ANI-MOVIES, *A Thousand And One Nights

Conviently premiering in the summer of 69, the first of what would be labeled the Animerama trilogy, A Thousand And One Nights by Mushi Productions is considered as being the first animated movie for mature audiences. Creator Osamu Tezuka had an equally big enough catalog of adult material compared to his all ages works like Astro Boy or Kimba, and this feature showcases exactly how adult his aesthetics could get. Inspired by the Arabian Nights, this was psychedelic trip that closed out the 60s in the best possible way. An explosive creation combining the best of animation quality available at the time with a jazzy musical score.

Water merchant Aldin heads to Baghdad to make some coins and comes to free the luscious slave girl Mirium. The two have one the first animated sex scenes in the palace of a rich voyeur which gets raided by the forty thieves who secretly work for the prime minister and his sneaky blue-skinned right hand Sabaik. Aldin manages to escape, not knowing that Mirium died giving birth to his daughter Jalis which Sabaik adopts. Aldin finds the thieves' secret cave along with the leader's daughter Madia who takes off with takes off with Aldin on a flying hobby horse. They land on an island filled with nude nymphs that prompts Aldin to part ways with Madia, although he changes his mind about staying with the naked ladies as he is shocked to discover they are really a tribe of snake-women. Aldin then comes across a magical boat that can conjure up nearly anything he wants, to which the story fast forwards 15 years where he now goes by the name Sinbad. His daughter Jalis has fallen in love with the shepherd Aslan thanks to a rendezvous due to a bickering pair of imps. Aldin returns to Baghdad as a rich merchant and becomes the new sultan after winning a drawn-out competition proving that he has the bigger treasure. As the new sultan, "Sindbad" starts going mad with power by commanding his own version of the Tower of Babel to be constructed, making the citizens in resent their ruler, who also tries to woo Jalis totally unaware that she is his daughter. Jalis is reunited with Aslan just before she unknowingly commits incest, which takes Aldin being abdicated after his past is revealed but manages to escape beheading as the huge tower crumbles down providing a distraction, and the now ex-sultan goes back to living as a poor man wandering the desert.

Obviously not intended for children, this anime take on the classic tales is in reality a lost classic. Discotek Media should be praised for not only restoring the original Japanese edition but also the shortened European dub. The movie is a literal carpet ride of comedy, carnal action, and cryptic imagery providing a perfect time capsule that leads into the trippy anime of the 70s.