The film was a hit in Japan with distribution box-office revenue of ¥290 million,[1] but was largely ignored outside of the domestic market, receiving a limited release in the US.
[2] The English dub of the film was considered lost until anime distributor Discotek Media discovered and restored it, releasing it on Blu-ray alongside the original Japanese version on 24 November 2020.
Aldin, a poor, traveling water seller, falls in love with Miriam, a beautiful slave woman on auction in Baghdad, but Havasalakum, the son of the chief of police, buys her.
He travels with the sailors to a mysterious island, which is inhabited by a man-eating giant who eats most of the crew while Aldin survives.
Not prepared for the pressures of kingship, Aldin gives up the throne to travel the world as a poor man again, now seeing the value of freedom and peace.
Danshi Tatekawa Takehiko Maeda Sen Saga Souichi Ooya Morio Kita Sakyou Komatsu Shuusaku Endou Yasutaka Tsutsui The Animerama series of adult animated feature films was conceived by Osamu Tezuka as an attempt to ensure animation could be accepted worldwide for all age groups and interests.
[3] Elements within A Thousand and One Nights, such as the modeling of the main character on French actor, Jean-Paul Belmondo and the inclusion of rock music in the soundtrack underlined the aim to appeal to a worldwide market.
The film is primarily scored by rock band, The Helpful Soul and also featured music composed by Isao Tomita with an orchestra conducted by Seiji Yokoyama.
Tezuka also invited several prominent Japanese authors, such as science-fiction writers Sakyo Komatsu and Yasutaka Tsutsui, to voice minor characters in the film.
[2] Ethan Halker from ZekeFilm criticized the film citing issues with its failure at achieving "superbly sensual eroticism", at times slightly disjointed and meandering narrative, problematic stereotyping and sexism, and a myriad of technical errors.
Halker notes how the women of A Thousand and One Nights are largely illustrated as "helpless dolls, bitter victims, or literal snakes and man-eaters" and points out how they are mostly defined by their relationships with men.