Ali Baba to Yonju-hiki no Touzoku (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves)

Ali Baba to Yonju-hiki no Touzoku (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves), a 1971 feature-length Toei cartoon, is one of the loosest, goofiest, and funniest films in all of Toei's early canon. It shows the strong influence of Hayao Miyazaki and other young animators in the character designs, the endless gags, and the kinetic forward energy of the entire movie. Dissatisfied with the lack of autonomy at Toei and its repressive labor practices, Miyazaki left Toei after this film, along with Youichi Kotabe, to join Isao Takahata at A Pro. Toei didn't recover for a long time, and its post-Ali Baba cartoons are uninspired, at best.

Ali Baba to Yonju-hiki no Touzoku is actually a riff on the classic 1001 Nights "Ali Baba" tale, with elements from "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp." Centuries after the original story, King Alibaba XXXIII, descendant of the original protagonist, has spent all his ancestors' treasure and can't afford a decent meal.

All that's left in the treasury is a crufty old lamp, which turns out to contain a genie. 

Alibaba immediately requests a lavish banquet, but there's a problem - the genie is terrified of cats, including Alibaba's pet kitten. 

Never one to let scruples stop him from getting what he wants, Alibaba orders that all the cats in his kingdom be rounded up and imprisoned. 

The roundup is mostly successful, but the most streetwise cats elude capture. Further, the king's actions infuriate a young urchin named Al Huck, who vows to free the cats, and the kingdom, from Alibaba's despotism.

This is fortuitous, because as Huck's pet mouse Kajil explains, with the help of a shadow puppet play, Al Huck is the descendant of the original master thief whom the first Alibaba outwitted and killed. 

Huck, the mouse, and the thirty-eight remaining cats form a new Forty Thieves, dedicated to defeating Alibaba XXXIII and stealing back the treasure. 

But they've reckoned without the genie. Under the command of a selfish and evil master, the genie is a monster, using its power to rob and wreck without compunction. 

When Huck is captured, the genie genially torments the boy at Alibaba's command. 

But the bad guys have reckoned without the cats, who are more than a match for the genie and Alibaba's guards. This leads to the final showdown between Huck and Alibaba and the inevitable happy ending.

The summary can't adequately convey how funny and free the movie is. The opening credits are full of sight gags. The cats use yakuza dialect to convey their toughness. Their musical number is a riff on West Side Story's "When You're A Jet," complete with finger snaps. (Hard to do with claws, I know, but who cares?)  

The king's police chief is a sycophantic incompetent who is repeatedly debagged in his tangles with the felines. 

The genie is drawn as a Dr. Suess-like character,

and the other characters are all quite cartoon-like, in contrast to the rounded designs of early Toei films.

The voice cast is stellar:

• Ooyama Nobuyo (Al Huck) played the title roles in the Doraemon franchise, Hazedon, Norakuro, and Hustle Punch.
• Ootsuka Chikao (Alibaba XXXIII) played Mikhail Diagilev in Plastic Little, Kaibara Yuuzan in the Oishinbo specials, Gennosuke in Sugata Sanshirou, Nikolai Rednov in Fumoon, and General Presto in Bremen 4, all Orphan releases. He played Tora in the original Ushio to Tora, Joseph Joestar in the original JoJo's Bizarre Adventures, Captain Hook in Peter Pan no Bouken, and Hades in Arion.
• Tomita Kousei (Genie) played Ban Shunsaku/Higeoyaj in the TV specials Fumoon, Marine Express, Ginga Tansa 2100: Border Planet, Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: Boku wa Son Gokuu, the Lion Book OVA The Green Cat, and the TV special Tezuka Osamu Ga Kieta?! 20 Seiki Saigo no Kaijiken, all Orphan releases; in the movies Jungle Tatei and Metropolis; and in several Astro Boy properties. He also played Watson in Sherlock Hound. 
• Tanonaka Isamu (Police Chief) was best known for voicing the character Medama Oyaji (Daddy Eyeball) in the first five GeGeGe no Kitarou anime, as well as Sindbook in the original Magical Princess Minky Momo and Igor in the Persona franchise. He played Koboke in Tengai Makyou and Nodaiko in Botchan (1980), both Orphan releases.
• Takiguchi Junpei (Kajil) brought his distinctive voice to the roles of Van Helsing in Don Dracula, the Professor in The Green Cat, Dr. Yamanado in Fumoon, Scratch in Techno Police 21C, the villainous king of Kanemacchi Castle in Grim Douwa: Kin no Tori, the Mouse Thief in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, the colonel in Maris the Choujo, and Dong Zhung in the first Sangokushi movie, all Orphan releases. He also played the Millennium Earl in D.grayman, John Trelawney in Treasure Island, and Dr. Laughton in Metropolis. 
• Utsumi Kenji (Dora, the boss cat) played Roah in Fist of the North Star, Kaioh in Fist of the North Star 2, Senbei Norimaki in Dr. Slump and Arale-chan, the village chief in Watt Poe, and Alex Louis Armstrong in both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist. He played the title role in Don Dracula, Ishikawa in Mahjong Hishouden: Naki no Ryuu, and the Samurai ghost in A Ghost Story, and he appeared in Nora, Bavi Stock, Stop!! Hibari-kun!, Techno Police 21C, 15 Shounen Hyouruuki, and Sanada 10, all Orphan releases.
• Naya Gorou (Goro, the underboss cat) played Koichi Zenigata in Lupin III, Juzo Okita in Space Battleship Yamato, Shocker in Kamen Rider, and Yupa in Nausicaa. He also played Adam Robinson Jr. in Space Fantasia 2001 Nights, Dr. Alex Gordon in Heavy, Schott in Hashire! Shiroi Ookami, King Magma VII in Kaitei 3-man Mile, Weedon Scott in White Fang, and Yamaarashi in Botchan, all Orphan releases. His deep voice provided the narration in Shinzou Ningen Casshern, Vampire Miyu, Golden Boy, the original Dororo, and other shows.

