Coming up next is Disney's 1992 film (and enduring classic) "Aladdin", the timeless tale of a poor young man who impersonates a prince, risks everything for the love of a princess, and saves a kingdom. (This is also my absolute favorite Disney film.) The film's voice cast includes Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried, Douglas Seale, and Jim Cummings.
Royal vizir Jafar is out to find a treasure. Not just A treasure, THE treasure. He wants a lamp that contains a genie who will grant three wishes. The lamp is contained inside the Cave of Wonders, but only a "Diamond in the Rough" can enter.
We cut to the streets of Agrabah, where a poor young man named Aladdin and his pet monkey Abu are reduced to stealing to secure their meals.
Aladdin has to dodge a whole gang of palace guards in order to secure his breakfast.
He finally loses them at Crazy Hakim's Discount Fertilizer stand. Crazy Hakim doesn't seem to care. He just scoops another load onto the pile.
We find out that Aladdin is kind-hearted. He offers his half of a bread loaf to some poor children who are fishing through garbage for their meal. After taking a bite, Abu grudgingly gives over his half as well.
From Aladdin's "home", we see that he has an amazing view of the palace of Agrabah. He wonders what it would be like to live there. The thing is, there is a person inside the palace that wonders what life must be like where Aladdin is.
That lady is Princess Jasmine, the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah. She's just thrown out another suitor who has come to claim her hand. The law of the land says that Jasmine must be married to a prince by her next birthday. She tells her father that the law is wrong, and she should be allowed to marry whom she wants. The Sultan is frustrated and storms off.
He runs off to play with his toys, which seem to be a miniature of the city of Agrabah.
Jafar comes to the Sultan and says he might have a solution to the problem with his daughter, but it will require the use of the mystic blue diamond. "My ring?" asks the Sultan incredulously. After Jafar uses his staff to control him, the Sultan hands over the ring. Jafar later uses it to find out that the "Diamond in the Rough" he is seeking is Aladdin.
Meanwhile, Princess Jasmine has escaped the palace. Aladdin saves her life in the marketplace. He shows her the view of Agrabah from his "house". They have an instant connection.
The palace guards catch up with Aladdin and arrest him. Jasmine reveals herself as the Princess and orders his release. Razoul, the captain of the guards, tells her he is under orders from Jafar.
When she confronts Jafar over the arrest, he tells her that Aladdin's sentence has already been carried out: death by beheading. Jasmine is heartbroken.
Jafar disguises himself as an old prisoner in the jail. He convinces Aladdin to help him and he will give him treasure enough to impress a princess. "You've heard of the Golden Rule haven't you?" asks Jafar. "Whoever has the gold makes the rules," he says with a showing of his hideous teeth.
They journey to the Cave of Wonders and Aladdin is granted entrance. He's told to touch nothing but the lamp.
The inside is filled with treasure. Abu has a hard time keeping his hands to himself and Aladdin constantly has to remind him of their mission.
They meet up with a magic carpet who, after initially scaring Abu, shows them the way to the lamp.
Aladdin's got a lot of climbing to do if he wants to get to the lamp. It's at the top of a very steep rock formation.
Abu, however, sees a very large ruby that he wants. Carpet does everything he can to keep Abu away from it.
Aladdin reaches the lamp. He doesn't have it for long when trouble begins.
Abu touched the ruby and it immediately melted, sending the entire place into an exploding lava inferno. After narrowly escaping, Jafar throws them back into the cave after getting the lamp. Sticky-fingered Abu, however, steals it back.
Now stuck in the cave with no way out, Carpet advises Aladdin to rub the lamp. He does and is shocked when a real live Genie emerges.
He sings a dazzling number called "Friend Like Me", in which he showcases all the things he can offer Aladdin.
The genie proceeds to tell Aladdin that he's got three wishes. Three limitations as well: he can't kill anyone, he can't make anyone fall in love, and he can't bring anyone back from the dead. Aladdin "doubts" the Genie's abilities and tricks him into helping them escape from the cave.
When Genie finds out, he's shocked that he could've let something like that slip by him.
When Aladdin asks him what he would wish for, the Genie says he would want to be free. Aladdin says he'll use his third wish to the set him free. Genie doesn't think he'll do it.
