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| “ | Oh, great King Nod, have no fear. Zigzag, your Grand Vizier, is here. | „ |
| ~ Zigzag presenting himself to King Nod's presence. |
| “ | Ooh! Ooh! Oh, my bottom, oh, my top! Greedies, don't you ever stop?! (Phido arrives at the scene) You too, Phido? Man's best friend... For Zigzag, then... it is... the end. | „ |
| ~ Zizgag's final words after accepting his fate of being devoured by Phido and the alligators. |
| “ | We'll see who wins at the end of the day! We'll see who ends up grieving! I'll go to the One-Eyes right away! I'm taking the balls and LEAVING!! | „ |
| ~ Zigzag angrily defecting to the One-Eyes after being denied of his request to marry Yum-Yum. |
Zigzag, also known as Zigzag the Grand Vizier, is the secondary antagonist of the late Richard Williams's 1993 animated fantasy feature film The Thief and the Cobbler.
He is King Nod's former Grand Vizier, and later King Mighty One-Eye's right-hand and accomplice, who usually speaks in rhymes in a manipulating fashion. After being declined by King Nod to marry Princess Yum-Yum, he allies himself with the notorious One-Eyes. He also has a pet vulture named Phido, whom he abuses and rarely feeds.
At first, he was a character intended for "The Majestic Fool/Nasrudin" called Anwar (who apparently would not have many changes in terms of concept), but as the project evolved he was renamed Zigzag.
He was voiced by the late Vincent Price (his final voice role), who also portrayed Cardinal Richelieu in the 1948 film adaptation of The Three Musketeers, Ivan Igor in the 1953 remake of House of Wax, Baka in The Ten Commandments, Mr. Scratch in The Story of Mankind, King Richard III in the 1962 remake of The Tower of London, Prince Prospero in the 1964 adaptation of The Masque of the Red Death, Dr. Goldfoot in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, Egghead in the 1960s Batman TV series, January Q. Irontail in Here Comes Peter Cottontail, Matthew Hopkins in Witchfinder General, Lord Edward Whitman in Cry of the Banshee, Anton Phibes in The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Edward Lionheart in Theater of Blood, one of the Sub-humans in Fire and Ice, Sinister Man in Bloodbath at the House of Death, himself in Escapes, Henry Ravenswood in the Disneyland Paris attraction Phantom Manor and Professor Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective.
Physical Appearance[]
Zigzag is a skinny humanoid with light blue skin, baggy green eyes, a black beard, six fingers, and a thumb per hand with several colored rings on his fingers. He wears a large-sleeved black robe with gold trimming, and long shoes that extend as he walks, He is also able to change the color of his face depending on his romantic emotions, with his face turning red and his eyes becoming more yellowish. (In Nasrudin's mini animation test, the character is smaller with a larger chin and a more prominent nose. He appears to be much more older than his final version in Thief and the Coobler).
Unlike the other characters in the film who have 5 fingers, Zigzag has 6 fingers on each hand with 13 rings on each hand (warm tones on his left hand and cool tones on his right hand), specifically he has 2 rings on each thumb, 2 rows of 4 rings on each hand and 3 more rings on the innermost part of on each hand.
Personality[]
| “ | Oh, greatest king of all the Earth, this lowborn cobbler of no worth attacked me in the square today! Shall we take his head away? | „ |
| ~ Zigzag planning to decapitate Tack for a simple accident. |
Zigzag asking for Yum Yum's hand in marriage.
Zigzag is an egotistical, cruel, deceitful, manipulative, selfish, greedy, and pompous sorcerer, who always grows determined to get whatever he wants and never takes no for an answer. Although he describes himself as a sorcerer, his magic is fairly delicate and weak, and he occasionally slips up on his tricks. He relies more on smooth-talking and manipulation to get what he wants, dazzling people with an impressive performance to convince them that he is more powerful than they think.
