Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (1937) User Reviews

Another Popeye favorite.

[emasterslake · 8/10 · 6 February 2007]

In a vast Abrabian desert there's a group of thieves lead by Bruno(Ali Baba) and the 40 thieves. As they rob and steal everything in site. Popeye, Olive, and Wimpy run a coast guard post. When they got word to be on the watch for thieves. Which takes them on an air travel towards the Abrabian desert. After traveling for many days and nights, they finally made it to civilization which is one of the sites that Ali Baba has set his eyes on. And it's up to Popeye to fight and take down this aggressive thief.

Like "Popeye meets Sinbad" this one is worthy of being one of the best Popeye cartoons ever made.

It's original, it's humorous, and it has plenty of great moments with your spinach loving sailor.

Highly recommended to those who liked the Popeye meets Sinbad one.

Forty thieves dast risk his fisk and get biffed and buffed for their troubles

[jamesrupert2014 · 8/10 · 21 January 2019]

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.

Watch it!

[JohnHowardReid · 9/10 · 9 March 2018]

Voices: Jack Mercer (Popeye), Mae Questel (Olive Oyl), Gus Wickie (Bluto as Abul Hassan).

Director: DAVE FLEISCHER. Screenplay: Jack Mercer, Dan Gordon, Cal Howard, Tedd Pierce, Isidore Sparber. Adapted from a tale in The Arabian Nights. Popeye, Bluto and Olive Oyl based on characters created by Elzie Segar. Photographed in Color by Technicolor by Charles Schettler. Head animator: Willard Bowsky. Animators: George Germanetti, Orestes Calpini. Music: Sammy Timberg. Songs by Sammy Timberg, Sammy Lerner, Vee Lawnhurst, Tot Seymour. Producer: Max Fleischer.

Copyright 26 November 1937 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. Presented by Adolph Zukor. U.S. release: 26 November 1937. 2 reels. 19 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: When their plane crash-lands in the desert, Popeye, Wimpy and Olive Oyl tangle with Ali Baba and his band of cut-throats.

COMMENT: Once again, as in Sindbad, Bluto not only makes the innings in this one but also gets to render another delightfully self-congratulatory song, this time joined by a rousing chorus of sold-out followers. True, Popeye does enjoy a few jests before tangling with the outlaw band and bowling them out with his usual spinach-induced strongarm stuff; but, aside from the satisfying closing shot in which the camera inventively tracks from right to left (instead of the customary left to right), it's the images of Bluto and his superfast-moving gang we remember rather than Popeye waiting for a desert traffic signal or energetically pumping water into a parched Wimpy and Olive Oyl.

Spectacular-Looking Technicolor Popeye

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 18 October 2007]

First of all, I've seen this cartoon twice and what a difference! The first look was on a generic DVD collection of cartoons and a was a cheap buy. This second look was on the "Popeye The Sailor Man 1933-1938 Volume One" DVD set" with a "restored" picture and it looks stunning. The colors are rich and bold, the contrast great and it almost like something made in recent years.

The story pits "Abu Hassan" (Bluto) against Popeye, the Coast Guard man (along with Olive Oyl and Wimpy). The radio announces Hassan and his 40 thieves have just committed some crime so Popeye takes off in his flying ultra-modern-looking boat. (The radio then changes shape, reaches out and snatches Wimpy's hamburger from his mouth!)

As cool as the plane-boat is, however, it conks out and crash lands in the desert. Our good guys look like Moses and Hebrews crossing the long desert. Only Popeye seems to be holding up and then figures out a clever way to get all three of them to a place where they can get food and water, and then go looking for the bandit. By now, he doesn't have much further to go. They are there in that Casablanca-like city

Rather than going into all the details in this special, 17-minute Technicolor cartoon, suffice to say it was not only interesting but very clever (especially Popeye's butchering of words) and a real hoot to see in that "restored" cut of it.

This cartoon features the normal Popeye humor and heroics, all packaged in one beautiful- looking animated short!

