 Though "Aladdin" was released prior to "The Thief and the Cobbler", "The Thief and the Cobbler" initially began production much earlier in the 1960s, and was mired in difficulties including financial problems, copyright issues, story revisions and late production times caused by separate studios trying to finish the film after Richard Williams was fired from the project for lack of finished work.The late release, coupled with Miramax purchasing and re-editing the film, has sometimes resulted in "The Thief and the Cobbler" being labeled a rip-off of "Aladdin".On July 15, 2015, the studio announced the development of a live-action comedy adventure prequel called "Genies".