He is also someone obsessed with having total control of everything and everyone, spying on the villagers at night and underestimating, referring to them with this phrase: "Men are fools, who walk in dreams, They sleep their lives away" added to the fact that it was not enough for him to steal the golden balls but he dared to join the One Eyes just to conquer the Golden city by force.
Interestingly, despite wanting to marry Princess Yum-Yum in order to become king of the Golden City, Zigzag is shown to have a genuine crush on the princess. He'd become so softhearted for her that he'll abide by whatever she requests, and while he did team up with The Mighty One-Eye to destroy the Golden City, he humbly asked that Yum-Yum be spared.
In The Majestic Fool, he shows that he is quite fond of the Islamic religion, as he blamed Nasrudin before the king for supposedly being a heretic (due to disagreeing with the opinions of some wise men).
Biography[]
Nasrudin[]
Zigzag/Anwar accusing Nasrudin of being a heretic.
In Nasrudin (a project that would become The Thief and the Cobbler) Zigzag (known as Anwar in this version) is a prosecutor who accuses Nasrudin of being a heretic before some wise men, According to Anwar, Nasrudin called them: "Ignorant, Irresolute and Confused", Nasrudin asks the wise men what bread is and all the wise men say a different thing, letting the king know. The short ends with an open ending without knowing if Nasrudin would be free or condemned.
The Thief and The Cobbler[]
Zigzag making his entrance.
At the beginning of the film, Zigzag accidentally stepped on one of Tack's tacks while making his entrance, and had him taken to the palace, intending to have his head cut off. He was planning to marry Princess Yum-Yum, who he lusted after, while also allowing him to become king and take over the kingdom. When Tack (who was fixing Princess Yum-Yum's shoe) chases after the Thief (who stole it), he runs into Zigzag, who takes the opportunity to lock him in a cell. Later in the film (in the original workprint), he takes Phido into Tack's cell to have him eaten, but he had to leave due to being summoned by King Nod.
After the Thief stole the three golden balls that protected the Golden City and lost them, Zigzag sent his sycophants to retrieve them. He asked King Nod for Princess Yum-Yum's hand in marriage should he return the Golden Balls, but King Nod laughs him off and refuses, much to Zigzag's fury. Out of spite, Zigzag defects to the One-Eyes by heading to their camp, where he allied himself with King Mighty One-Eye by charming his alligators via promising them tasty food and giving him the Golden Balls. In return for Zigzag's help, King One-Eye was to leave the Princess alive and in Zigzag's hands.
With the Golden Balls under his grasp, Mighty One-Eye had his men formulate an attack by utilizing a giant war machine for the balls; he even forced Zigzag to ride in the front during the battle. However, Tack sets off a chain reaction that destroyed the war machine and killed many One-Eyes, much to both Mighty One-Eye and Zigzag's fury. Zigzag then attempted to kidnap Princess Yum-Yum, but Tack defeats him in combat by tying his robe to his hands while several Brigands (who were befriended by Tack and Yum-Yum) manage to defeat several One-Eye soldiers in combat.
Zigzag accepting his fate as he is being eaten alive by Phido and the crocodiles.
Following the deaths of Mighty One-Eye and his men, Zigzag tries to escape the chaos, but, after stepping on another tack, falls into a pit and meets the hungry alligators (joined in by Phido), who are all angry about Zigzag not keeping his word to feed them. As such, they start devouring Zigzag alive. Realizing now that he has finally lost, Zigzag accepts his fate, as Phido eats his head.
Powers and Abilities[]
Zigzag showing his "powers" to the Mighty One Eye
According to Zigzag, he is a very powerful sorcerer/magician who can summon demons, control beasts, animals and people as if they were cards, But all these powers seem to be pure lies.
Despite this, Zigzag proves to be quite manipulative without the need for any power, such as when he worked for King Nod or convincing the crocodiles to help him escape from his pit, he is also a wise man, as he always reminds the people and the king himself of the legend of the 3 golden balls.
But his greatest power is political in the golden city, since he has the royal guard under his power along with his own personal advisors, he is dedicated to bringing beautiful women to the king, putting on games for the king as well, make their own royal marches where his guards whip the townspeople and he can judge or even put someone in jail if they become a nuisance to him (As long as King Nod or Princess Yumyum don't know about the latter).
