A Thousand and One Nights (Japanese: 千夜一夜物語, Hepburn: Senya Ichiya Monogatari) is a 1969 Japanese adult animated fantasy film directed by Eiichi Yamamoto, conceived by Osamu Tezuka. The film is the first part of Mushi Production's adult-oriented Animerama trilogy, and was followed by Cleopatra (1970) and Belladonna of Sadness (1973).
The film was a hit in Japan with distribution box-office revenue of ¥290 million,[1] but was largely ignored outside of the domestic market, receiving a limited release in the US.[2] The English dub of the film was considered lost until anime distributor Discotek Media discovered and restored it, releasing it on Blu-ray alongside the original Japanese version on 24 November 2020.[2][3][4] The English-dubbed version was cut to 100 minutes and was recorded in Italy.[citation needed] The film predates the more successful release of Fritz the Cat, the first American X-rated animated film, by three years.