Disney's live-action Aladdin dives much deeper into Jasmine's backstory revealing the dark
history of the young princess's mother and some hidden clues as to who was responsible
for her untimely death.
Yippee-ki-yay movie lovers, I'm Jan and in this video I'm revealing the secret truth
about Jasmine's mum and Jafar's nefarious connection to her past.
There will be discussing a few spoilers for Jasmine and Jafar's backstory, so just be
aware if you haven't seen the film yet.
And don't forget my Aladdin giveaway is also running, so be sure to subscribe and leave
a comment for your chance to win.
The live-action version of Aladdin modifies a number of things about the story in Disney's
original animation.
The crucial change for what we're discussing here is the conversation between Jasmine and
Aladdin when they first meet.
Aladdin says the princess "should get out [of the palace] more as the people haven't
seen her in years".
Jasmine, who's in disguise at this moment, tells Aladdin that the princess isn't allowed
to go outside because "ever since the queen was killed [...] the Sultan's been afraid
and [Jasmine's] been kept locked away."
Aladdin replies that since then it feels like everyone in Agrabah has been afraid and that
the people of the city didn't have anything to do with the queen's death.
In fact, he mentions that she was particularly loved by everyone.
Now, it sounds like the death of Jasmine's mother caused quite a stir and something about
it made the city's population fearful, meaning it very likely wasn't an accident, but rather
people suspected it of being an assassination.
Jasmine's mother was originally from the kingdom of Shehrabad, which in the world of Aladdin
is located in South Asia, and her wedding to the Sultan of Agrabah was an arranged marriage
that united the two countries to form an alliance.
Princess Jasmine's dual heritage means she's half South Asian and half Arab and it's why
her outfits in the new movie are inspired by South Asian clothing designs from her mother's
side of the family.
Against this backdrop, in the new movie, we also get a scene where Jafar is arguing with
the Sultan that Agrabah should be forming a military alliance with Prince Anders of
Skanland.
Jafar claims that Agrabah's enemies are amassing against them and he's annoyed when Jasmine
turns down the potential marriage alliance with Prince Anders who by the way brought
cannons with him to show off to Jasmine in a scene that was cut from the movie.
The villainous Royal Vizier is keen to start a war and he specifically mentions Shehrabad,
Jasmine's mother's homeland, as a target.
When the Sultan tells Jafar that Shehrabad is Agrabah's oldest ally and that they shouldn't
be dragged into war with them, Jafar replies that they used to be their ally.
It sounds like something happened that broke the close bond between Agrabah and Shehrabad,
and that event is very likely the suspicious nature of Jasmine's mother's death.
Before she became queen of Agrabah, she was probably a princess or other royalty in her
homeland and so her murder would have sent shockwaves in that part of the world.
In the live-action film, Jafar's backstory is also built up a lot more than in the original
animation.
And in a scene set in the dungeons, he gives a classic villain monologue explaining what
he's done to get to where he is today.
Just before he dispatches one of his minions down a well, Jafar reveals that he spent five
years in a Shehrabad jail and he also talks about "all the bodies he's buried."
So, let's connect all of these details together.
First of all, Jasmine's mother died in mysterious, suspicious circumstances.
Then we've got the fact that Jafar was previously imprisoned in Shehrabad, the South Asian kingdom
where Jasmine's mother is from.
And he's now scheming to convince the Sultan that Agrabah should be preparing for a war
with Shehrabad.
I'd say that it's very likely that Jafar plotted and carried out the murder of Jasmine's mother,
and that he did that for two big reasons.
By getting rid of the Sultan's wife, it made Jafar's rise to power much easier as it would
be simpler for him to get closer to the king and influence him, either just with his cunning
plans or with his hypnotic snake staff.
On top of that, Jafar seems hell-bent on trying to start a war with Shehrabad and an effective
way to provoke their people into that would be by killing their princess in suspicious
circumstances.
Jafar's personal reasons for wanting war are twofold.
First, he's probably itching to get revenge on the kingdom for incarcerating him for five
years.
We don't know exactly what he was doing in Shehrabad that got him locked up, but he did
reveal to Aladdin that he'd been a thief so perhaps it had something to do with how the
evil sorcerer got his magical snake staff.
In addition, starting such a war might create the necessary chaos that would enable Jafar
to overthrow the Sultan completely and take charge himself, for example if the Sultan
died in the war or if the war was too unpopular with the people of Agrabah.
Maybe he's like Littlefinger from Game of Thrones, and thinks he can end up on top by
climbing 'the ladder of chaos'.
