La rosa di Bagdad

Like I said, animation is an art form, and in a few countries in the world, there are some excellent animations. In this beautifully animated film, the beautiful princess Zelia is betrothed to the cruel sheik Jafar, thanks to the power of a magic ring given by his sorcerer. And so, her minstrel/friend Armin uses Aladdin's lamp to rescue her.

Julie Andrews, in her film and voice-acting debuts, supplies the voice of Zelia in the film. The film was originally made in Italy in 1949 and later released in an English-language version around 1952; my very first glimpse of Italian animation was the TV series Winx Club. The influence of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is clearly evident in the film's look, the plot, and the characters.

As I said, I am starting to love fantasy movies (animated or live-action) set in Arabia. My favorite characters from the film are Calina, Armin's little magpie, and the princess herself too. You know, not many discuss the Non-Disney Princesses, and I have added Zelia to the list I had made of the Non-Disney Princesses: Glory from Gulliver's Travels; Odette from The Swan Princess; Thumbelina from Don Bluth's film version of the story; YumYum from The Thief and the Cobbler; Anastasia; and Kayley from Quest for Camelot. So overall, I really love this rare animated film.