The other cats are nameless, but the seiyuu were well known. 

• Ootake Hiroshi played Nezu in Akira, Dayon in the first Osomatsu-kun, and Boss in the Mazinger franchise. He also played the temple priest in  Kachikenee!, 004 in the first Cyborg 009 movie, Fox in Shounen Jack to Mahou Tsukai, Vailly in Greed, Takeshi in Yukuguni no Ouji-sama, Michael in the What's Michael? OVAs, and Director Hiruta in Ojisan Kaizou Kouza, all Orphan releases.
• Nagai Ichirou starred in numerous shows, playing grandfather Jigoro in Yawara!, the off-the-wall narrator in Gosenzosama Banbanzai!, Professor Hajime in Queen Millennia, and Happosai in the Ranma 1/2 franchise. He appeared in Arabian Nights: Sindbad no Bouken, Nijuushi ni Hitomi, Ore no Sora, Nayuta, One Pound Gospel, Rain Boy, Manxmouse, Nora, Hidamari no Ki, Yuukan Club, Amon Saga, Botchan, Ipponbouchou Mantaraou, Tengai Makyou, Toraemon, and Yamato 2520, all Orphan releases.
• Kitagawa Kunihiko played King Atlas in Kaitei 3-man Mile, an Orphan release, and Poseidon in the Umi no Triton TV series and movie.
• Imanishi Masao played Skipper in Giant Gorg, Franken in Kaibutsu-kun, Antares in Ginga Tetsudou 999, Kyoushi in Miyuki, Fefebvre in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Kanpei Fuumi in Ipponbouchou Mantarou, and Boss Robot in Gulliver no Uchuu Ryokou. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Nomura Michiko played Shizuka in the Doraemon franchise, Isono in Sazae-san through 2005, the title role in Maya the Bee, Tora in Kampfer, and Mama in Hi-Speed Jecy, an Orphan release.
• Yamada Shunji narrated the Chibi Maruko-chan franchise and Master Keaton. The played Alain in The Rose of Versailles, Yanack in Dragon Warrior, and Kaa in The Jungle Book. He appeared in Bagi, Boyfriend, and Maken Liner 0011, all Orphan releases.

The director, Shidara Hitoshi, also directed Candy Candy, Hello! Sandybell, Lady Lady!!, and Papa Momma Bye Bye.

Perevodildo translated and timed, and justj22 translation checked. I edited and typeset. VigorousJammer and Uchuu QCed. The encode is by an anonymous friend, taken from a Toei Channel "HD" broadcast. We both agreed that the actual source is SD, so this version uses DVD-like dimensions. The encoder noted,

I'm a bit saddened that Toei neglected to remaster the source for this footage; however, the film IVTC extracted from the NTSC video stream should in theory be a more faithful representation than the PAL DVD-based encodes available thus far. Significant frame blends were eliminated alongside some chroma cleanup and dithered treatment of some macroblocking.  

Toei has announced Blu-ray releases of a number of its early films, but alas, neither Ali Baba nor the equally spontaneous Shounen Jack to Mahou Tsukai are among them. One may hope.

So here's a new version of Ali Baba to Yonju-hiki no Touzoku, about the best that can be done without a true HD source. Everyone who worked on its really liked it, and I'm sure you will too. You can get the movie from the usual torrent site.