And there's actually an intriguing hint as to what Jafar might have done to Jasmine's
mother in the original animation in the single scene where she was mentioned:
"I don't know where she gets it from.
Her mother wasn't nearly so picky.
Oh!
Ah, Jafar.
My most trusted advisor."
Notice how just after the Sultan talks about Jasmine's mother, Jafar arrives and his menacing
shadow falls over the Sultan.
Knowing what we now know from the new movie, I think we can read a lot more into the original
scene from the animation.
Now, there is also another interesting maternal connection that the new movie introduces in
a little moment where Jasmine picks up an oud and starts playing a tune.
Aladdin recognises it immediately and tells Jasmine that his mother taught him that song
and Jasmine says her mother did too.
Some fans have speculated this means that Aladdin and Jasmine's mothers are one and
the same, making Jasmine and Aladdin siblings.
Curiously, there is that funny scene in the animated movie where Jasmine has to pretend
to be Aladdin's sister after she's accosted for taking an apple from a merchant's cart
to give to/for a hungry child.
"You, uh, know this girl?
Sadly, yes.
She is my sister.
She's a little crazy."
"No harm done.
Now, come along, sis.
Time to go see the doctor.
Oh, hello, Doctor.
How are you?"
One possible explanation for the shared mother theory is that Jasmine's mum had an affair
or gave birth to Aladdin before she married the Sultan which would make Jasmine and Aladdin
half-sister and brother.
However, I think it's very unlikely Disney would imply this, as it would make Aladdin
and Jasmine's relationship incestuous going beyond Luke and Leia's kiss in Star Wars and
more full-on Game of Thrones.
The most likely explanation is that the song Jasmine plays for Aladdin is quite simply
a popular one and so was known by both their mothers.
Another possibility is that the song is from Shehrabad and that both their mothers have
some connection to that country.
In fact, the real meaning behind this moment is to show an additional emotional connection
between Jasmine and Aladdin, on top of the way in both movies each of them says they
feel trapped.
"You're always scraping for food and ducking the guards."
"You're not free to make your own choices."
"Sometimes you feel so..."
"You're just... ...trapped."
For Jasmine, her character arc in the new movie is much more about taking forward her
mother's legacy and helping the people of Agrabah.
At one point, Jasmine mentions that her mother would be unhappy at the state of Agrabah today
which is why Jasmine knows she would be the best ruler for the kingdom.
Originally in the animated movie, Aladdin also shared a strong emotional connection
to his mother.
That was deleted from the 1992 film, but was developed further in Disney's Broadway version
of the story, in particular with the song "Proud of Your Boy" which was initially written
for but ended up being scrapped from the animated movie.
And to learn more about all of the other changes in the new live-action film, tap here to watch
my full video on that and there's also a link in the video description.
Over the years, Disney has been criticised for its habit of killing off the mothers of
many of its characters, and in Aladdin, it's not just Jasmine whose mother is dead, but
Aladdin is also an orphan.
One theory is that after Walt Disney felt responsible for the death of his own mother,
the studio informally adopted a kind of "no mothers" policy in many of the stories they
developed.
"Do you have daddy issues?"
"I don't even have a mom."
"Neither do we!"
More recently Ron Clements, co-director of the 1992 Aladdin, said that the main reason
for dead parents in many of Disney's stories is that the original fairy tales on which
the films are based also have missing parents.
And it seems that Disney may be starting to address this issue.
The live-action remakes seem to have gone out of their way to introduce new backstories
for the protagonists' missing mothers.
Beauty and the Beast added a new song for the Beast called "Days In The Sun" in which
we learn that the prince's mother had died from an illness.
Likewise, Belle's mum is revealed to have died from the plague soon after her daughter's
birth, and there's a new song about her called "How Does A Moment Last Forever".
And in Cinderella, we learned that Ella's mother also died from an illness and it was
on her deathbed that she asked her daughter to promise to have courage and be kind.
In addition to that, Although Elsa and Anna's parents are [mainly] absent in Frozen and
Vanellope from Wreck-It Ralph admits she doesn't have a mum either, some of Disney's recent
animations such as Moana and Tangled do have mothers for their protagonists.
So, do you like the changes Disney made to Jasmine and Jafar in the new Aladdin movie?
Let me know what you think in the comments below and subscribe to enter my Aladdin giveaway!
For more details about all the other changes in the new Aladdin, tap left for my full video
on that or if you want to learn more about Disney's live-action movies, tap right for
my full playlist with more videos on Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Dumbo, Beauty and the Beast,
and Cinderella.
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!