Popeye Saves The Day!

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 30 June 2000]

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.

Exactly why Popeye is my childhood hero!

[njdimic · 10/10 · 22 June 2006]

Popeye goes to capture Abu Hassan and his 40 thieves ,along with Olive and Wimpy. Their plain (which was originally a boat which transformed into plane) crashes into desert ,and they arrive at the town ,which is about to be attacked by 40 thieves. The inhabitants are scared and they run for their lives ,accept for Popeye who stayed to deal with the thieves. He confronts Abu Hassan and after some hilarious gages ,Popeye end up stocked on a ceiling (don't ask how),while the 40 thieves are escaping with Olive and Wimpy and prisoners (my ,what a surprise!) ,Popeye manages to follow the thieves on a fully charged camill and infiltrates their cave. He fights the thieves ,then eats his spinach and beat the hell out of them. Everybody are celebrating ,and Popeye is a hero. The End.

One of three Popeye 16 minutes cartoons in which he is in some Arabian Nights story. This time he have to deal with 40 thieves and their leader Abu Hassan (who ,of course ,looks like Bluto). The entire cartoon is full of things because of which Popeye is a favorite character to one entire generation. Despite the fact that it has been made 70 years ago ,it never lost it's touch. No matter how much you're old ,you can always laugh yourself to death watching this cartoon which is a masterpiece (animation ,storyline ,everything). It's a classic ,no doubt about that.

My favorite of Popeye's "Arabian Nights" trilogy

[ja_kitty_71 · 10/10 · 17 March 2008]

I love Fleischer's take on Popeye the Sailor better than all the other versions of the character. This cartoon is my favourite out of the "Arabian Nights" trilogy of featurettes filmed in color, and also "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp" too.

I love the desert scene where the three heroes, Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Wimpy, trudge through the sand, and Wimpy sees a feast, which was really a mirage; also the "tank roll" part too. I also love the scene at the cafe, when Popeye snatches Abu Hassen/Bluto's underwear off him... without removing his clothes. One last scene that I love is when Olive gives Popeye a kiss while pacing on guard duty back and forth on the dock.

Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 3 April 2021]

It is more like Abu Hassan and the 40 thieves.

Popeye, Olive Oyl and Wimpy take the desert by storm as they try to stop the looting from Abu Hassan.

Some spinach goes a long way for Popeye as he motors up hic camel.

This is a two reeler cartoon. It has some inventive dialogue mumbled by Popeye.

However some of the animation still looks cheap and the longer running time has Abu Hassan just singing his signature song.

My second favorite of the "specials"

[yet · 10/10 · 16 April 2009]

As others have written, the restored episode is a beauty to behold, with complete titles and fabulous Technicolor!

With the classic voices of Jack Mercer, Mae Questel and Gus Wickie, Popeye takes an action-packed and chatty romp through the desert with the usual cast of suspects.

My favorite gags are the thieves' chants during the raid, the horses' answer in the chorus and of course Popeye's reply to Abu Hassan: "Ahh, nature beat me to it!" I'm still waiting to use that last one in conversation ;)

By now you must have guessed my favorite episode is "Sindbad." But that's for another comment.

Another fun Popeye short

[Paularoc · 6/10 · 7 September 2015]

I was fortunate to see an excellent print of this. Popeyes is in pursuit of the rogue Abu Hassan, and Olive Oyl and Wimpy are along for the ride. Alas, their plane crashes in the Arabian Desert and the trio must trek across the desert getting more hungry and thirsty as they go. As to be expected, it is Wimpy who sees a mirage of sumptuous food. My favorite line of the film happens during this trek. Popeyes looks around and all he can see is sand and mumbles "I'd make a sandwich if I had a which." Abu Hassan captures Olive Oyl and Wimpy, but not to worry, Popeeye lays low not only the forty thieves but Abu (who could be Bluto's twin) - and all this to John Philip Sousa sounding music. Popeye's under his breath comments are always a highlight of these cartoons.

