Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt
Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt is a series of five-minute cartoons that originally aired in first-run syndication between 1965-1966. Produced by Hanna-Barbera for the American International Television division of American International Pictures, they were shown during local children's television programming.[1] The series is partially lost, with only a handful of surviving episodes left.
| Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Joseph Barbera William Hanna Rudy Cataldi Reuben Timmins Edwin Rehberg Amby Paliwoda Sid Marcus Harvey Toombs |
| Voices of | Dal McKennon Tim Matheson Mel Blanc |
| Theme music composer | Ted Nichols |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 102 (five-minute shorts) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Sam Singer |
| Producer(s) | Joseph Barbera William Hanna |
| Running time | 5 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributor | American International Television (1965–1980) Filmways Television (1980–1982) Orion Television (1982–1991, 2013–present) Orion Pictures (1991–1999) MGM Television (1997–present) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Syndication |
| Original release | September 11, 1965 – May 28, 1966 |
Plot
Sinbad Jr. (voiced by Dal McKennon and Tim Matheson) is the teenage son of Sinbad, the famous sailor, and he traveled the world in his single-masted sailboat seeking adventure and wrongs to right, fighting such villains as the Bluto-like, big, black-bearded Blubbo and the mad doctor Rotcoddam.
Sinbad Jr. gained the strength of 50 men whenever he tightened his magic belt, causing the diamond-shaped buckle to flash like lightning and temporarily transform him into a mighty muscleman.
Sinbad Jr.'s first mate was his feisty and funny feathered friend Salty the Parrot (voiced by Mel Blanc).
Production
The series was conceived by Sam Singer's production company in 1960, with Dal McKennon voicing the title role.[2] Singer Studio produced the initial episodes for the Trans-Arts Company, but the deal fell through.[3]
American International Pictures, which had released the film The Magic Voyage of Sinbad, held rights to the "Sinbad" trademark for screen works. AIP's television division eventually negotiated an agreement under which Hanna-Barbera would produce the series, with Tim Matheson replacing McKennon. The final release includes episodes produced by both studios.[3]
Sinbad Jr. and His Magic Belt premiered in first-run syndication on Sept. 11, 1965.[2] The 102 five-minute shorts aired first-run through 1966[4] ran within children's television programming.[2]
It was renamed Sinbad Jr., the Sailor out of deference to the 1962 Toei Studios feature-length cartoon, Adventures of Sinbad. The rights to the series were later acquired by MGM's subsidiary Orion Pictures (whose own holdings include the AIP library).
Theme music
The cartoon's theme song, composed by Ted Nichols, is a variation on the children's song "Sailing, Sailing (Over the Bounding Main)" that was written in 1880 by Godfrey Marks, a pseudonym of British organist and composer James Frederick Swift (1847–1931).[5][6][7] A later version of the theme song has a jazzier beat.[8]
Episodes
Each daily package consisted of three five-minute cartoons.
