Disney's Aladdin

The Disney Aladdin follows many tropes typical to a Disney film. Aladdin’s story arch in general is very common across multiple animated pictures. First of all, Aladdin starts as a poor boy that is deemed to be nothing by the general population, as seen by his first song about needing to eat to live and steal to eat. From this he has some innate ability that deems him worthy of some sort of prize, in this case the ability to go into the cave and retrieve the lamp. While he is perceived as dirt from the people of his town, his character supersedes his economic status in the eyes of more powerful forces. Then after attaining what he desired on his initial quest, he has a realization that it is not in reality what he wants. While he wanted to win the heart of Jasmine, he did not want to become sultan when it is brought to his attention. This can be seen also in Simba’s realization that his life with Timone and Pumba is worthless in The Lion King. This leads to another crucial aspect, the hero must suffer a fall from grace in the eyes of the individuals he holds dearest. Hercules loses Phil, Simba disappoints Nala, and Aladdin disappoints the Genie. It is their own pride and hubris that get in the way of their relationship with their closest friends. However, the hero redeems himself by saving the people who matter most, and most of all, making the morally right decision in the end. Again, Hercules decides to stay mortal with Meg, Simba decides against killing scar (although he dies at his own hand), and Aladdin eventually frees the Genie. At the end, everyone lives happily ever after with the love of those around them.

There are some extremely obvious differences between the movie and the original source material for Aladdin. Firstly, as aforementioned, Aladdin is not a random person who is tricked in to retrieving the lamp. He is instead selected by the omnipotent knowledge of the cave as worthy of retrieving said lamp. As well, the Genie and Jasmine see extremely boosted character roles. The Genie, who is now limited to granting three wishes which adds a necessary conflict in Aladdin’s quest, is given a large personality thanks to Robin Williams. There is also only one Genie instead of two. Jasmine, first of all, is given a name. (How progressive) Her character also is centered around her wanting to take control of her own life, and turn away from the objectification of the current laws. What is interesting is that Aladdin, Genie, and Jasmine share a key trait to the story arch: each of them wants what they don’t have. Although Jasmine is rich, she desires the freedom of Aladdin, which is similar to the Genie’s desire for freedom despite being all-powerful. Aladdin, accustomed and tired of the street life, desires to be rich and live in the palace. Jafar becomes the main antagonist of the story. While his character is generally just a bystander, as even his advice to the sultan are brushed off, in the Disney version he is a full-fledged power-hungry maniac, who will stop at nothing until he is all-powerful. This eventually leads to his downfall, as Aladdin utilizes Jafar’s fatal flaw to trap him back into a lamp once he becomes a Genie.