The effects of the duration of potentiostatic anodizing on the corrosion resistance and surface morphology of anodic oxide films formed on Mg-Al alloy (AZ91) in 1 M NaOH were investigated. With the formation of an anodic film, the current density decreased gradually, started to stabilize at 300 s, and was relatively constant at 600 s. These results may be related to the increased time for catalysis of the active dissolution reaction, which not only enlarges the area covered by the anodic film, but also produces a more coherent, thicker film. The reference corrosion potentials of the anodic oxide film for AZ91 shifted in the noble direction with time. In general, the corrosion resistance characteristics were improved with anodizing time.