Arabian Knights
| Arabian Knights | |
|---|---|
title screen
|
|
| Genre | Animation, Fantasy |
| Directed by |
Joseph Barbera William Hanna |
| Voices of |
Paul Frees Frank Gerstle Shari Lewis Jay North John Stephenson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English French |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | 7 September 1968 – 11 January 1969 |
Arabian Knights is an animated segment of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series is based on the Arabian Nights, a classic work of Middle Eastern literature.
Once a peaceful country, Persia was run over by the powerful forces of the evil conqueror Bakaar, the Black Sultan. When all the states of Persia were overthrown, Bakaar invaded the capital city of Baghdad. Bakaar and his forces breached the royal palace and forcibly claimed the throne from Prince Turhan and ordered the prince to be killed. Prince Turhan fled away from the palace, be pursued by the guards of Bakaar. In his escape, the prince is helped by a magician named Fariik, who with his magic slipped away from guards. On their way to the state of El-Rabaal to seek aid from his Caliph uncle, Turhan and Fariik meet Raseem while being chased by the guards in the Caves of Doom. Raseem tells them that Bakaar's forces have already usurped the throne of El-Rabaal and imprisoned the Caliph and his daughter princess Nida. The trio then heads to El-Rabaal on Zazuum, Raseem's donkey.
In El-Rabaal, they rescue Princess Nida who is about to be sold into slavery. There Princess Nida demonstrates her mastery of disguise and voice mimicry by tricking the guards, but they soon find themselves cornered by Bakaar's men. There Bez jumps into the scene, shape-shifts into an elephant, charges through the guards, and carries everyone to safety. In the Caves of Doom, they decide to form a heroic band and swear to protect their land from the tyranny of Bakaar, thus forming an alliance called the Arabian Knights.
Arabian Knights was one of several animated mini-series, used as filler segments for Hanna-Barbera's Banana Splits Adventure Hour show. Each episode ran between 9 and 10 minutes in length. For the most part, it competed with the other series, The Three Musketeers, Micro Ventures, and the live-action Danger Island segments.
Often, the general thrust of the Arabian Knights adventures deals with the Knights trying to effect some action against Bakaar’s soldiers, finding a means to further complete their goal of turning the tables on the evil dictator, or dealing with another villain set within the Knights' universe.
...
Wikipedia