Disney's animated classic Aladdin is one of the studio's most treasured movies, but after
many years of rewatching it, fans have unearthed some surprising plot holes, problems and mistakes
in the original animation.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, I'm Jan and in this video I'm explaining how the live-action
remake of Aladdin fixes many of those issues from the 1992 movie.
Some spoilers ahead so take care 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.
Let's kick off with the popular fan theory that the Genie failed to grant Aladdin all
of his three wishes in the original movie.
"Wish fulfillment?"
"Three wishes, to be exact.
And ixnay on the wishing for more wishes."
It's the second wish where the Genie saves Aladdin from drowning which is the most problematic.
In both the animation and the new film, Aladdin is tied up and has passed out so even though
his hand brushes against the lamp, he can't ask for a wish from the Genie.
"You can't cheat on this one.
I can't help unless you make a wish.
You have to say, "Genie, I want you to save my life."
Got it?"
Many fans think that because Aladdin never explicitly asked for his second wish
"Now, is that an official wish?
Say the magic words."
That technically the Genie never gave that second wish to Aladdin.
The new movie has a neat little fix for this issue by introducing the idea of "grey areas"
when it comes to genies granting wishes.
"Hey, can you make me a prince?"
"There is a lot of grey area in 'make me a prince'."
So, when Aladdin is on the verge of drowning in the new movie, the Genie creates a back-dated
contract and moves Aladdin's hand to sign it.
The document which is dated the day before Aladdin was pushed into the sea declares that
for his second wish he wants "to be saved from certain doom."
This "grey area" that the Genie uses is a sneaky way to resolve how many wishes were
granted to Aladdin and it's also used again later in the movie when the Genie grants Jafar
his three wishes.
By the way, the filmmakers are clearly aware that the audience may be checking on how many
wishes are granted in the new movie because just before he grants Aladdin his first wish
to become a prince, the Genie says this is "an official wish for those of us who are
counting."
In the original "A Whole New World" song, Aladdin and Jasmine fly all the way from Agrabah,
past the pyramids in Egypt, through Greece and finally end up in China all in just one
night.
Although it's supposed to be a fantastical sequence in the animation, it's a pretty tall
feat over such a short time even for a magic carpet.
As explained in the official Art and Making of Aladdin book, the live-action movie aims
to give this scene a greater sense of realism, so instead of an international flight, this
time the magic carpet takes Jasmine and Aladdin on a tour of the area and coastline surrounding
Agrabah.
Changing the locations in the magic carpet ride and finishing back in Agrabah rather
than China also gives an opportunity for the film to further highlight Jasmine's love for
her people and country.
And speaking of Princess Jasmine, there are some problematic moments in the original animation
that the filmmakers were clearly keen to avoid in the new movie.
Jasmine was only 15 years old in the original film, being a few days away from turning 16.
And so the scene where she seduces Jafar to distract him from Aladdin's arrival feels
rather icky.
For the remake, Disney obviously didn't want to recreate a scene of a 15- or 16-year old
Jasmine in chains and a skin-baring outfit who has to seduce a much older man, and is
then trapped in an hourglass.
That part of the old movie is scrapped in the new version and updated by giving Jasmine
much more agency and her own song "Speechless", the name of which, by the way, is a neat call-back
to the moment in the animated movie where the young princess was being forced to marry
Jafar: "You will wed Jafar."
"You're speechless, I see.
A fine quality in a wife."
"I will never marry you!"
In both stories, Jafar's final wish is his undoing as he ends up trapped as a genie in
a magic lamp.
"You wanted to be a genie... you got it."
"What?"
"And everything that goes with it."
"Phenomenal cosmic powers..."
"You're the genie.
I don't want..."
"Itty bitty living space."
The problem with how it happens in the original film is that because Jafar is already in command
of the Genie, he really should have realised that becoming a genie would make him a captive.
The original film basically relies on Jafar acting rather stupidly at this point.
The new movie fixes this issue in two steps.
First of all, Jafar specifically asks to become "the most powerful being in the universe",
more powerful than the Genie himself.
Notice that Jafar doesn't ask to become a genie, presumably because he realises that
would involve him being enslaved.
Secondly, the Genie uses some of the latitude he has when it comes to interpreting wishes
to purposely give Jafar a bad outcome.
Just before granting Jafar's wish, the Genie craftily mutters, "a lot of grey area in that",
then turns him into a powerful giant red genie, which, of course, dooms Jafar to live inside
a new magic lamp.
The big change made to the Genie's behaviour in the new movie is that the "grey area" he
has when granting wishes means he can be a lot more manipulative.
For example, when Aladdin made his first wish, the Genie went out of his way to warn him
that he needed to be careful with his words.
"Be specific in your words.
The deal is in the detail."
