Popeye - Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (Caroon, 1939)

Popeye the Sailor: Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (1939) is a Technicolor animated short from Fleischer Studios, directed by Dave Fleischer. Part of the Popeye the Sailor series, this 21-minute special, one of three two-reel color Popeye cartoons, is a lavish, loosely adapted retelling of the Aladdin tale from One Thousand and One Nights. It’s notable for its extended runtime, rich animation, and adventurous tone.

Plot: In a framing device, Olive Oyl, a screenwriter at Surprise Pictures, works late to finish a script for “Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp.” Popeye, a studio janitor, reads her script, imagining himself as Aladdin. In the story, Aladdin (Popeye) is a poor but kind-hearted youth in ancient Persia. After helping an old man (Bluto in disguise), he’s tricked into retrieving a magic lamp from a cave but gets trapped inside. Aladdin rubs the lamp, summoning a genie who grants his wishes. With the genie’s help, he transforms into a prince to woo Princess Olive, who’s pressured by her father, the Sultan, to marry. The Evil Magician (Bluto), seeking the lamp’s power, kidnaps Olive and the lamp. Aladdin, with the genie’s aid and his trusty spinach, battles Bluto in a climactic showdown involving magic tricks, a flying carpet chase, and a spinach-fueled punch-up, rescuing Olive and winning her hand. The cartoon ends with Popeye waking from his daydream, humorously pitching the story to Olive.