Ali-Baba Bound

"Ali-Baba Bound" is set in the Sahara desert, where it is so hot that "even fan dancers use electric fans". Porky Pig stars as a legionnaire who's assigned to protect a fort threatened by Ali-Baba and his Dirty Sleeves. He 'rents' a baby camel to reach the fort and when he does, he discover that the other legionnaires are at a convention in Boston. He now has to protect the fort all by himself. Personally, I wasn't impressed by this short film. The gags and jokes aren't funny and the animation isn't very elaborated, especially when you compare it to other cartoons from this era (the early 40s). The animators try to depict many different attack methods. Some of them are original but they become the kind of thing where the only answer can be: "Nice Try. Better luck next time." It's a very forgettable cartoon. Porky Pig has appeared in easily better ones.

I, unfortunately, have only seen the poorly restored copy of this cartoon so the animation I've seen has been terrible. However, story-wise, it still holds up. That Arab with a missle on his head is priceless. (I betcha Bin Laden has a few of those guys on his side)

This cartoon is on the same tape as my copy of The Timid Toreador. This one too has been colorized. Once again, our hero enters in classic form singing "She's the girlfreind of the whirling dervish..." He passes a "nasty spy" who gives him a secret message. This is accomplished through a gag that that still gets me and is one that I have yet to see repeated in another Loony Tunes cartoon. I won't tell you what it is, you'll just have to see for yourself. Anyway, "Tattle-Tale Nick" the spy tips Porky off that there is going to be an invasion of a remote desert stronghold by Ali-Baba and his 40 Sleaves. Porky waddles on down to rent "Baby Dumpling", a young camel, for the trip. The two make it two the fort. One thing that I'd like to say here is how much respect I have for the makers of this cartoon. For you see, the art of synchronizing action on the screen to music heard is perfect even this early in Loony Tunes history. As Baby Dumpling makes his way to the fort we hear a lively arabian tune with flute and drum that goes perfectly with his steps and the bobbing of Porky's headgear. At the fort, there are a series of gags there to make you laugh, but don't do much else. At this point, the cartoon looses it's course and suddenly Ali-Baba is in the fort about to stab Baby Dumpling. This sort of just happens seemingly because the animator has run out of gags and needs to end the cartoon. This happens frequently in many Loony Tunes cartoons that were created to just make fun of a region of the world. The show ends with a bang for lack of anyway better to end it. Overall, this cartoon is funny, but don't think too much about it like me. I've only recently started to do that after watching a cartoon for the 70th time or so.