1001 Arabian Nights (1959 film)

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1001 Arabian Nights
A montage of images, the largest of which at center is of an Arabic teenage boy and girl in royal garments riding atop a similarly dressed up elephant. The top image in the montage features the cartoon character Mr. Magoo, a short elderly man, playing a trumpet next to the text "1001 Wonderful Sights and Sounds". Closer to the bottom of the image is the text: "Columbia Pictures presents a Full-Length UPA Animated Feature: '1001 Arabian Nights' (Technicolor), starring 'The Nearsighted Mr. Magoo.'"
Original theatrical poster
Directed by Jack Kinney
Produced by Stephen Bosustow
Written by Dick Shaw
Dick Kinney
Leo Salkin
Pete Burness
Lew Keller
Ed Nofziger
Ted Allen
Margaret Schneider
Paul Schneider
Based on One Thousand and One Nights
by Czenzi Ormonde
Starring Jim Backus
Kathryn Grant
Dwayne Hickman
Hans Conried
Herschel Bernardi
Alan Reed
Daws Butler
The Clark Sisters
Music by George Duning
Production
company
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
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  • December 1, 1959 (1959-12-01)
Running time
 75 minutes
Country United States
Language English

1001 Arabian Nights is a 1959 American animated comedy film produced by United Productions of America (UPA) and distributed by Columbia Pictures. Released to theaters on December 1, 1959, the film is a loose adaptation of the Arab folktale of "Aladdin" from One Thousand and One Nights, albeit with the addition of UPA's star cartoon character, Mr. Magoo, to the story as Aladdin's uncle, "Abdul Azziz Magoo".

Production

The film was originally directed by Pete Burness, who was the series director on the popular series of Mr. Magoo theatrical cartoons produced for Columbia by UPA between 1949 and 1959.[1] Disagreements with producer and UPA owner Stephen Bosustow led to Burness resigning and Bosustow recruiting Jack Kinney, the director of many of Disney's Donald Duck cartoons, as the film's new director. [1] The voice of Magoo in the short cartoons, Jim Backus, reprises his role in the feature, with Katheryn Grant, the singer/actress wife of Bing Crosby, as the voice of Princess Yasminda and Dwayne Hickman, from TV's The Bob Cummings Show and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, as the voice of Aladdin.[2]

1001 Arabian Nights was the first full-length feature produced by UPA,[1] a studio which had revolutionized animation during the 1950s by incorporating design and limited animation.[3] The film was not a box-office success, and was UPA's final release through Columbia, which had ended its distribution for the UPA short subjects in favor of lower-cost Loopy De Loop cartoons from Hanna-Barbera Productions.[4] Following the film's release, Bousustow sold UPA to Henry G. Saperstein, who moved the studio into television production and a second feature production, Gay Purr-ee, before closing the animation studio and moving UPA on to other ventures.[1]

Voice cast

Home media

1001 Arabian Nights was released on VHS videocassette by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video in 1985. It was released on DVD in 2011 as a manufactured on demand release from the Sony Pictures Choice Collection, now available through the Warner Archive.

in 2014, 1001 Arabian Nights was included as disc four of the four-disc DVD boxed set Mr. Magoo- The Theatrical Collection: 1949-1959 from Shout! Factory.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Shostak, Stu (02-27-2007). "Interview with Dwayne Hickman and Joan Roberts Hickman". Stu's Show. Retrieved 08-22-2013.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood Cartoons. New York: Oxford University Press. Pg. 563-565. ISBN 0-19-516729-5.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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