Ali Baba

Ali Baba (1936)

** (out of 4)

A broke Ali Baba and his young son see forty thieves rob a bank so they decide to follow them in hopes of getting the money for themselves. Ub Iwerks directed this animated short, which is mildly amusing but at the same time there's just nothing overly special about it that makes it a must see. As with most of the shorts Iwerks made during this period, his animation is certainly the highlight as there are some creative designs and I thought the colors were extremely good. With that said, there's no question that these films were lacking good stories or memorable characters. What we've got here is okay but there's no question that the characters are mostly forgettable.

Ub Iwerks produced and directed this color cartoon soon before Pat Powers pulled the funding for his studio. Iwerks continued to work independently for a few more years on short contracts, eking out the fiction releases with commercial work. Unfortunately, despite some good basic ideas, nothing seemed to quite come together. After half a dozen years he returned to Disney, where he spent the rest of his career working out technical issues in multi-planing. He won two Oscars for that work.

I think that turned out well. Despite his technical excellence, his cartoons never seemed to do much of anything. There isn't anything wrong with this color version of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, although I don't like the character design. On the other hand, the jokes are not great and who needs another mediocre version of this oft-told tale? Even talented collaborators like animators Seamus Culhane, Al Eugster and Grim Natwick can't do much -- although I suspect all those adenoidal characters were designed by Natwick.

"Ali Baba" is a cartoon from Van Beuren Studios--a cartoon producer for less than a decade during the late 1920s and into the 30s. While their cartoons were of decent quality compared to most companies of the time, the quality of their work never came close to rivaling Disney. Part of this was due to the deficiencies of the art and writing of the cartoons but part wasn't really Van Beuren's fault. Disney had an exclusive contract with Technicolor for full-color film stock for several years. Tinier studios like Van Beuren either had to make black & white cartoons of use the less advanced (and uglier) two- color film--such as with the Cinecolor you see in this particular short. Because it was not true color, the film is made up mostly of oranges and blues and comes off as a bit garish.

This particular cartoon was directed by Ub Iwerks--the same guy who helped Walt Disney found his own studio in 1928. After working together for a few cartoons, Iwerks left for greener pastures--though he never really found them and was back with Disney by the late 1930s. While "Ali Baba" is better than most of Iwerks' non-Disney efforts, this isn't saying a lot.

The cartoon begins with a band of robbers flashing through town and stealing everything. Ali Baba and his son follow them and discover their secret hideout and the secret password. But, when the gang returns unexpectedly, Ali and his son are forced to fight their way out. This short has a bit more silliness than usual and is pleasant. This isn't a glowing endorsement to see it, but it is better than most Van Beuren cartoons and is watchable.

While not one of my favourites, Ub Iwerks was responsible for a lot of interesting work. Especially when working with Walt Disney, his oldest friend and one of his best, and co-creating one of animation's most famous characters in Mickey Mouse. His career since opening his own studio had interest value but the quality was variable, often being successful in the animation and music but wanting in the story and variable in gags, lead characters and tone.

1933 to 1936 saw twenty five cartoons, mostly based on famous fairytales and familiar stories, as part of Iwerks's "ComiColor" series. The "ComiColor" series is very much worth watching and interesting, as is the case with many series some cartoons are better than others (my personal favourite being 1934's 'Jack Frost' which was reviewed by me three years ago) but there are no real animation nadirs. 1936's 'Ali Baba' is decent enough but not exceptional.

'Ali Baba' is slight in the story department with not always enough content for the short length, although it was nice to see elements from the Arabian Nights story apart from of course the more gruesome parts, and is at times too saccharine and lacking tightness and variety.

Its characters should have been more interesting, their personalities are bland generally with a lead character that is a little too cute and not much more. The wit and imagination has been more frequent and stronger in other cartoons in the series before and since, there are not enough gags and the pace could have done with some tightening in particularly the early stages.

However, 'Ali Baba' is certainly worth the watch. It isn't too dull and doesn't feel too stale.

There are a few amusing moments that aren't too corny and never repetitive, and there is a genuine likeability.

Furthermore, the animation is great, if occasionally garish. Meticulously detailed, fluid in drawing, vibrant in colour and often rich in imagination and visual wit. The music is cleverly and lushly orchestrated, is infectiously catchy and adds a lot to the cartoon.

In summary, decent if unexceptional. 6/10 Bethany Cox