For this fantastical tale from a 1,001 Nights, Ray Harryhausen perfected his process called Dynamation, the integration of three-dimensional animated figures and live actors. Many of Harryhausen's signature creations appear in this installment of Sinbad's Voyages: the cloven-hoofed cyclops, the fire-breathing dragon, the two-headed roc, the skeleton warrior, and the unforgettable multiarmed, serpent-tailed dancer. This original Sinbad adventure (the series continues with the Golden Voyage and Eye of the Tiger) finds the bold buccaneer (Kerwin Mathews) from Baghdad landing upon the shores of the mysterious island of Colossa accompanied by his fiancée, Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant née Crosby), the malevolent magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher), and his cranky crew. From here on, Sinbad must contend with an arabesque array of angry creatures, all the while protecting the pert Parisa who, under Sokurah's evil spell, has been shrunk to a height of five inches. This fanciful film finds its stop-motion action even more buoyant beside the great Bernard Hermann score, which adds intriguing motifs from the Middle East to this clash of titans.