Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves



"You better lock up your doors today, cause Abu Hassan is on his way Go in hiding, when I go riding, Just me and the 40 thieves! Your wives and children and money too, I'll steal them from you before I'm through, I'm out gunning, so start running, From me and the forty thieves! Abu Hassan! ABU HASSAN! My game's the toughest, But I'm the roughest, and that's how I'm! Abu Hassan! ABU HASSAN! You've got to hand it, to this bad bandit, Cause I'm a terrible guy!"

- Abu Hassan's opening Villain Song.

After the runaway success of the first Popeye the Sailor color two-reeler, Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor, it was only natural that Fleischer Studios decide to immediately make a follow-up in 1937, Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves.

The short begins with the villain of the picture, Abu Hassan (yet another blatant Expy of Bluto) and his gang of thieves riding through the desert (represented with an impressively made 3-D model set, not unlike those employed in Sindbad) as Abu sings the opening Villain Song.

The film then cuts away to Popeye, Olive Oyl and Wimpy, who are just minding their business, waiting for work, when they receive an emergency signal that Abu Hassan and his thieves are attacking a desert town. They quickly make it there in Popeye's flying boat, only for it to malfunction and crash land in the middle of the desert. After a night and morning of long walking, mirages and dreadful heat, they finally reach a desert town, where they settle down and have a meal. Cue Abu Hassan and his thieves showing up to ransack the town, prompting the wrath of Popeye as they kidnap Olive Oyl and Wimpy. Popeye chases them down into the Cave of Wonders, where the real fighting begins!

This short has fallen into the Public Domain, and can be watched on YouTube here, in two parts. This short is also a runner-up on The 50 Greatest Cartoons list.

Due to the success of this second two-reeler, a third and final Popeye Color Special, Aladdin And His Wonderful Lamp, would be made soon after. -

""I'd made myself a sandwich if i had sand and a witch...""
 * Animation Bump: The scenes with the 3-D backgrounds.
 * Bragging Theme Tune: Abu Hassan's opening number.
 * Cool Ship: Popeye's flying boat from the first half.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Popeye's improvised mumbles can be quite amusing to listen to.


 * Deleted Scene: The title scene with the cave was missing for years before the Popeye DVD brought it back.
 * Digital Destruction: Mostly averted, as the restored print stays very true to the original colors and features no DVNR damage, although John K pointed out in his blog that there was a slight color goof in the cave, in that the engineers pulled up all the purple in the film.
 * Damsel in Distress: Olive Oyl, as usual.
 * DVD Commentary: John Kricfalusi and his pals provide a commentary for the film on the official Popeye DVD set.
 * The Load: Wimpy.
 * Off-Model: Abu Hassan is only a head or two taller than Popeye, yet Abu enters a cave with a door just tall enough to admit himself and his mount, but seconds later Popeye comes up to the same door which now seems to be ten times the height of a man.
 * Public Domain Animation
 * Scenery Porn: The 3-D model sets used at several points of the film. The hand-painted backgrounds aren't too shabby, either.
 * Stock Footage: Parts of this cartoon would be recycled for the 1950 Famous Studios short "Popeye Makes a Movie", which builds the clips around a Framing Device that Popeye is, well, making a movie.
 * Villain Song: Abu Hassan's opening song.