Next up is Aladdin, and I’m watching it with my friends Elizabeth and Victoria. I like this movie, and I’ve also listened to the Broadway soundtrack quite a bit, so this should be fun.
The sketchy cave is obviously threatening. Why did this guy go in?!
I love how Aladdin and Abu match.
“Rip him open, take it back guys” is really violent if you think about it too much.
Magic Carpet foreshadowing.
“Why are his eyebrows not white, but his beard is?” -Victoria
Key question: Where are the servants, caretakers, etc., aside for Jafar in the palace?
“Why did Jasmine wear all of her jewelry?” -Elizabeth
Related question, why didn’t Jasmine bring money when she left?
Abu is so done with this conversation.
Why does Jafar outrank Jasmine? He’s not part of the royal family. It’s probably because she’s a girl. Does Jasmine only have authority once she’s married?
Raja’s such a sweetheart.
Abu can also pick locks apparently.
Creepy old guy. Let’s just follow what he says without questioning it at all.
Is Abu a diamond in the rough too? Or is Aladdin allowed to bring guests? Or do pets not count as other people?
Abu, you have one job. Don’t blow it.
Why is the lamp not forbidden, but everything else is? That seems really arbitrary.
Why doesn’t Disney make a ride based on this sequence?
“Jafar has done something terrible.” Shocked, I am shocked, I tell you.
I love that Abu took the lamp purely out of spite because Jafar wanted it. He and Aladdin think it’s worthless right now.
And cue Robin Williams!
I like how Aladdin just goes with it when Genie throws his HEAD at him.
What happened to Jasmine?
I feel like the Sultan is really downplaying the fact that Jafar supposedly KILLED someone and expecting Jasmine to get over it in like 5 minutes.
“Well, I feel sheepish.” Ba-dum-tshh!
I like the motif of freedom in this movie, and how it means different things to different characters (Jasmine wants to be outside, Aladdin wants wealth and the ability to do what he wants, the Genie wants to be his own master).
I feel like Jafar wrote this marriage “law” like five minutes ago.
“I’m such a great judge of character, this man is certainly not lying about everything he says.”-- The Sultan, probably.
You tell ‘em Jasmine! You aren’t a prize to be won.
Why was Jasmine’s first question to Ali not “how did you get in my room?”
So ready for this song. Lea Salonga is so awesome!
Epic fail Aladdin!
You sit on a throne of lies Aladdin. (Quite literally, I might add, since he would next in line for the throne if he married Jasmine).
He pulls out an Aladdin script!
“...the part of Aladdin will be played by a tall, dark, and ugly man.” Lol. But seriously, can we talk about the total difference in character design between the “bad” characters and the “good” ones? This has been mentioned before, but generally the “good guys” tend to have lighter skin and more Americanized features. Seems a bit problematic, especially when the movie is not necessarily taking place in America.
“That’s Sultan Vile Betrayer to you.”
Aladdin lucked out so many times in this movie.
Jafar makes an awful lot of puns while trying to kill people.
So it’s this easy to fix the law, why were we so concerned about the marriage deadline?
Overall, it was a very enjoyable movie to watch. The soundtrack is really good, and of course Robin Williams is hilarious as the Genie. However, looking at it more critically, I can see how a some scenes, specifically the opening, draw on some negative stereotypes, which I’m sure we’ll discuss more in class. I’m interested to learn more about the implications of this. Similarly to Pocahontas, I’m curious if they did much research to understand the culture they were attempting to convey (which I assume is loosely based on the Middle East, although that may be not 100% accurate), or if they just went with stereotypes.
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