The film follows a sailor who sings a moral tale to children of his days fishing at sea, bracing storms, encountering the Devil on an island and how he escaped eternal damnation.

Sailor would later reappear on television in 1983 as a part of HBO Short Take, albeit shortened considerably, however, it was considered a lost film after Richard Williams Animation shut down in the early 1990s.

Eventually in the following September, Technicolor confirmed its possession of the original negative material, and with the help of experimental filmmaker Maximilian LeCain (son of Errol), and BFI animation curator Jez Stewart, Sailor was put in the care of the British Film Institute where it currently awaits restoration.

[8] When Sailor reappeared on YouTube in 2013 through Garret Gilchrist and TheThiefArchive, Amid Amidi of Cartoon Brew wrote in an article: Le Cain invents an idiosyncratic style of movement that combines jittery bursts of motion with visually pleasing dance cycles.

[9]While not widely distributed, Sailor and the Devil remains an important piece in the history of independent animation and is often regarded as an early example of Williams and Le Cain's skill in blending narrative and visuals.