Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt
Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt is a series of five-minute cartoons that originally aired in first-run syndication between 1965-1966. Produced by Hanna-Barbera for the American International Television division of American International Pictures, they were shown during local children's television programming. The series is partially lost, with only a handful of surviving episodes left.
Plot
Sinbad Jr. is the teenage son of Sinbad, the famous sailor, and he traveled the world in his single-masted sailboat seeking adventure and wrongs to right, fighting such villains as the Bluto-like, big, black-bearded Blubbo and the mad doctor Rotcoddam.Sinbad Jr. gained the strength of 50 men whenever he tightened his magic belt, causing the diamond-shaped buckle to flash like lightning and temporarily transform him into a mighty muscleman.
Sinbad Jr.'s first mate was his feisty and funny feathered friend Salty the Parrot.
Production
The series was conceived by Sam Singer's production company in 1960, with Dal McKennon voicing the title role. Singer Studio produced the initial episodes for the Trans-Arts Company, but the deal fell through.American International Pictures, which had released the film The Magic Voyage of Sinbad, held rights to the "Sinbad" trademark for screen works. AIP's television division eventually negotiated an agreement under which Hanna-Barbera would produce the series, with Tim Matheson replacing McKennon. The final release includes episodes produced by both studios.
Sinbad Jr. and His Magic Belt premiered in first-run syndication on Sept. 11, 1965. The 102 five-minute shorts aired first-run through 1966 ran within children's television programming.
It was renamed Sinbad Jr., the Sailor out of deference to the 1962 Toei Studios feature-length cartoon, Adventures of Sinbad. The rights to the series were later acquired by MGM's subsidiary Orion Pictures.
Theme music
The cartoon's theme song, composed by Ted Nichols, is a variation on the children's song "Sailing, Sailing " that was written in 1880 by Godfrey Marks, a pseudonym of British organist and composer James Frederick Swift. A later version of the theme song 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" |