You it's original glory now remastered in DVD Couresty of Warner Bros.

[davegibson1962 · 10/10 · 28 March 2008]

For those who hasn't see Popeye meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves digitally remastered on DVD, you're in for a revelation! I'm so happy that Warner Bros. got rid of the dreadful A.A.P. opening and closing titles of all Fleischer Popeye cartoon movies and put back the original Paramount titles where it belongs.

I love the cartoon. Especially Abu Hassan (Bluto) and his boys singing that catchy tune back in 1937 which is still timeless to this day. Can't stop singing! It's now available either can buy or rent it as part of the Popeye collection (1933 - 1938) available exclusively from Warner Home Video.

"Hey, this Chinese is Greek to me!"

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 16 November 2016]

Turner Classics aired this short along with "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor" a few evenings ago and it was my first opportunity to catch either one. I preferred the 'Sindbad' cartoon for it's more vibrant colors and creative island creatures, but this one holds up pretty well also. Popeye starts out as a Coast Guard station agent in this one, with attendants Olive Oyl and Wimpy on hand to help out. A globe trotting sea-plane eventually brings them to a desert location where they wind up marooned to face off against Abu Hassan and his band of forty thieves. Hassan is a stand-in for perennial baddie Bluto with a treasure filled cave, and as usual, he's no match for Popeye once he gets his steroid-like fix of spinach in a can. I've probably seen dozens of these Popeye cartoons as a kid, and got a kick out of all of them, so it was a blast to finally get to see the 'Sailor Man' in one of the original stories that brought him to life. Catch this one if you can.

Unusual yes, but not one of Popeye's best

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 22 November 2016]

"Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves" is a 17-minute cartoon from 1937, so this one will have its 80th anniversary next year. The title already gives away the hero and antagonist for this one. Yes, it is another Popeye cartoon and there are so so many out there. However, this one here is different compared to what they usually look like. It has color, runs for almost 20 minutes and takes place far far away from Popeye's home that is the usual location for these (usually 7-minute) cartoons. But this does not mean it is a good or at least decent watch. The animation admittedly has creative moments from Fleischer on some occasions, but it is never a film that is funny or interesting in terms of the action. It is basically a poor man's version of the earlier short film in which Popeye goes up against Sinbad the Sailor, also played by Bluto as always. But back to this one here. I have no idea why Olive and Wimpy were even include as they add absolutely nothing to this one really. It is all about Popeye and, to a lesser extent, Bluto. Maybe they tried to hide the fact that it is a relatively weak film story-wise with all the action they gave audiences and audiences back then may have accepted it. I however will not and that's why I give it a thumbs-down. One of the weaker Popeye cartoons and don't be fooled by the rating here on IMDb. It may have been a solid achievement at an essential 7 minutes. But at 10 more, it's a disappointment. Don't watch.

Great Popeye animated short!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 14 July 2005]

When this show was on I watched it every time I could! I thought that the characters were really funny and all had great personalities. The animation in My opinion was crisp, clean, and really clear. Not to mention beautiful! Most of the characters in this show are hilarious like the Looney Tunes characters that we all love. in My opinion these characters are the funnies and talented ever seen. In fact, The things that goes on in this series' cartoons are in My opinion nuts which that is what makes them hilarious! There are so many to like and laugh at and the silly things they do! If you like the original Looney Tunes then I strongly recommend that you watch this show!

Popeye's always been a favourite of mine.

[Johnny-the-Film-Sentinel-2187 · 9/10 · 29 January 2018]

Max Fleischer is the man responsible for the blossoming American animation film industry and he inspired the likes of Walt Disney, Walter Lantz and even Leon Schlesinger. Popeye became the most popular short-film series in the United States when Fleischer bought the film rights to the character, thus resulting in classics like 'Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves' and so forth.

These early Popeye shorts employed what is commonly referred to as 'rubber hose animation' where the characters lacked any specific points of articulation making their arms and legs look 'bendy'. I love these shorts because of the surreal charm they still have eighty years on. They're not trying to pretend that its animation is perfect, they just want to entertain the audience with its fast-paced and ridiculous animation.

