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Western Animation / Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp

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"What can I do for you?
I'd do most anything you asked me to.
I'd go and get that pot of gold from the rainbow,
and bring it where you are,
and then, I'd hitch you wagon to a star.

What can I do for you?
Hey how'd ya like 'ta have yer dreams come true?
I'd like 'ta make ya happy through and through!
'Deed I do!
So what can I do for you?"
Aladdin (Popeye) (singing the cartoon's opening music)

After the massive success of Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor in 1936 and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves in 1937, Fleischer Studios spent the next couple years or so creating the piece de resistance of the Popeye Arabian Nights Trilogy with Popeye the Sailor in: Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp.

Olive Oyl finds herself tasked with writing a script for a new Hollywood blockbuster, and decides she wants to write an epic love story, casting herself as a beautiful princess, and Popeye as the male lead. In ancient Arabia, an evil wizard lusts for power as well as the hand of the ruler of the kingdom, Princess Olive. To this end, he seeks the fabled Genie of the Lamp, hidden in the Cave of Treasures which can only be reached by a single person — the smith Aladdin. Enlisting his help by telling him it's a request from the princess herself, he leads Aladdin to a cave outside of the city, then feigns exhaustion to get Aladdin to risk his life alone. Aladdin finds the lamp hidden behind a wall, and takes it to the wizard, who promptly betrays him and seals him in the cave, but ends up losing the lamp which falls into the cave with Aladdin. When Aladdin awakes, he's trapped in the cave, but accidentally stumbles across the power of the lamp, releasing the Genie. Aladdin uses his first wish to get out of the cave, and the second to become a wealthy prince so he can romance the princess. The two immediately hit it off, but the wizard gets his hands on the lamp, and uses his wishes to move the princess castle to a mountain, and hold her prisoner. Aladdin chases after them, fighting his way through the guards and dragon the wizard summons with the lamp, then goes toe to toe with the villain himself, before finally breaking out the spinach and curbstomps him. After having the Genie put the castle back in its old spot, the story ends, and Olive Oyl discovers that her script was rejected by the studio and she's been fired.

Little bit of trivia: Popeye eats four cans of spinach in this cartoon, the most he's ever consumed.

This cartoon, much like the other two Color Popeye Two-Reelers has since fallen into the Public Domain and can be found on a number of cheap DVDs and VHS.


This two-reel cartoon provides examples of:

  • Adaptational Jerkass: As stated in Ungrateful Townsfolk, in this version the townsfolk waste absolutely no time in trying to execute "Aladdin" when he is suspected of being responsible of the Princess’ kidnapping after his wishes are undone. This is despite the fact that he was nothing but generous to them. In the original tale they postpone his execution precisely BECAUSE of the good deeds Aladdin had done and even rioted in his defense.
  • All Just a Dream: All Just A Screenplay.
  • And I Must Scream: After being defeated by Popeye, the Wazzir is transformed into a fish by the Genie.
  • Bad Boss: The Wazzir's first action upon summoning the Genie is to smack the ice cream he's eating into his face, and attack him with a whip when the Genie is horrified at his first wish of kidnapping the princess.
  • Benevolent Genie: The Genie is a very nice person, willingly helping Popeye to win Olive's heart. When the Wazzir takes ownership of the lamp and begins making his own wishes, the Genie claims "You are crazy!" and only did the Wazzir's bidding after he coerced him with a whip.
  • Character Catchphrase: The Genie's "You want something?" and "You said it!"
  • Composite Character: The Genie of the Lamp and the Genie of the Ring from the original story are combined into the Genie of the Lamp. This would become the norm for other adaptations of the Aladdin tale.
  • Digital Destruction: Mostly averted, the picture is very clean and no damage is apparent, though it appears the colors have been turned up. Compare the official DVD restored version to a decent yet blurry public domain copy to the clips used in 1949's Popeye's Premiere.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: For whatever reason, the studio disliked Olive's script so much that they gave her the pink slip.
  • Framing Device: The whole story is actually a script written by Olive Oyl for the studio "Surprise Pictures".
  • Her Codename Was Mary Sue: Olive's script has herself in the female lead with her boyfriend Popeye as The Hero.
  • Have a Gay Old Time:
    Popeye (Aladdin): I don't know what to say... I've never made love in technicolor before!
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: The Wazzir would've won if he hadn't betrayed Aladdin for no reason, since Aladdin thought the Wazzir wanted the lamp for the princess.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: The Wazzir suffers this when he betrays Aladdin and traps him inside the cave with an avalanche of rocks. He promptly steps on his own cane, smacks himself in the head, drops the lamp into a crevice before it's sealed up, and then hurts his foot kicking the rocks in frustration.
  • Large Ham: The evil Wazzir and the Genie.
  • Prophecies Rhyme All the Time:
    A rub on this lamp will bring riches & fame
    This lamp is well guarded by torrents & flame
    But one dare secure it, Aladdin's his name
    He liveth on the corner of Chow and Main
  • Public Domain Animation
  • Recycled Animation: Parts of this cartoon would be recycled in the 1949 Famous Studios short Popeye's Premiere where Popeye and Olive Oyl watch it as a movie (with Popeye even giving his movie self a can of spinach!).
  • The Last Of These Is Not Like The Others: This is the only one of Popeye Arabian Nights Trilogy to not have Bluto play the role of the villain.
    • The only feature in the Arabian Nights trilogy that doesn't have "Popeye the Sailor Meets" in the title.
  • Three Wishes: Averted. Much like the original tale, the Genie can apparently grant unlimited wishes to WHOEVER possesses the lamp. The Evil Wazzir is able to squeeze out five wishes before being defeated. Popeye, in addition to the three he made when he had the lamp, made one more to restore his princely status.
  • Ungrateful Townsfolk: Although Popeye was nothing but benevolent and generous towards ordinary people after becoming a prince, they turn on him immediately and try to have him summarily executed after the Princess is abducted by Genie along with her palace (on Wazzir's order) and Popeye is suspected of having something to do with it. This is in stark contrast with the original story, where Aladdin's execution was postponed precisely because his previous generosity and kindness prompted the citizens to stand in his defence and start a riot.
  • Villainous Breakdown: The Wazzir has one when he loses the lamp the first time, leaving it sealed inside the cave with Aladdin.

Alternative Title(s): Popeye In Aladdin And His Wonderful Lamp

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