| Nº | Titles | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Dragon Drubbers / Rock Around the Roc / Ronstermon" | September 11, 1965 |
| 2 | "Captain Sly / Caveman Daze / Circus Hi-Jinks" | September 18, 1965 |
| 3 | "Look Out, Lookout / Typical Bad Night / Woodchopper Stopper" | September 25, 1965 |
| 4 | "Arabian Knights / Moon Madness / Sizemograph Laugh" | October 2, 1965 |
| 5 | "Big Belt Bungle / Jack & the Giant / Turnabout is Foul Play" | October 9, 1965 |
| 6 | "Elephant on Ice / Jekyll and Hyde / Kooky Spooky" | October 16, 1965 |
| 7 | "Belted About / Big Deal Seal / The Gold Must Go Through" | October 23, 1965 |
| 8 | "Belt, Buckle & Boom / Birdnapper / Tiny Tenniputians" | October 30, 1965 |
| 9 | "Big Bully Blubbo Behaves / Sinbad and the Moon Rocket / The Menace of Venice" | November 6, 1965 |
| 10 | "Bat Brain / Invisible Villain / Sad Gladiator" | November 13, 1965 |
| 11 | "Hypnotized Guys / Sizemodoodle Poodle / The Adventures of Abou Ben Blubbo" | November 20, 1965 |
| 12 | "Faces from Space / Mad Mad Movies / The Truth Hurts" | November 27, 1965 |
| 13 | "Bird God / Evil Wizard" | December 4, 1965 |
| 14 | "Boat Race Ace / Knight Fright / My Fair Mermaid" | December 11, 1965 |
| 15 | "Sea Going Penguin / Sinbad Jr. & the Mighty Magnet / The Adventure of Frozen Fracas" | December 18, 1965 |
| 16 | "Tin Can Man / Vulture Culture / Wild Wax Works" | December 25, 1965 |
| 17 | "Irish Stew / Sinbad Jr. & the Counterfeiters / Sea Horse Laughs" | January 8, 1966 |
| 18 | "Hot Rod Salty / Sunken Treasure / Dodo A Go Go" | January 15, 1966 |
| 19 | "Gold Mine Muddle / Paleface Race / Surfboard Bully" | January 22, 1966 |
| 20 | "Magic Belt Factory / Ride'em Sinbad / Sinbad Jr. & the Master Weapon" | January 29, 1966 |
| 21 | "Fly By Knight / Rainmaker Fakers / Treasure of the Pyramids" | February 5, 1966 |
| 22 | "Killer Diller / Railroad Ruckus / Teahouse Louse" | February 12, 1966 |
| 23 | "Blubbo Goes Ape / Super Duper Duplicator / The Good Deed Steed" | February 19, 1966 |
| 24 | "Blubbo's Goose Goof / Hello Dolphin / The Monster Mosquito" | February 26, 1966 |
| 25 | "Cry Sheep / Sea Serpent Secret / Wacky Walrus" | March 5, 1966 |
| 26 | "Cookie Caper / Daze of Old / Way Out Manhunt" | March 12, 1966 |
| 27 | "Gaucho Blubbo / Claim Jumper / Space Beetles" | March 19, 1966 |
| 28 | "Dinosaur Horror / Kangaroo Kaper / Siesta Time" | April 9, 1966 |
| 29 | "Bull Antics / Jigsaw Phantom / Kidnapped" | April 23, 1966 |
| 30 | "Killer Tiger / Monkey Business / Out West" | April 26, 1966 |
| 31 | "Pirate Shark / Shake the Bottle / Sinbad Jr. & the Sun Wizard" | April 30, 1966 |
| 32 | "The Fire Dragon / Sinbad Jr. and the Flying Carpet / The Mummy" | May 7, 1966 |
| 33 | "The Pluto People Trap / The Tick Bird / The Wind Geni" | May 14, 1966 |
| 34 | "Web of Evil / Trap Happy Trapper / Whale of a Tale" | May 21, 1966 |
| 35 | "Wicked Whirlpool" | May 28, 1966 |
References
- Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. p. 258. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- Sinbad Jr. at Don Markstein's Toonopedia Archived from the original on June 4, 2017.
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 555–556. ISBN 978-1538103739.
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- Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt at The Big Cartoon DataBase. Retrieved on June 4, 2017.
- Studwell, William Emmett (1997). The Americana song reader. New York: Haworth Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-7890-0150-4. OCLC 35298663.
- Bullock, Jack; Maiello, Anthony (1997). Belwin 21st Century Band Method, Level 2: Conductor. New York: Alfred Publishing. p. 327. ISBN 978-0-7692-0160-3. OCLC 44949067.
- muttley16 (11 June 2008). "sinbad jr.-intro" – via YouTube.
- superherocartoonsite (13 January 2009). "SINBAD JR. AND HIS MAGIC BELT Cartoon Intro" – via YouTube.