Sinbad Jr. and His Magic Belt is a series of five-minute cartoons that originally aired in first-run syndication between 1965 and 1966. The first series, The Adventures of Sinbad, Jr.,Sponsor, Nov. 30, 1964, p. 41. was produced by the American International Television division of American International Pictures. Hanna-Barbera took over production and changed the title to Sinbad Jr. and His Magic Belt. These cartoons were shown during local children's television programming.
Synopsis Sinbad Jr. (voiced by Dallas R. McKennon in the American International cartoons and by Tim Matheson in the Hanna-Barbera cartoons) is the teenage son of Sinbad, the famous sailor. He travels around the world in his sailboat along with his parrot friend Salty (voiced by Mel Blanc in the Hanna-Barbera shorts), seeking adventure and wrongs to the right, fighting such villains as the Bluto-like Blubbo and the mad doctor Rotcoddam ("mad doctor" spelled backwards).
Sinbad Jr. gains the strength of 50 men whenever he tightens his magic belt, causing the diamond-shaped buckle to flash like lightning and temporarily transform him into a mighty muscleman.
Production The series was conceived by Sam Singer's Trans Artists Productions in 1960, with Dal McKennon voicing the title role.Radio Annual and Television Yearbook, Radio Daily Corp., 1960, p. 956. The Singer studio produced the initial episodes. American International Pictures (AIP), which had released the film The Magic Voyage of Sinbad, held rights to the "Sinbad" trademark for screen works, and distributed Singer's cartoons to television.
When Singer dropped out, AIP negotiated an agreement under which Hanna-Barbera would produce the remainder of the series, with Tim Matheson replacing McKennon. The syndicated package contained episodes produced by both studios.
Sinbad Jr. and His Magic Belt premiered in first-run syndication on September 11, 1965. Sinbad Jr. at Don Markstein's Toonopedia from the original on June 4, 2017. The 103 five-minute shorts aired first-run through 1966*Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt at The Big Cartoon DataBase. Retrieved on June 4, 2017. within children's television programming.
The series has since been renamed Sinbad Jr., the Sailor, out of deference to the 1962 Toei Studios feature-length cartoon Adventures of Sinbad. MGM's subsidiary Orion Pictures (whose holdings include the AIP library) later acquired the rights to the series.
Theme music The cartoon's theme song, composed by Johnny Holiday, 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). A later version of the theme song, composed by Ted Nichols, has a jazzier beat.
Episodes Each daily package consisted of three five-minute cartoons.
Nº Titles Air date 1"Dragon Drubbers / Rock Around the Roc / Ronstermon" 2"Captain Sly / Caveman Daze / Circus Hi-Jinks" 3"Look Out, Lookout / Typical Bad Night / Woodchopper Stopper" 4"Arabian Knights / Moon Madness / Sizemograph Laugh" 5"Big Belt Bungle / Jack & the Giant / Turnabout is Foul Play" 6"Elephant on Ice / Jekyll and Hyde / Kooky Spooky" 7"Belted About / Big Deal Seal / The Gold Must Go Through" 8"Belt, Buckle & Boom / Birdnapper / Tiny Tenniputians" 9"Big Bully Blubbo Behaves / Sinbad and the Moon Rocket / The Menace of Venice" 10"Bat Brain / Invisible Villain / Sad Gladiator" 11"Hypnotized Guys / Sizemodoodle Poodle / The Adventures of Abou Ben Blubbo" 12"Faces from Space / Mad Mad Movies / The Truth Hurts" 13"Bird God / Evil Wizard" 14"Boat Race Ace / Knight Fright / My Fair Mermaid" 15"Sea Going Penguin / Sinbad Jr. & the Mighty Magnet / The Adventure of Frozen Fracas" 16"Tin Can Man / Vulture Culture / Wild Wax Works" 17"Irish Stew / Sinbad Jr. & the Counterfeiters / Sea Horse Laughs" 18"Hot Rod Salty / Sunken Treasure / Dodo A Go Go" 19"Gold Mine Muddle / Paleface Race / Surfboard Bully" 20"Magic Belt Factory / Ride'em Sinbad / Sinbad Jr. & the Master Weapon" 21"Fly By Knight / Rainmaker Fakers / Treasure of the Pyramids" 22"Killer Diller / Railroad Ruckus / Teahouse Louse" 23"Blubbo Goes Ape / Super Duper Duplicator / The Good Deed Steed" 24"Blubbo's Goose Goof / Hello Dolphin / The Monster Mosquito" 25"Cry Sheep / Sea Serpent Secret / Wacky Walrus" 26"Cookie Caper / Daze of Old / Way Out Manhunt" 27"Gaucho Blubbo / Claim Jumper / Space Beetles" 28"Dinosaur Horror / Kangaroo Kaper / Siesta Time" 29"Bull Antics / Jigsaw Phantom / Kidnapped" 30"Killer Tiger / Monkey Business / Out West" 31"Pirate Shark / Shake the Bottle / Sinbad Jr. & the Sun Wizard" 32"The Fire Dragon / Sinbad Jr. and the Flying Carpet / The Mummy" 33"The Pluto People Trap / The Tick Bird / The Wind Geni" 34"Web of Evil / Trap Happy Trapper / Whale of a Tale" 35"Wicked Whirlpool"
See also List of works produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions List of Hanna-Barbera characters
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