Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves

The second Popeye colour feature again takes a page from 'The Arabian Nights' as the spinach-eating sailor battles the legendary 'Forty Thieves' (oddly, Ali Baba is absent) who are led by egotistical tough guy Abu Hassan (essentially Bluto in foreign garb, voiced by Gus Wickie). After crashing his flying patrol boat in the desert, Popeye (voiced by Jack Mercer), his gangly girlfriend Olive Oyl (voiced by Mae Questel), and gourmand J. Wellington Wimpy (voiced by Lou Fleischer), end up in a Arabian town that gets thoroughly pillaged by Abu Hassan and his fast moving band of thieves. Finding his friends abducted, Popeye follows the brigands to their magical cave and before you can say "Open Sesame" is battling with two-score Arabesque villains to the rousing tunes of John Phillip Sousa. Needless to say that when things look the bleakest, out comes the can of spinach. The film is fun, albeit a bit dated, and culture-sensitive types will find a pleasing amount of Arab stereotyping over which to wax indignant. The animation is superb and Fleischer Studios Tabletop 3D background technique is on display, especially in the opening desert scenes and in the thieves' cave. The film is all you would expect from a Popeye feature, no more, but no less. In addition to the comic action sequences, there are lots of background jokes to watch for (I liked the 'Ali Cat Café'). The voice talent is great, especially Mercer's constantly muttering, semi-inarticulate sailor. Popeye is a one-of-a-kind character and, IMO, the Fleisher shorts and features made in the first half of the last century are 'his best work', so enjoy.

1937 was a big year for the animation industry. So many milestones and shifts took place. Cartoons were becoming more and more sophisticated.

At the Fleischer studio, a second Popeye epic was released. This time Bluto plays the role of Ali Baba, but he identifies himself as Abu Hassan in his theme song. As with Sinbad, Popeye and Abu have a hilarious exchange of smack talk and showing off their wits and strength.

Sinbad is my favorite of the three Technicolor two-reel specials, but this is the superior one. The production value, pacing, and overall execution feels like a feature, and it should have been made as one. One can only wonder what animation history would have been like if the Fleischer studio made this as a feature to compete with Disney's Snow White as the first animated features.

It does feel like a missed opportunity, since Popeye was such a popular character at the time, and being a sailor, he lent himself to endless possibilities for epic adventure films.

While the use of Arab stereotypes may not sit well with contemporary audiences, this is a classic one cannot miss. One of Popeye's greatest films of all time.

A POPEYE Cartoon.

After crashing his plane in the Sahara, POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS ALI BABA'S FORTY THIEVES when brigand Abu Hassan loots the desert village where the old spinach muncher has found respite. With Olive Oyl captured as a slave for the Thieves, it's time for our hero to come to the rescue...

This was the second in a series of 3 excellent two-reel cartoons, created by Max Fleischer, in which Popeye & his friends are interpolated into the classic stories of The Arabian Nights. They feature great animation - notice the fascinating 3-D backgrounds - and taut, fast-moving plots. Meant to be shown in movie theaters, they are miles ahead of their Saturday Morning counterparts. Jack Mercer is the voice of Popeye; Mae Questel does the honors for Olive Oyl.

The song of Abu Hassan and his 40 thieves is the axis of this charming short adaptation of classic story, great for the humor, fight scenes and for the admirable Wimpy serving in exemplary manner his interest. So, an admirable short film, remembering the emotions of childhood and giving a precious gift of adventures and songs and humor and wise use of cliches.

I love Fleischer's take on Popeye the Sailor better than all the other versions of the character. This cartoon and "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp" are favorites from Popeye's colorful "Arabian Nights" trilogy.

I enjoy the desert scene in which Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Wimpy walk through the sand. Wimpy's mirage of a feast and the "tank roll" scene are also highlights for me. I also love the scene at the cafe when Popeye snatches Abu Hassen/Bluto's underwear off him without removing his clothes. One final moment that I enjoy is when Olive kisses Popeye while pacing back and forth on the pier while on duty.