Aladdin

Year of release : 1992

 

Run time : 1h27min

 

Genre : Animation / Musical / Fantasy / Comedy / Family

 

Cast / The voices of : Robin Williams

 

 

Aladdin is based on the Arabic folktale "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp ",from the "1001 nights".

 

Jafar, the evil sorcerer and royal vizier of the fictional city Agrabah (apparently based on Baghdad) is looking for a man-stupid and gullible- if possible, who'd enter the secret and sentient Cave of Wonders, to take and bring him a magic lamp.

The spirit of the Cave of Wonders tells them when it engulfed his last contender, that only a "diamond in the rough" can enter.

So,Jafar starts looking for him.

 

Aladdin is a street thief, who steals food to survive. He is followed by the royal army,and after he escapes them,and wants to eat the bread he stole, he sees two kids looking through the garbage,so he gives them his bread. He has a loyal friend in the monkey Abu.

 

Jafar finds that Aladdin is the diamond in the rough, so he sends the royal guards for him.

 

Jasmine is the princess of Agrabah who is upset she has to marry a prince,instead of marrying whom she loves. She has a trusted tiger friend, Raba, whom she leaves,as she flees the palace.

She meets Aladdin,as she thinks life outside the palace is just like at the palace,if you see something you can take it for free,no consequences (this just makes her stupid,you'd think living at the palace she'd be smart and wise). So, she gets into trouble with a vendor, and is rescued by Aladdin.

 

The royal army finds them,and Aladdin is put in jail,while Jasmine is taken back to court,where Jafar is hypnotizing the sultan into saying what he wants,as he wants the kingdom,so to marry Jasmine.

 

In jail, Jafar comes to Aladdin as an old prisoner who tells him about the treasure, and helps him escape.

He takes him to the Cave of Wonders,and Aladdin finds the lamp. He takes it, but Abu takes a precious stone,so the Cave crumbles upon itself,trying to keep them in.

 

He manages to escape,as the lamp revealed a genie,who gets him out. He made a new friend in the magic carpet,who followed them when they entered the cave.

 

Aladdin asks the genie to make him a rich prince in order to impress and get Jasmine,and promises his third and final wish will be to set him free.

 

Jasmine is not impressed by Aladdin as the prince,and she realizes he is the boy she met on the street,the boy she thought Jafar ordered to be killed for having kidnapped her.

 

Jafar is not a quitter,so he kidnaps Aladdin not knowing he's the prince and tries to k!lls him by tying him up and throwing him in the water. Aladdin is rescued by the genie.

 

Jafar realizes the prince is Aladdin, and takes his lamp,asking the genie to make him the sultan. Aladdin decides to rescue the princess and kingdom.

 

The animation was entertaining, it had everything, action, comedy,romance..and few musical episodes.

 

What took me out of the movie was the fact it was set in the islamic era,as they kept on saying 'Allah',but under islam, a woman can't dress the way she did,especially as a princess,maybe a concubine would. A woman can't leave the house alone either,as she'd be immediately kidnapped,r@ped or worse. And also, she has no say in whom she marries, and if she refuses she can be beat3n, and even honor k!lled.

 

The actors were good, to me the best seemed Robin Williams who played the genie.

 

The soundtrack was fine, unlike other Disney classics,this one didn't have that many songs.

 

You can watch Aladdin here,for free : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJV88qmWA6M&ab_channel=HighDefinitionMovies-Free

 

Rating : Worth a watch !