Animated feature about a street-smart young thief in the mythical city of
Agrabah who meets and falls in love with the Sultan's beautiful daughter,
Jasmine, a liberated young lady who seeks to escape her present lifestyle.
Help comes when the evil vizier, Jafar, plots to get a magic lamp for his
own rise to power, and decides he needs Aladdin, a true "diamond in the
rough," to seek the lamp in the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin and his friend,
the monkey Abu, gain the lamp and the wisecracking Genie inside for themselves.
The Genie changes Aladdin into a prince so he can woo the princess, but the
deception fails to impress Jasmine. As his true self, however, he uses his
cunning and courage, with the help of the Genie, to defeat Jafar and his evil
plans, in the end earning a princely title and the princess.
Computer-generated imagery enabled the filmmakers to create the amazing magic
carpet ride through the Cave of Wonders, the intricately patterned carpet
itself, and the stunning tiger head cave.
The idea of adapting the Aladdin story as a Disney animated musical was first
proposed by Howard Ashman in 1988 when he and Alan Menken were still working
on "The Little Mermaid." He wrote an initial treatment and collaborated
on six songs with Menken, including "Arabian Nights," "Friend
Like Me," and "Prince Ali." After Ashman's death in 1991, Tim
Rice came on board to write some additional songs, notably "One Jump
Ahead" and "A Whole New World." The art directors were influenced
by Persian miniatures and Arabian calligraphy. Supervising animator Eric Goldberg,
who created the Genie, was the first animator to work on the project. He was
heavily influenced by the curved, fluid caricature style of artist Al Hirschfeld.
The film became the highest-grossing animated film up to that time, earning
over $200 million internationally. The film also won Academy Awards® for
Best Song ("A Whole New World") and Best Original Score. The video
release in 1993 also set records.
Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. Starring: the voices of Scott Weinger
(Aladdin), Robin Williams (Genie), Jonathan Freeman (Jafar), Linda Larkin
(Jasmine speaking), Lea Salonga (Jasmine singing), and Gilbert Gottfried (Iago).
90 min. There were two made-for-video sequels: "The Return of Jafar"
and "Aladdin and the King of Thieves."