming 'bastardized' once it was taken away from him, essentially making his life's work null and void because it didn't stay true to his vision. 

However, at the same time, he didn't finish the storyboards or cement down the plotline until it was almost fully animated. I realise that this could have been because he wanted to allow for change and fluidity in the movie, to give it a more authentic, less rigid feel. Unfortunately though, the fact that he signed a contract with Warner Bros ment that he had an agreement to uphold. If a company gives money to you under an agreement, he should have recognized that they wouldn't have had much attachment to it as he did, and therefore would be less forgiving when it wasn't finished on time. 

From Warner Bros. perspective, Williams would have appeared to have been messing them around a bit and would have left them suspicious of the fact that the film may never be finished-especially once they see how much Williams was drawing and redrawing scenes as if he had the time to. 

I think, from an artists perspective, it's a shame that the film was never made in Williams vision, as it probably would have been a masterpiece. But from a businessman perspective, there is no point in funding a film that may possibly never be finished. I admire Williams' hard work, but I think that he may have been a bit too overenthusiastic and too much of a perfectionist, making working for him stressful because he seemed to want to do everything in the hardest, most tedious way possible.