oscaralbert Review of Ali-Baba Bound

Ali-Baba Bound (1940)

Arab suicide bombers have been the subject of many flicks . . .

[7/10 · 8 June 2017]

. . . but perhaps this offering from Warner Bros.' always prophetic Animated Shorts Seers Division (aka, The Looney Tuners) is the first. After Legionnaire Porky Pig gets wind of a Terrorist Attack during the first part of ALI BABA BOUND, Warner Bros. throws in some comic relief to placate the funny bones of its contemporary audiences in the form of Porky going to a "Humpmobile" rental outlet (as the soundtrack is playing "In My Merry Oldsmobile") to lease a desert vehicle (there's no "Lucille" in sight, this originally being an offering on the Big Screen, where the audience could include women and children). However, things get more serious when an explicitly-labeled "Arab Suicide Bomber" literally comes off the bench in an effort to blow up the five-sided French fort (drawn not unlike the Pentagon, which was successfully penetrated by Arab Suicide Bombers on Sept. 11, 2001). As always, America chose to ignore the Early Warning System of the Warner Bros. prognosticators, and the rest is History. How sad!