Aladdin is an animated feature film directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. It features, in their Disney debuts, Aladdin, the Genie, Jafar, Princess Jasmine, Iago, the Sultan of Agrabah, the Cave of Wonders, the Magic Carpet, Gazeem, Razoul, Prince Achmed, Rajah and Abu.
Plot
In the ancient city of Agrabah, the lowly but kind-hearted thief Aladdin falls in love with the runaway princess Jasmine. Meanwhile, the Grand Vizier Jafar (secretly a sorcerer with plans to overthrow the sultan) seeks out a magic lamp said to contain an all-powerful Genie, and it seems Aladdin is prophesied to be the only one who can enter the Cave where it's kept!
Behind the scenes
Released in 1992, Aladdin is loosely based on the Arabian fairy tale of the same name, although only a few of the key plot elements are kept. Inspiration for the film was notably taken from the live-action film The Thief of Baghdad, notably for the character of Jafar.
Shortly after its release, Aladdin spawned a TV series taking place after it, with a sequel entitled The Return of Jafar bridging the two together. Other 'sequels' to Aladdin revisiting the characters include the short Inside the Genie's Lamp, various comics, the series' finale Aladdin and the King of Thieves, and an episode of Hercules: The Series, entitled Hercules and the Arabian Knights.
The film went through many changes. For instance:
- Aladdin was originally meant to be a somewhat younger character, and his mother was going to play a large part in the plot, with making his mother proud as a major element of Aladdin's motivation. An entire song, Proud of your Boy, was cut following the decision to make Aladdin an orphan.
- Like in the original tale, the Genie's wishes were originally going to be unlimited; only later was the "3 wishes per master" introduced.
- Jafar's character was originally glaringly different, being a much more unhinged and psychotic villain as opposed to a cool, calculated threat. To balance things out, in this version, Iago wasn't a loudmouthed parrot but an ever-polite, British-accented cockatoo.
- As a result of Jafar's varying character, no less than four different villain songs were written for him: Humiliate the Boy (for the psychotic version), Why Me? (which, while more consistent with Jafar's final self, was felt to make him too comedic), My Finest Hour (which was cut for time), and finally Ousting Prince Ali, which was the song used in the final version.
- Early concepts had the Genie's head appear in the sands, as opposed to making the Cave of Wonders a character of his own.