Aladdin asks Genie to make him a prince so that he can woo Princess Jasmine according to the dictates of the law. Looking through his recipe book, Genie finds a listing for "Alaskan King Crab" (which looks suspiciously like Sebastian from "The Little Mermaid").
He makes Aladdin look the part, and even turns Abu into an elephant. Next comes the entourage. "Hang on to your turban, kid. We're gonna make you a star!" says the Genie.
Back in Agrabah, the Sultan is playing with his toys (Sultan problems, I tell ya). Jafar comes in and says that he's found a new law that says if the princess doesn't find a suitable husband by her birthday, she can wed the royal vizir (a law Jafar trumped up so that he could be in power). Just then, a noise distracts them. (Side note: Anyone notice the Beast from "Beauty and the Beast" among the Sultan's toys? Rumor has it that in that movie, Belle is referencing Aladdin as her favorite story: far off places, daring swordfights, magic spells, a prince in disguise, etc. Sounds suspiciously like our story.)
It's Aladdin (or Prince Ali Ababwa as he's now known) making a huge splash as he enters the streets of Agrabah.
Prince Ali comes flying into the palace on his magic carpet. The Sultan is delighted. Jafar, however, is not. "If we're lucky, you won't have to marry Jasmine after all," says the Sultan with a smile. Jasmine isn't thrilled with her latest suitor. It's up to Aladdin to work his charm and magic to bring about the connection he knows they had (without revealing his true identity).
When he sees her that night, Jasmine is intrigued by his flying carpet, and he offers her a ride.
She takes him up on his offer and they go "soaring, tumbling, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky."
During the ride, Jasmine begins to suspect that Prince Ali is in fact Aladdin. She confronts him, but he tells her that he was a prince in disguise that day. They return to the palace after a wonderful night.
That night, Jafar has Aladdin bound, gagged, and thrown into the ocean. Unconscious, Aladdin has to use one of his wishes to have Genie rescue him. (He does this by nodding his head, which Genie takes as a yes.)
Aladdin makes it back to the palace just in time to expose Jafar as someone who's been controlling the Sultan with his snake staff. The Sultan orders Jafar arrested, but Jafar escapes. Jasmine tells her father that she wants to marry Prince Ali.
Aladdin tells the Genie that he can't wish him free. He needs to use his third wish to keep up the "Prince" charade. The Genie is understandably hurt and retreats into the lamp.
Jafar's parrot Iago makes a diversion and steals the lamp. He brings it to Jafar who eagerly wants to make his first wish.
Jafar's first wish is to become the Sultan of Agrabah. When that fails to incite the proper respect he feels he deserves, he resorts to his second wish.
His second wish is to be the most powerful sorcerer on Earth. He quickly exposes Prince Ali as Aladdin in front of Jasmine, who is surprised. But before anything can be said, he whisks Aladdin off to a very cold climate.
Things have taken a turn in Agrabah. Aladdin returns with the help of Carpet. Jasmine sees this and attempts to seduce Jafar (to the mortification of Genie) in an attempt to distract him from seeing what Aladdin is up to.
Aladdin tricks Jafar into believing that Genie is more powerful. Jafar says he'll take care of that and uses his third wish to become a genie. Jafar is thrilled with the power he can feel coursing through him.
Unfortunately for him, he's now bound to the lamp. Genie sends him packing to the Cave of Wonders for a few thousand years.
Aladdin uses his final wish to the set Genie free. He hugs Aladdin goodbye as he leaves to see the world on his own terms.
The Sultan changes the law, and allows Jasmine to marry whomever she deems worthy. She chooses Aladdin, and the two ride off on a magic carpet ride once again. Cast rundown:
Scott Weinger................................Aladdin
Robin Williams...............................Genie
Linda Larkin..................................Princess Jasmine
Douglas Seale................................Sultan of Agrabah
Jim Cummings...............................Razoul And that's all for Aladdin. Robin Williams did some incredible work as the voice of the Genie. After the finished film, the producers found they had some 16 hours of ad-libbed material. Most of Williams' work was ad-libbed and inserted into the film. He won a special Golden Globe for his performance. As always, if you wish to leave a comment, please remember our posting rules.
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