Cartoon
Sinbad Jr. and His Magic Belt
The story
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., 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. 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. The 103 five-minute shorts aired first-run through 1966 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.