Arabian Nights

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Arabian Nights
AN Warner poster.jpg
Production company Hanna-Barbera Cartoons
Distributor Turner Program Services
Release date September 3, 1994
Starring Don Messick
Casey Kasem
Eddie Deezen
Greg Burson
Alan Melvin
Jennifer Hale
Rob Paulsen
John Kassir
Charlie Adler
Eddie Deezen
Maurice LaMarche
Brian Cummings
Executive producer(s) Joseph Barbera
William Hanna
Buzz Potamkin
Producer(s) Gordon Kent
Music composed by Steve Bernstein
Screenplay by Gordon Kent
Glenn Leopold
Director(s) Joanna Romersa
Jun Falkenstein
Gordon Kent (voices)
Title card
Arabian Nights title card.png

Arabian Nights is a 1994 American animated anthology TV special based on the book One Thousand and One Nights. It aired on September 3, 1994 on TBS. It was written by Gordon Kent and Glenn Leopold, and produced and directed by Joanna Romersa, Jun Falkenstein, and Kent.

Scooby and Shaggy have gotten jobs as food testers for a young caliph, but get in trouble when they eat all the food. Shaggy disguises himself as a harem to avoid certain death, which only makes matters worse as the caliph immediately falls in love and wants to marry the cross-dressed Shaggy, so Shaggy tries to put him to sleep by telling him two stories; one of the street urchin Ali-yah Din and her magic lamp (containing Yogi and Boo Boo as genies), and Sinbad the Sailor (aka Magilla Gorilla).

When Time Warner bought Turner Entertainment in the late 1990s, they retitled the special as Scooby-Doo's Arabian Nights for home media, even though all of Scooby (and Shaggy)'s scenes amount to five minutes.

Detailed summary

Memorable quotes

Boo Boo: But how do you know it's what she wants?
Yogi: Because I'm smarter than the average genie.

Characters

Legend
Character debut Speaking debut Ep. debut No lines Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character Actor
Scooby-Doo Don Messick
Shaggy Rogers Casey Kasem
Flying carpet cab driver Brian Cummings
Royal guard #1 Charlie Adler
Royal chef Greg Burson
Royal dish washer Nick Jameson
Caliph Eddie Deezen
Royal guard #2 Brian Cummings
Haman John Kassir
Princess Kath Soucie
Sultan Brian Cummings
Prince Rob Paulsen
Scribe Paul Eiding
Lord of the Amulet Tony Jay
Ali-yah Din Jennifer Hale
Female townsfolk Kath Soucie
Yogi Bear Greg Burson
Boo Boo Bear Don Messick
Allah
Royal dressmaker Nick Jameson
Captain Charlie Adler
Magilla Gorilla Alan Melvin
Ruhk Frank Welker
Marty Unavailable
M. Cyclops Maurice LaMarche
Baby ruhk Frank Welker


Locations

Objects

Vehicles

Production

Development

Filming

Music

The music was composed by Steve Bernstein. The director of music production was Bodie Chandler.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

  • United States: September 3, 1994 on TBS

Behind the scenes

  • Shaggy says "Zoinks" twice.
  • Cats is a real musical that the cyclops wants to see.
  • Magilla breaks the fourth wall by mentioning that he's in a cartoon.

Errors

  • It's unclear if Shaggy is specifically telling the stories with Yogi, Boo, and Magilla in them, or they're just for the home viewing audience.
  • In the present, Ali-yah Din and the Prince look about the same age, but in the flashback, he is a child while she is a baby.
  • The Tomb of Riches is pretty empty.

Critical reception

In other languages

Language Name Meaning

Home availability

References