The Thief and the Cobbler/Headscratchers

• Not really a gripe, but a question--can anybody tell me the name of the music that plays in the scene where Tack fixes Yum Yum's slipper?
  • Depends on the version. In the released, it's original music by Robert Folk. But in the unfinished, it's unknown, probably also original. The unfinished version has been confirmed to contain some original music - the one played during the opening credits at least is.
• This only bugs me in the official cut, but... why does Tack spend so much of the film with a nail or two in his teeth? I mean, I know it's supposed to be Chekhov's Gun, but I still believe it ridiculous that he never spits them out, even after he uses one to destroy the machine. Why does he never spit them out?
  • Rule of Cute?
    • It's just a character quirk. You may also notice that the position of the tacks in his mouth will form facial expressions for him as well.
• Do the three golden balls really hold any prophetic/mystical power, or did the Thief just happen to conveniently steal them when One Eye was preparing his invasion?
  • Well considering that One Eye gets them soon after they're stolen it could mean that there's a high-power on the side of whoever has them. Then again it could simply be a story that's been passed down and believed to be truth.
• Does anyone else think that Tack might have been tacked in after making Zig-Zag and the Thief the main characters? I've seen the recobbled cut and it's mostly the Thief and Zig-Zag with the occasional Tack and Yum-Yum scenes thrown in.
• What was up with that scene where the Thief gets on Yumyum's bed and a bunch of wolf heads rise up? It was a trippy scene, I just want to know what the deal with it was.
  • I think I heard that...it was actual white wolves. She was sleeping on a pile of wolves. I don't even know.
    • Yeah, I'm not sure which theory makes less sense...
• Why exactly does the cobbler's skin color change halfway through?
  • It was supposed to be because he got a tan for going out in the desert - but because production was taken over by a much cheaper and lazier team of animators (and cel painters, who are the real culprit) in the middle of production, Tack has wrong skin colour in the scene where he begins his journey. And since Fred Calvert was such a cheapskate, They Just Didn't Care.
    • I thought that was his natural color, and he was just pale because he stayed inside all day.
      • Yeah, that's the reason, too - but he gets tan before ever being exposed to sunlight, which is a colourisation error. The Recobbled Cut did some fixes, such as the eunuchs being painted purple instead of dark brown, but that one scene remains.
        • Probably still explained by the lazy animation. The Recobbled Cut was put together with deleted clips, unfinished clips, and clips that were actually put out in the "official" releases by Miramax and whatnot. There were only so many unfinished scenes and storyboards the creator of the Recobbled Cut could go with, and there probably wasn't an unfinished/removed one for that particular scene.
  • Here's another theory: it may have been that the change in skin color was supposed to be symbolic. Tack is changing on the inside, he's getting out more and he's becoming brave and less shy. Sometimes when characters change, this will be emphasized through a change in physical apperance, whether it's a different outfit, a change in hair color or style, or in this case, getting a tan.
• I know that Karma is Karma, but why the Mighty One Eye, a fierce and bloody warlord, let his harem of maidens surround and sit on him? Furthermore, he was wearing a ton of armor, how could they crush him like that?
  • All of his harem appeared plump. Their combined weight made his armor collapse on him when they all sat on him. As for how they easily surrounded him, Mighty One Eye believed he had an easy victory over the Golden City, so he probably brought his harem with him for after the battle. When the women saw the One Eye army fall, they realized they had a chance to repay Mighty One Eye for all the poor treatment he gave them and the women took their opportunity.