So... In this version of the movie TACK TALKS THROUGHOUT THE FILM. He also does some narration. In the Workprint/Recobbled Cut, Tack literally only has one line, which he says right at the end of the movie. He has nothing clever or funny or inspiring or interesting to say and the animation conveys his emotion fine. It's just a pointless addition that doesn't seem to bring anything really good to the movie.
They also added some songs to the film: they aren't entertaining, and they aren't important to the plot whatsoever- the Brigands song was the most decent one, and it still isn't very good. It repeats lyrics over and over and it has no importance to the plot whatsoever(none of the songs do). And remember, that's the BEST song in the film. It's not really bad, just not very clever or important. The other songs in the movie are much worse. The Brigands song isn't amazing, but the lyrics are mildly catchy and clever, while the other two are just generic and aren't catchy or fun at all.
The songs alone make this inferior to the Workprint and Recobbled Cut because they just get in the way of the story and aren't fun to watch, so there's little reason to watch Princess over it if you can handle the Workprint/Recobbled Cut. Princess is essentially the Workprint/Recobbled Cut made into something a bit more standard, like a young kids' cut that retains the style of the original film better than Knight. It felt bland to me, honestly.
Arabian Knight isn't as horrible as people might lead you to believe. It's not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, either. This is the version of the film where the Thief has inner monologue. He spouts a lot of pop culture references. He has a lot of monologue when it's simply unneeded- either a) because of the animation conveying his feelings well enough or b) because he's got nothing important or funny to say which is when the monologue can become annoying- and he goes on a lot. Besides that, though, some of his monologue is actually fairly funny(although I don't think there's anything
either).
Phido- Zigzag's pet buzzard- also gets inner monologue just like the Thief. Unlike the Thief, though, nothing he has to say is funny at all and he never needed any kind of monologue nor does he benefit from it, so I'm going to talk about the worst particular example of that. The animation for Phido and the screeching he makes already conveyed his emotion perfectly throughout the original film(and Princess). In one part of the movie, Zigzag wakes Phido up and orders him to jump onto a long stick. Phido is clearly annoyed and has been from Zigzag waking him up over and over while he's trying to sleep. Phido sighs and makes annoyed expressions, then perches himself onto the stick, keeping an annoyed expression. The added monologue isn't helping to convey extra emotion- Phido's monologue for that part was "oh, not the stick", which he says while jumping onto it. Pointless monologue like this, when stuff is being conveyed perfectly well on the screen, just makes you feel dumb when you watch the movie.
Oh, and let's not forget the half-baked Aesop that they slapped on... Be true to yourself, and you could be great one day, it's pretty generic and not told in a very fun way. It doesn't really seem to be a
wrong moral, but this one has been done over and over and over and over- it's just not interesting to hear about when so many other films do it better and we've heard it so many times.
Wreck-It Ralph did the "be true to yourself" Aesop wonderfully since Ralph screwed up and instead of just
wishing to be great and the entire movie pushing how he was
being himself and having those get rid of the problem he actually had to do stuff and search for help and realised that he screwed up and changed his attitude. Heck, it did it so much better, it's pretty much a different moral entirely(accept yourself and then try to work on yourself). Saying he was sorry for screwing up didn't instantly make everyone forgive him- pretty much the opposite. Ralph being Ralph and accepting his position as Bad Guy, something that he actually couldn't change, wasn't a magic solution to the world being in great peril. It's part of the movie, but it's not pushed in your face through the whole thing nor slapped on lazily to get a bit of approval from moral guardians, it's actually made properly, as something to assist character development and add more relatability. Vanellope being a Glitch is similar. The movie shows her putting hard work in to become a racer, not her talking about how she wished she was one
without actually doing anything to achieve that. I mean, at the absolute worst, WIR definitely tells the moral better than Arabian Knight. I think everyone can agree on that. If you want to simplify the Aesop as much as possible, then yes, WIR has the same Aesop at the core but it told it
well as it actually tries proving it through events in the film which is what matters. Alas, I'm not trying to write a review of WIR here, although I kind of wish I was instead because I'd find it much more fun. Arabian Knight neither tells the Aesop well nor develops it during the film, and simply slaps it on in a throwaway line at the end of the film- "
So next time you see a shooting star, be proud of who you really are. Do in your heart what you know is right, and you too shall become an Arabian Knight". Before that, there's only one line relating to the Aesop- "
Belief in yourselves is what you lack!", and none of the characters do anything that really relates directly to the Aesop and makes them figure it out.
As much as I went on about stuff Knight does badly, it's really not terrible. It's actually kind of bad, because it's just a bland animated movie that tried emulating Disney animated films, and didn't do it really well or anything. It could also be worse. Much worse. Trust me- I have seen worse films, namely Tentacolino and The Little Panda Fighter(although the latter is
hilariously bad). At least this movie has some of Richard Williams' gorgeous animation- if nothing else, that's a redeeming feature. Knight feels more silly and less sophisticated and serious than the Workprint or Recobbled Cut. It's a lot more like a standard movie because of all the added dialogue. If you want a more cartoony version of the Recobbled/Workprint, this version is the best option, and admittedly it's a bit more coherent. However, it just doesn't stand out as an animated flick- the only memorable parts of Knight are some of the stunning animation sequences in it- which can be seen (with extra footage, mind you) in either the Recobbled Cut or Workprint.