Script Differences[]
His introduction song changes in all 3 versions: In the original version, his introduction song features a song with Arabic tones and a female choir that constantly repeats "Have no Fear, Zigzag the grand vizier is here", in the Calvert and Miramax versions it is replaced by medieval music (although different between the two versions) and without any lyrics, (also for some strange reason in the Calvert version Zigzag's advisors sound like womens and are superimposed on Kenneth Williams' original dialogues), Also, both in the Calvert and Miramax versions, while Zigzag walks, Tack explains who Zigzag is in voiceover.
At the beginning of the movie when Zigzag introduces himself to the King Nod, there is a storyboard-based deleted cut where he says that he brought him a maid of Bombasa, implying that Zigzag could be a procurer, although this was removed there are still some mini hints of this shown in some scenes at the beginning of the movie (it is likely that they were removed so that it would not be for an adult audience)
There are also deleted dialogues and storyboards of the scene where he reveals his intentions in his tower, in those dialogues it is made clear to us that Zigzag wants all the gold and control of the Golden Land and that to achieve this he wants to marry Princess Yum-Yum.
In the polo game scene, after Zigzag tells the king that he made these games for him, there's an animatic between that part and when Zigzag is about to start the games, where Zigzag idolizes Nod more, with the latter making an annoyed face but saying that it's very nice. (possibly it was removed because it was unnecessary).
Also in that same scene, there is a storyboard where Princess Yum Yum tells her father that Tack seems to have Vanished, so that almost instantly Zigzag distracts Nod with the performance of the game, And while Nod sleeps, Zigzag gives Yum Yum an evil smile and laugh, giving way to the part where Yum Yum throws a pear at Zigzag and he dodges it.
A scene was also removed where Zigzag enters Tack's cell to have his bird Phido eat him but would be interrupted due to the king's calls.
In the scene where King Nod calls Zigzag to tell him what he saw in his dreams, there is a storyboard and deleted dialogue where King Nod becomes paranoid and hits Zigzag while the latter nervously tries to calm King Nod by insisting that the golden balls would still be there up above.
In the original cut, King Nod angrily refused Zigzag's request to marry Yum Yum and banished the sorcerer from the Kingdom. In the later cut, King Nod bursts into laughter and explains that never in a million years, would a practioneer of Black Magic be allowed to marry the Princess, intended to marry a man pure of heart.
At first, under a script from 1989/1990 when Zigzag is tied up by Tack he was going to flee until Rooflus and his brigade notice his presence and go after him, until Zigzag would hide again in the red smoke and then give way to the scene where he falls into the Alligator pit.
Relationships[]
Friends/Allies[]
- King Nod (former superior)
- Princess Yum-Yum (love interest, Zigzag's side)
- Phido (pet/killer)
- King Mighty One-Eye and his army (current superior, in Mighty One-Eye's case)
- Royal Guard
- Royal Advisors
- Royal Wisemen (in Nasrudin)
Enemies[]
- Tack the Cobbler (archenemy/attempted victim)
- King Nod
- Princess Yum-Yum (her side)
- Rooflus and his band of Brigands
- Nasrudin.
Quotes[]
| “ | He has admitted, going around, saying... such wisemen as these are: "ignorant, irresolute and confused"!! | „ |
| ~ Zigzag/Anwar accusing Nasrudin of heresy |
| “ | The camp of the One-Eyes! How very nice! Perhaps they'll be willing to pay my price! I'll have those barbarians kissing my feet! (to Phido who squawks begging for food) And maybe, we'll find you something to eat, eh, Phido? (The One-Eye's soldiers appear, putting their spears at his throat) Gentlemen, gentlemen, what a delight to meet you all here on such a fine night. | „ |
| “ | Oh, Mighty One-Eye... I, I, I am Zigzag the Great of the Golden Land! | „ |
| ~ Zigzag introducing himself to King Mighty One-Eye. |
| “ | One mistake will suffice! Don't treat me lightly twice! Take me to your master! | „ |
| ~ Zigzag to One-Eye's army after taming King Mighty One-Eye's alligators. |
| “ | The greatest wizard has to know exactly when it's time to- GOOOOOOOOO!!!!! | „ |
| ~ Zigzag before accidentally stepping on a nail, which causes him to fall into the crocodiles' lair. |
Trivia[]
- He was the last character to be voiced by Vincent Price. The film was initially released in Australia on September 23, 1993 (one month shy of his death from lung cancer on October 25 that same year at the age of 82), which would make this his final role.