However, the Genie deliberately didn't offer Jafar the same advice and instead decided
to interpret the villain's final wish as negatively as possible.
Something that fans of the original animation had wondered about for years was whether the
Peddler who introduced the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp was meant to be the Genie
in human form, especially as Robin Williams voiced both characters.
"Ah, salaam, and good evening to you, worthy friend.
Perhaps you would like to hear the tale?
It begins on a dark night..."
In fact, as the filmmakers acknowledged in a Blu-ray commentary for the film, they had
always planned for the connection between the Peddler and the Genie to be completely
obvious by having the Peddler reappear at the very end, just after Jasmine and Aladdin's
final kiss, as the original workprint for the movie also shows.
"Ah happy end to the tale!
Are you sure you don't want to buy this lamp?
Like I told you, things are never quite what they seem, are they?
Hahahahaha.."
The good news is that in the 2019 movie, it's very clear that the Genie and the narrator
at the beginning of the film are one and the same, which fixes the lost connection from
the 1990s animation.
When Prince Ali parades into Agrabah and stomps into the palace on his elephant, it's a truly
spectacular and fun moment in the original movie.
However, it seems rather strange that everyone appears to simply take the new Prince Ali
at his word about where he's from and whether he's even a real prince.
"Prince Ali Ababwa.
Of course.
I'm delighted to meet you."
To fix this and make things more realistic in the live-action movie, it's made clear
that both Jasmine and Jafar have never heard of Ababwa and they both investigate further.
Jasmine confronts Prince Ali, telling him that she can't find Ababwa on any of her maps.
Aladdin does manage to continue his ruse with a little help from the Genie who adds Ababwa
onto one of Jasmine's maps, although Jafar figures out quite quickly that Ababwa is a
made-up place.
In the original animation, just before the Cave of Wonders allows Aladdin to enter, it
instructs him: "Proceed.
Touch nothing but the lamp."
Although those instructions seem pretty straightforward, in other words, "don't touch anything except
the lamp", some fans have quibbled that there's a few occasions where Aladdin and Abu do just
that with no penalty.
For example, they both have contact with the magic carpet and Aladdin also clearly puts
his hands on some of the rocks at one point.
The live-action movie fixes this issue by modifying the cave's rules.
This time Jafar tells Aladdin to "take no other treasure" and "to take nothing but the
lamp".
It's a subtle change, but the difference is that in the animation the rule was basically
"don't touch" and in the live-action it's "don't take".
That small rule change clarifies that it's OK to touch or step on anything as long as
you don't try to take it.
This is doubly-important in the new movie, because the cave is littered with treasure
everywhere so much so that it's impossible for Aladdin to navigate his way through without
touching any of it.
The depiction of the characters and culture in the original Aladdin is something that
Disney's been criticised for as it draws on numerous negative stereotypes.
When the film was released in 1992, the lyrics to the opening song "Arabian Nights" originally
included the line "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face".
To address some of the criticism around that song, for the home entertainment release Disney
changed the line to "Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense", but did retain the
next line "It's barbaric, but hey, it's home".
Many still objected to use of the word "barbaric" and so for the remake, Disney rewrote much
of the song to avoid such controversy this time around.
Likewise in the new movie, when Jasmine can't pay for the food she gives to a couple of
poor children, the merchant doesn't threaten to chop off her hand like he did in the animation.
"Do you know what the penalty is for stealing?"
There is a little nod to the original moment though in how he grabs hold of her arm, but
that's as far as it goes.
The "Prince Ali" lyrics have also been corrected and updated.
The original line "Sunday Salaam" has been changed to "Friday Salaam" to reflect correctly
that Friday is the Muslim holy day.
And the line in "Prince Ali" that "he's got slaves, he's got servants and flunkies" has
had the 'slaves' reference removed and been updated to "he's got ten thousand servants
and flunkies".
Jasmine and Aladdin's clothing in the new film has also been updated to be more practical,
realistic and less revealing.
It's unlikely that a princess would have walked around in that top all of the time, so now
Jasmine gets some beautiful new outfits but which keep her midriff covered up.
The costume designers added a nod to Jasmine's bare midriff in the animation by adding a
flesh-coloured piece of fabric in the tummy area of Jasmine's dress.
Similarly, in the animated movie, Aladdin is bare-chested when he isn't Prince Ali,
but Disney covered him up with a shirt so they wouldn't have a topless Aladdin in the
live-action version.
And the three harem girls in the "One Jump Ahead" song have also been replaced this time
around with a group of modestly-dressed schoolgirls.
Now, did you spot any plot holes or mistakes in the new movie?
Let me know in the comments below and subscribe to enter my Aladdin giveaway!
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Tap left to learn all about Jasmine and Jafar's dark secret history in my Aladdin theory video
or tap right for another video you're sure to like.
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!