Disney Princess Review: Aladdin

Aladdin

Aladdin has to be one of the most unique animated filmsfind it more akin to a standard 80’s film where the male does everything he can to get the girl. You have the underdog (Aladdin), his trio of great friends (Abu/Carpet/Genie), the dream girl (Jasmine), and the rival/villain/jerk (Jafar), with his lackey (Iago). Aladdin is a great movie, and not just because we finally leave Europe as a setting. Out of all the Princess films this was the first to give a kind of modern feel to it. Not just in the Genie but in the dialogue of Iago and Aladdin and that is not a bad thing you could actually almost compare this film to Shrek in some ways but this film is still better. One thing that makes this film a bit different is that it has a lot more action than the other films and more energy in my opinion. I remember seeing this movie in theaters and I have to say, the scene where Jafar is chasing the golden scarab is one of the best scenes ever. Speaking of Jafar, let us give this tall dark and sinister ugly man some credit. He makes a great villain, serving as the manipulator in Agrabah and while he does not have as much fun as Ursula or Maleficent, I think this helps him stay focused like Scar. The man is also very hands on, as opposed to some of the more prominent Disney villains. Iago personally is one of my favorite characters, mostly because in Return of Jafar, he does not really become a good guy as much as he just stops being the “bad guy”. I mean Return of Jafar was really Iagos story anyway.

Music wise, the film really does sell the idea of the Renaissance which was bringing a bit of Broadway to the films. We saw this growing from the Little Mermaid where the music was big but self contained and taken further in Beauty and Beast with "Belle". Aladdin takes it further with a lot of the numbers being big and open, in "One Jump" and "Prince Ali", we see just how big they can get visually and vocally. "A Whole New World" is one of the first songs to naturally be a duet as opposed to "Beauty and the Beast" being a duet as an alternate version in itself. 

As a series the three films are actually really good and possibly the best Disney trilogy; if the only one. Using the animated series as a point helps tell a great story with Aladdin understanding more of who he is and what he wants. The relationship between him and Jasmine is strenghtned because you do feel that they really love each other hand have great chemistry together. 

Now unlike Beauty and Beast and like The Lion King, there is some controversy with this film. The movie The Thief and the Cobbler, shares many similarities with Aladdin. A somewhat similar plot (I do not think so), characters (only the Princess really), scenes, background designs and similarities between the designs and mannerisms between Zig-Zag, Jafar and Genie have led people to thinking that Aladdin is a rip-off. Now let us look at that again. The making of the Thief and the Cobbler began in 1960 and was released in 1993, while Aladdin was released in 1992. The Thief and the Cobbler was bought by Miramax (Disney owned) who purchased and re-edited the film leading Cobbler to be believed to be a copy of Aladdin. Debates and arguments spread about this in some small circles, I view it as unimportant. First of all, the two movies do not have that similar a plot, nor do the characters have enough in common to actually consider either film similar enough to warrant this claim.

  The biggest aspect of this film is the late Robin Williams. There is a bit of a fun story to that, one that is interwoven to the Aladdin series and Disney itself. Mr. Williams agreed to be paid SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Scale in exchange for his role being played down in marketing. This would mean that his image would not take more 25% of the space on advertisements. For those of you that still have your VHS copies and remember the trailers you can guess how that worked out. This is why Williams walked out and was not present in the second movie. When Disney hired Joe Roth to replace Katzenberg, he issued a public apology to Williams and he returned for the third film. Williams is of course the most memorable and possibly brilliant part of the franchise, and became one of the best and most memorable characters of Disney.

One a personal note I rather view this film about being trapped. Aladdin is trapped in his identity as a Street Rat, Jasmine is trapped in hers as a Princess, while Genie is trapped as a Genie (could they not think of a name?) and even with Jafar who is trapped (technically) in his role as royal advisor when he wants more, and then gets trapped as a genie. This essentially works again when Aladdin takes the identity of Prince Ali, this identity impresses everyone, but finds later on that he has trapped himself in a lie, and that he can’t be Aladdin anymore. Aladdin only gets the girl by removing both of his societal identities and just acts like Aladdin, the man behind the rags and the silk. With Genie, who wants to be free and not a genie does go out of his way to not be a genie and his impressions could be attempts to distance himself, when he works for Jafar he acts and looks like a typical genie. This is also why the film is unique as it helps us believe that Aladdin and Jasmine can work. They actually talk about themselves and they can relate to each other. This is not a matter of destiny, or one amazing act of magic, or imprisonment. It really starts out as two people meeting and having chemistry naturally.

Now on to Princess Jasmine. First, she is the first princess of color and she is the first one to flaunt her attractiveness like when she tricks “Prince Ali” and distracts Jafar. Out of all the Disney Princesses I think she may be one of the few who actually acts like a Princess and uses that power and understanding, she goes to other countries to strengthen ties with other kingdoms and looks out for the people of Agrabah though this is mostly shown in the animated series. In the movies she does take charge of some situations, using the fact that she is the princess and even knowing that when she is queen she will be able to remove people from her service. Like Belle she is not really looking for “Prince Charming” but wants to marry for love and not because of a law; she really just wants a friend and I like that is in a way the basis for their marriage. She is also very strong willed, evidence in the fact that despite Jafar going from Sultan to ALL POWERFUL SORCERER, she still refuses his advances and threats. 

Jasmine does however have a flaw that seems to be brought up in the first movie and that is her lack of knowledge of her own culture. Not only does she disobey her father, but she runs away being unaccompanied by a man, keeps her face unveiled and even steals. She also has an issue where she thinks that she can handle anything and at times picks a fight with the wrong person, like Chaos in the animated series, who she orders to leave (which only made things worse) her palace. Jasmine at times comes off as believing she can handle anything because she is a bit smarter than most people she meets and gets too used to it, giving her a bit of an ego. I think she suffers as a character because none of the films and only a small amount of episodes really deals with that. If you look at her as a whole, movies and animated series you really get a full character. She can be opinionated and strong willed, which I think would be tempered with age. I could see her being the girl who does things to prove she can do them,  a potential valedictorian and maybe even a basis not just Mulan but Kim Possible as well. Personally I would say her grade is an even B to a B+