- Before Vincent Price came along, the voice of Zigzag that was going to be used was Kenneth Williams , which can be heard in the short film The Majestic Fool/Nasrudin (although the two actors sound quite similar), in the end Kenneth Williams did not play him, but he did voice Zigzag's advisors in the final product.
- It is also revealed that other voices that were considered for the character were George Sanders (Shere Khan's voice actor in The Jungle Book) but in the end it was decided to use Vincent Price (this was revealed in the 1971 documentary, this being a year before his suicide).
- His former name "Anwar" is an Arabic name meaning "The Most Luminous", and he may have been given that name because of his title of vizier and wise man.
- In all three versions of the film, Zigzag's role, voice, and death are the same.
- The reason why Zigzag only speaks in rhymes and verses is because of one of the earliest versions of the script, which featured all the dialogue written in verses. This aspect would be scrapped down the line, but it retained itself on Zigzag's lines.
- Zigzag had likely inspired the villain Jafar from Disney's Aladdin. Both of them are evil magical advisers to the king, want to take his place as king, marry his beautiful daughter, have a talking bird as a right-hand man, and kill the hero.
- Coincidentally, Zigzag's voice actor Vincent Price also voiced Ratigan in Disney's The Great Mouse Detective, which was previously directed by Ron Clements and John Musker (the directors of Aladdin).
- As another coincidence related to dubbing in other countries, in the Spanish dubbing of the Calvert and Miramax version, the Zigzag voice actor is the same actor as Jafar.
- His design is also compared to the design of the Genie from Aladdin, mainly because they are both blue and have more or less similar goatee and eyebrows.
- Zigzag can be considered one of the first characters, or the first to be created for Thief and the Cobbler, as he was already planned for "The Majestic Fool/Nasrudin".
- He is also the most complex character to animate. As proof of this, it is said that the scene where Zigzag moves a deck of cards took more than a year to complete.
- Another difficulty the animators faced was their hands, since having six fingers, plus the immense number of rings Zigzag wears, made the animation process even slower than it already was.
- It is also said that Vincent Price did most of the gestures and zigzag poses through rotoscoping to animate the character.
- The famous scene where Zigzag plays with the cards originated from a completely improvised dialogue by Vincent Price. Richard Williams liked it so much that he decided to create that famous scene.
- Although in the scene where Zigzag is in the one-eye camp he says he has many powers and total control of beasts and people, at no time does he use those powers when he faces those from the golden land, so it is possible that he was just lying (although he shows he can easily convince the crocodiles, so it is uncertain if he has powers or if he can just easily convince any being through his words)
- According to the Richard Williams documentary "The Thief Who Never Gave Up", Williams said that he based Zigzag on two people he despised. Their names were not revealed by Williams but it is rumored they were Omar Ali Shah and Idries Shah, who were the producers of the film during the Nasrudin era of production.
- In said documentary, Williams kept redesigning Zigzag to have larger shoulders, giving him a "vulture-like appearance".
- And in a 1971 documentary made by "Clapperboard Studios", he also said that the zigzag face was totally inspired by that of Vincent Price.
- In that same documentary, Richard describes Zigzag like this: "Yeah, anyway, he's trying to take over the world and nothing in this world can stop him, no name can stop him," implying by these words that it would be much more dangerous than what is seen in the final product.
External Link[]
- Zigzag on the Antagonists Wiki