I really do like these cartoons' they're lovely time capsules in spite some of the inherent racism that was unfortunately prominent in the 30s. With that said, these cartoons were never made with the intent of offending anyone through any inappropriate characters, they were just products of the time which we can thankfully look beyond now.

Popeye is still a beloved cartoon icon around the world and for good reason; he made the United States and the world happier during the Great Depression, and for that he's become a real superhero in his own right.

Fleischer Studios Own Version of the Multiplane System

[springfieldrental · 8/10 · 27 November 2023]

He always-innovative Fleischer Studios had its own version of the multiplane camera called the 'Stereoptical Process,' 'The Slide,' or better known as the 'setback' camera. Its system was further refined in the studio's second 'Popeye Color Special,' the two-reeler cartoon November 1937 "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves." Popeye is in the Coast Guard. The sailorman, Olive Oyl and J. Wellington Wimpy respond to a call in Arabia to thwart the Forty Thieves while their attacking a desert town. Throughout all the chaos, Popeye confronts Abu Hassan in an effort to stop his band's destructive actions. A can of spinach enables Popeye to take on the gang.

The Fleischers departed from the vertical camera Disney had designed and built an horizontal one instead. Theirs was situated on a stage, with miniature sets and artwork placed in layers on a huge turntable to capture both background and foreground images. The drawn cels complete with characters were filmed within this framework, with the camera moving forward and backward. In "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves" its final scene shows Popeye and Olive riding in a wagon illustrated by a three-dimensional effect. Miraculously, the camera pans to Abu and his companions in the normal two-dimensional setting while pulling the wagon. By this time in late 1937 the designers of animated cartoons were pressing the latest technological advancements, most which would still be in use until computers entered the scene in the late 20th century.

Guarding our borders to Make America Great Again . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 8/10 · 19 July 2018]

. . . U.S. Coast Guardsman Popeye, aided by his civilian contractor Wimpy, are shown ocean-hopping in a seaplane, on the lookout for Middle Eastern Terrorists, as POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS ALI BABA'S FORTY THIEVES opens. Shot down over one of the God-forsaken deserts endemic to that threatening region, Popeye and Wimpy then labor diligently behind enemy lines to get the lay of the land. Olive Oyl, dressed as a typical casual Yankee chick, is set up in a local market as attractive nuisance bait, cleverly positioned as a kidnap victim the three dozen plus thieves of "Abu Hassan" cannot overlook. Thus tricked into plucking a flower of American Womanhood, it becomes incumbent upon Popeye to save Olive from a probable fate Worse than Death. Coast Guardsman Popeye accordingly makes quick use of his superior wits and Yankee ingenuity to completely rout Hassan's motley crew. For good measure Popeye humiliates the terrorists by making them drag a ton of ill-gotten swag through the desert sands before he water-boards them and begins the extreme vetting process. POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS ALI BABA'S FORTY THIEVES can provide Leader Trump with all the background he needs to become as Triumphant in the Middle East as he's already been this summer in North Korea and Russia.

Arabian Nights Popeye

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 3 August 2019]

When it comes to Fleischer Studios, the best cartoons in the Popeye series sees some of their best work. They saw Fleischer at their funniest and most energetic and can't get enough of the characters and chemistry between Popeye and Bluto. They thankfully are not among the studio's most saccharine efforts even if other Fleischer cartoons are more innovative visually. Did find Olive Oyl's underuse and generally lesser material compared to Popeye and Bluto a frequent problem though.

Popeye's Arabian Nights cartoons, 'Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor', 'Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves' and 'Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp' (released in that order), are all among the best of Popeye. Although they are the longest of the series, they are also among the funniest and most colourful and love all three of them equally. If having to choose between the three, 'Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp' gets the marginal edge.

Again it would have been nice to have Olive having something more to do than mostly being a plot device. People may not take kindly to the stereotypes either. But what people see the Popeye cartoons for are done splendidly, but wasn't really expecting anything less.

