Simbad, el marino

This fluidly animated 1962 adaptation of a famous Arabian Nights tale was part of a group of early Japanese animated features that included PANDA AND THE MAGIC SERPENT (aka HAKUJADEN, 1958), ALAKAZAM THE GREAT (aka SAIYU-KI, 1960), and THE LITTLEST WARRIOR (aka ANJO TO ZUSHIOMARU, 1961), all of which got some release in the U.S. SINBAD, the weakest of the group, remains a curio for anime fans and Arabian Nights buffs, but will be slow going for anyone else.

Sinbad and his young sidekick, Ali, stow away on a ship. They have a treasure map for a distant island and convince the captain to change course. After a stop at a seaside kingdom, Sinbad, Ali and their crewmates are imprisoned by the Grand Vizier, but the Sultan's daughter, Princess Samir, frees them and runs away to join them on their ship.

Not much really happens until about an hour into the film when they finally get to the island where all the adventures occur. In the last 15 minutes, the heroes get trapped in a whirlpool; battle a giant Roc, a horde of flying jellyfish, and the Grand Vizier's troops; and ultimately find a cave filled with jewels defended by a giant bird statue with unique weaponry of its own.

Overall, despite the climactic action, the whole production is just a little too slow and solemn, unleavened by failed attempts at comic relief by two goofy crew members. The solemnity may be a side effect of the stilted English dub and the heavy-handed new English-language songs supplied by the American dubbing crew along with a steady stream of tacked-on music cues detracting from the original score.

None of this is helped by the fact that the only available tape seems to be made from a faded, choppy 16mm print of the original U.S. release version. It's practically devoid of color, having faded entirely to reddish-brown. At 76 min., it's also five minutes shorter than the original Japanese running time. This is one animated feature that cries out for restoration and reevaluation.

I haven't seen this film in well over 30 years, and after quite a bit of searching I got hold of the Catcom DVD which features this film and another animated film called "Johnny the Giant Killer." (This was available on Amazon.)

I remember seeing this film on TV in the 70's, at least once; and, like "Jack and the Witch," this is a film that I saw back in the day, had vague but persistent memories of, and wanted to hunt down and see. It took QUITE A WHILE to locate this movie, as there are many other movies called "The Adventures of Sinbad." However, the Catcom DVD features this version. The DVD is made from a very murky, faded print, of course, as are many of these public domain-type releases. None of the colors are bright or distinguishable, really, and detail is hard to see, especially in the darker scenes. Still, it's more or less watchable.

It clocks in at about 75 minutes, and this is the English dub I remember from seeing it on TV. It's not the most exciting story, nor is it told in a lively way, seriously. "Sinbad's" co-director Taiji Yabushita did much better directing "Jack and the Witch" a couple of years later (there is some similarity in character designs from these two films). Still, as a warm-up, "Sinbad" is okay. More exciting because of its rarity, perhaps (it's like watching a lost episode of Kimba or Gigantor), but it's fun to watch and I'm glad there is at least one modern release of it.

A few moments do work very nicely--a treacherous whirlpool, images of wispy specters floating about a rotted shipwreck, and the famous flying electric jellyfish attack.

Another reviewer mentioned that this film known as The Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor was ONLY available on at 76mins Faded VHS Version from16mm Print. This is NOT the case. Probably a Cheap-o Tape like that does exist. But most likely what the reviewer saw was a copy and not the original. This Original Release was in fact distributed in the 80's by MGM/UA Home Video with the F.H.E. Video Label ( family home entertainment ). It is the full length version of the film with both great picture, color, and sound. The video box title is The Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor. The Screen Title credit on the video is Adventures of Sindbad. TOEI Animation was famous for the retelling of classics myths and tales for the international market. This feature was produced in 1962 then released to US TV via MGM in around 1975. The runtime on the F.H.E. video release is 87mins in length. - So, the uncut version for all to enjoy does indeed exist. I would hate to think that someone would give up looking for this film after the previous comments from another reviewer. Although, the video does exist. It is still hard to find - the generic title does not help with the search - If you plug in Adventures of Sinbad on for example amazon this film will not be listed. Neither will other TOEI Films on videos even though many titles were released through major home video labels like MEDIA - RCA - MAGIC WINDOW - and F.H.E. perhaps others as well. Even SONY home video release a TOEI short titled HONEY, HONEY. You will find it hard to search for many of these TOEI films with generic "farietale" Titles like ALADDIN AND THE WONDERFUL LAMP and AESOP'S FABLES. You'll need to sift through a ton of other children's videos with these titles that are NOT the Japanese Produced Anime style from TOEI. Besides the amazing animation techniques of this period it is also the music that sets the film apart from other children's animation features, especially US produced animation. That's basically a search tip for this film which is well worth the effort and most TOEI Anime films will be.