O'Connor signed to make the film in October 1960. O'Connor said "The story of Aladdin has been done by everyone but this is its first time around as a comedy."
Shooting The film was shot in location in Tunisia with studio work in Rome. Filming started 12 December 1960. The Tunisian government were keen to attract filmmakers to the region and provided much assistance, including the loan of their army as soldiers. According to
camera operator Marcello Gatti,
Henry Levin directed "80%" of
The Wonders of Aladdin, while Bava's on-set contributions consisted of
second unit direction and supervising the film's special effects. Because Bava was also in charge of the film's
post-production process in Italy, such as its
dubbing, Italian and French prints use the credit "A film by Henry Levin, directed by Mario Bava". English language prints only credit Levin with direction. In his
audio commentary for the Blu-ray release of the film by
Kino Lorber, Bava biographer
Tim Lucas notes that the use of a
mosque as a shooting location caused a violent revolt that led to the killing of five people, followed by the killing of a
security guard at the American embassy that had cleared the location for the shoot. According to Lucas, Bava had numerous spears pointed at his head during the attack, which he considered the most frightening moment in his life. While filming in Tunisia in December, O'Connor suffered a blood hemorrhage on this throat and had to be rushed to hospital.
Vittorio De Sica played a small role. It only took a week but the actor said it was "very tiring because of the tricks." In January, three Americans on the film - O'Connor, Levin and writer Henry Motofsky - accidentally crossed the Tunisian border into Algeria 20 miles south of
Tozeur while scouting locations in the Sahara Desert and were arrested. They were held for three hours then returned to the film unit. Filming finished in March 1961. "From now on I'll do nothing but drawing room comedies," said O'Connor, "and the only location I'm going on is in my backyard". ==Reception==