It was to be the greatest animated film of all time. Not just an eye-opener, but a game-changer. Richard Williams demanded nothing less, investing nearly three decades into his movie masterpiece. Still best known today for the animated portions of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Canadian producer-director came to the UK in the 1950s and won accolades for his short films. He formed a production company and reaped the boom in animated commercials and movie credit sequences. But from as early as 1964 he ploughed most of the profits right back into his pet project, a feature inspired by the Arabian Nights and provisionally known as Mullah Nasruddin. He assembled a team of inspired young artists—and brought in the best Hollywood craftsmen to teach them—and devised what would be the most elaborate, kaleidoscopic, mind-boggling visual sequences ever committed to celluloid. Years passed. Potential financiers came and went. Work continued. But it was only after Roger Rabbit that Williams had a studio budget to corroborate the munificence of his imagination. After 25 years and as many million dollars in the making his labour of love finally saw the light of day…

Kevin Schreck’s documentary is essential viewing on three counts: it showcases Williams’ dazzling, often unprecedented visuals; it reveals how these staggering effects were created; and it’s a heartbreaking portrait of artistic obsession running smack into the business of show…