After more than fifty years, Karel Zeman’s landmark animated film Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor (Pohádky tisíce a jedné noci; also known in English as A Thousand and One Nights) is returning to Czech cinemas in a fully digitized restoration. The 1974 feature follows the sailor Sinbad on fantastical journeys through a vividly imagined Orient, encountering flying carpets, magical djinns, and lands of giants.
The restoration project, part of a broader effort to digitize four of Zeman’s feature films, was overseen by Universal Production Partners under lead restorers Marek Jícha and Pavel Rejholec. Zeman’s daughter, Ludmila Zemanová, who helped design the original film, supervised the meticulous retouching of 130,000 individual frames to preserve the film’s original visual and auditory qualities.
Premiering in Czech cinemas on Dec. 4, 2025, the release also commemorates what would have been Zeman’s 115th birthday, offering contemporary audiences an opportunity to experience the film as it was first seen in 1974.
Restoring a landmark Czech animated film
Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor was constructed from seven short films using stop-motion and traditional animation techniques that combined to create sequences reminiscent of Persian miniatures.
“During the restoration process, I repeatedly watched the film and realized how perfect it remains, thanks to the combination of techniques, witty storytelling, and the image stylization inspired by Persian miniatures,” said Zemanová. She recalled working alongside her father in his Zlín studio, describing it as a formative period that shaped her understanding of film artistry.
The digital restoration not only recovered the original colors and textures, which had faded over decades, but also reinstated Jan Tříska’s voice as Sinbad, preserving the integrity of the original sound design. Restorers emphasized that their work involved a blend of archival precision, technological innovation, and creative judgment.
The restoration project was supported by the Czech Ministry of Culture and co-financed by the European Union through the National Recovery Plan. It represents the first step in a multi-year program to restore and reintroduce four of Zeman’s most important full-length films to the big screen.
Expanding Zeman’s cinematic legacy
The restored release of Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor is part of a larger initiative led by the Karel Zeman Museum and its founder, producer Ondřej Beránek, to make the director’s work accessible to new audiences. Beránek noted that the project allows younger viewers to explore the history of Czech animation and Zeman’s unique approach to cinematic visual effects.
The museum, which traces Zeman’s career from early puppet films of the 1940s to his final projects, is also preparing new restorations of Journey to the Beginning of Time (Cesta do pravěku), Invention for Destruction (Vynález zkázy), and The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (Baron Prášil), expected to be reintroduced over the next three years.
Previous restorations by the team included The Stolen Airship (Ukradená vzducholoď), Zeman’s adaptation of Jules Verne’s Two Years’ Vacation, and other major works, ensuring the director’s techniques remain influential in both Czech and international animation history.
By returning Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor to cinemas, the project not only revives a cornerstone of Czech film artistry but also underscores Zeman’s enduring impact on the global animation landscape. The restored film invites audiences to revisit Sinbad’s adventurous world and experience the meticulous craft of a filmmaker whose influence continues to resonate more than half a century after the original release.