One of 'Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves' best assets, perhaps even the best asset, is the animation, which is nothing short of wonderful. Meticulously detailed, vibrant and sees a lot of smoothness in design and with some imaginative visual flourishes. The music has a lot of merry character and sumptuous orchestration (that song too), and while the story is a bit typical when it comes to the Popeye and Bluto (as Hassan) conflict it was hard to not love its take on the Ali Baba story.

The dialogue is fresh and one can tell that the writers were having a great time writing the dialogue here, mumbles and asides have seldom been more hilarious relished as ever by Jack Mercer, who was the most prolific voice actor for Popeye for good reason. "Ah, nature beat me to it" is very quotable, one of the most quotable in a Popeye cartoon in my view. The gags are plentiful and always very funny and more as well as lively in timing.

Wimpy is used better than he is in 'Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor' and the horses funny. It is more with Popeye and Bluto where the cartoon especially entertains. The two are spot on and their chemistry drives 'Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves' and has so much energy. Popeye is always amusing and likeable enough but for me Bluto is here the funnier and more interesting character. The voice acting is fine, with Mercer being the standout.

In conclusion, excellent Popeye cartoon. 9/10

Abu Hassan

[Kirpianuscus · 21 April 2021]

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've been informed by some of my contacts in the World of Cartoon . . .

[pixrox1 · 8/10 · 20 November 2019]

. . . Reviewing that explicating POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS ALI BABA'S FORTY THIEVES is a particularly daunting task. Many if not most of the folks who have attempted to post a comment about this 84-year-old animated short have had their work suppressed, redacted, censored, deleted, or vaporized by the bot subcontractors employed to deny the American Right to Free Speech. How could this be? you might wonder. First off, certain vintage film titles are totally verboten Today for one reason or another. In this particular case, some bots might feel that "Ali Baba" evokes the T-word in the "minds" of one or two "Nervous Nellie" citizens. (Of course, I won't tempt Fate with THIS offering by actually spelling out the T-word!) And, while the name "Ali Baba" may receive a reprieve from some bots due to its literary associations, the ACTUAL character "Popeye" meets during this marathon outing (for him) bears a moniker SURE to set of the alarm bots. Then, of course, this animated miscreant's signature song--"I'm a terrible guy"--has induced more than one amateur pundit to run afoul of the Thought Police by making comparisons to how this nefarious thief clearly foreshadows the most famous bronze bozo buffoon NEVER yet named "Man of the Year" by TIME Magazine!

one of the best Popeye

[SnoopyStyle · 9/10 · 29 August 2021]

The radio announces an attack by Abu Hassan. Popeye takes off in his Coast Guard flying boat to take on the bandits. He is joined by Olive Oyl and Wimpy. This is a colored Popeye short and simply one of the best. Almost every moment is memorable although I did forget the flying boat. Every gag is the best. It is completely wonderful.

Long Popeye Feature

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 27 July 2019]

Bluto and the forty thieves are terrorizing and burglarizing a city on the desert. When Popeye, Olive, and Wimpy are accosted by the big guy, Popeye goes into full attack mode. During the confrontation, Olive gets kidnapped. This leads to a rescue attempt and trip to the cave of the forty thieves.

Fair Popeye Short

[Michael_Elliott · 25 April 2016]

Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (1937)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Popeye, Olive Oyl and Wimpy are in a plane that crashes in the desert and soon Ali Baba sees the lady and wants her, which doesn't sit well with Popeye.

This here was the second two-reeler to feature Popeye going up against a famous character. The first had him going up against Sinbad and it was much better than this here. As with that film, this one here mostly benefits from the beautiful Technicolor that jumps right off the screen. The animation is the high level that you'd expect but there's no question that the colors are what makes this. Just take a look at the skyline during the opening credits or the shot of the plane going around the globe. As far as the story goes, it's pretty typical for a Popeye short and it honestly doesn't work that well with the 17 minute running time.