Sinbad the Sailor (1935)
“Adventure on the high seas, in glorious Cinecolor.”
Streamed free from the Internet Archive · no signup, no cost — this film is in the public domain.
Synopsis
Sinbad surveys the ocean from his ship when a gang of pirates schemes to steal his treasure, setting off a swashbuckling chase across the waves. The short blends Arabian Nights pageantry with Iwerks' bouncy musical action and a climactic showdown. It's one of the more ambitious ComiColor entries, with elaborate ship designs and a brisk, song-driven sense of motion. The film was preserved and restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, premiering at the 2022 UCLA Festival of Preservation.
Cast
About the Director
Ub Iwerks — Ub Iwerks, the animator who first drew Mickey Mouse, ran his own studio from 1930 to 1936 and used the ComiColor series to adapt folklore and fairy tales in color. "Sinbad the Sailor" demonstrates his taste for big set-pieces and tightly synchronized music. A relentless tinkerer, Iwerks built his own multiplane-style camera rigs and later won Academy Awards for technical achievement after returning to Disney.
Why It’s Free: The Public-Domain Story
The film's first-term copyright was never renewed, so it expired into the US public domain in the early 1960s. Like the rest of the ComiColor shorts produced under Pat Powers' Celebrity Productions, the renewal simply lapsed. There is no surviving copyright on the cartoon.
Behind the Scenes
"Sinbad the Sailor" was released July 30, 1935, by Celebrity Productions as one of the later entries in the ComiColor Cartoons. By this point Iwerks' studio was self-distributing after the loss of its MGM deal. The series ran 1933–1936 before Iwerks closed his independent operation and returned to work-for-hire animation.
Did You Know?
- The UCLA Film & Television Archive restored the short, premiering it at the 2022 UCLA Festival of Preservation.
- It was photographed in two-strip Cinecolor, the same budget color process used across the ComiColor line.
- It is part of Iwerks' 25-title ComiColor series of fairy-tale and folklore adaptations.
- The plot draws on the Arabian Nights tales of Sinbad, a popular animation subject also tackled by the Fleischers in their Popeye two-reelers.
Reception & Legacy
The cartoon is regularly featured on public-domain animation compilations and is regarded as one of the stronger action-oriented ComiColor shorts. Its UCLA restoration renewed interest in Iwerks' independent output among animation historians.
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