He travels to Aladdin's village, identified as being near the border with China, where he enlists Aladdin's help by pretending to be his long-lost uncle and offering to leave his wealth to Aladdin. At one point, the Magician character tells the story of his travels to China, India and Persia and we see a montage of these adventures and it's kind of interesting because of the way it invokes other cultures of the era. There is some unnecessary padding throughout as characters break into songs that do nothing but tell parts of Once upon a time, somewhere in Africa, a local magician dreamed of owning the Magic Lamp. Thanks to a Magic Ball he learned that the Lamp could be found in an Asian village and that only the innocent hand of a young person could snatch it. He traveled to the place, a village called Three Hill City, close to the Chinese border. There lived Aladdin
Direction
Jean Image commits to every bizarre choice
Production
70 minutes of 'how did this get made'

Director
Jean Image
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jean Image was a Romanian-French animator who pioneered European TV animation; this film reflects mid-century European Orientalism that mashed together 'Eastern' cultures with cheerful ignorance.
The film was dubbed into English for American television, where it aired alongside other cheap imports—explaining why a generation of 70s kids have vague memories of a weird Aladdin that wasn't Disney.
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