Aladdin (1992 Disney film)
Aladdin is a 1992 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the Arabic folktale "Aladdin" from One Thousand and One Nights. The film was produced and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements from a screenplay they cowrote with the writing team, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Featuring the voices of Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried and Douglas Seale, the film follows the titular Aladdin, an Arabian street urchin who finds a magic lamp containing a genie. With the genie's help, Aladdin disguises as a wealthy prince and tries to impress the Sultan of Agrabah to win the heart of his free-spirited daughter, Princess Jasmine, as the Sultan's evil vizier, Jafar, plots to steal the magic lamp.
Aladdin
- Ron Clements
- John Musker
- Ted Elliott
- Terry Rossio
- Burny Mattinson
- Roger Allers
- Daan Jippes
- Kevin Harkey
- Sue Nichols
- Francis Glebas
- Darrell Rooney
- Larry Leker
- James Fujii
- Kirk Hanson
- Kevin Lima
- Rebecca Rees
- David S. Smith
- Chris Sanders
- Brian Pimental
- Patrick A. Ventura
- John Musker
- Ron Clements
- November 11, 1992[4]
90 minutes
United States
English
$28 million[5]
$504.1 million[5]
Lyricist Howard Ashman pitched the idea, and the screenplay went through three drafts before Disney Studios president, Jeffrey Katzenberg, agreed to its production. The animators based their designs on the work of caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, and computers were used for both finishing the artwork and creating some animated elements. The musical score was composed by Alan Menken, and features six songs with lyrics written by both Ashman and Tim Rice, the latter of whom took over following Ashman's death.
Aladdin was released November 11, 1992. It received positive reviews from critics (particularly for Williams's performance). It was a commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1992, with an earning of over $504 million in worldwide box-office revenue. On release, it became the first animated feature to reach the half-billion-dollar mark, and was the highest-grossing animated film of all time until it was surpassed by The Lion King.
Aladdin garnered two Academy Awards, as well as other accolades for its soundtrack, which had the first number from a Disney feature to earn a Grammy Award for Song of the Year, for the film's "A Whole New World", sung by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle. The film's home VHS release set a sales record, grossing approximately $500 million in the United States. Aladdin's success led to various derived works and other material inspired by the film, including two direct-to-video sequels, The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves, the latter an animated television series, and a Broadway adaptation. A live-action film adaptation directed by Guy Ritchie was released May 24, 2019.
Plot[edit]
Jafar, a sorcerer and the royal vizier of the Middle Eastern city of Agrabah, seeks a lamp hidden within the Cave of Wonders that only "the diamond in the rough" can retrieve. Meanwhile, Princess Jasmine is unsatisfied with her sheltered life in the palace. One day, she escapes the palace and encounters a street urchin, Aladdin, and his pet monkey, Abu. As a bond between Aladdin and Jasmine develops, Jafar has the palace guards capture Aladdin, during which Jasmine reveals herself. She confronts Jafar to demand Aladdin's release, but he fools her into believing that Aladdin has been beheaded.
Disguised as an elderly beggar, Jafar frees Aladdin and Abu and orders them to retrieve the lamp from the cave. The guardian grants Aladdin entry, but warns him to touch only the lamp. Aladdin finds both the lamp and a magic carpet inside, but Abu grabs a large jewel and triggers a cave-in. Aladdin gives the lamp to Jafar, who throws him and Abu into the cave, although not before Abu steals it back. Later, Aladdin rubs the lamp and meets the Genie, who lives inside. The Genie grants Aladdin three wishes, although Aladdin tricks him to free them from the cave without using a wish. On learning the Genie's desire to be released from servitude, Aladdin promises to use his last wish to free him. To woo Jasmine, Aladdin uses his first wish to become a prince.
At the suggestion of Jafar's parrot minion, Iago, Jafar plots a marriage between himself and Jasmine, and then kill both the princess and her father, the Sultan. Meanwhile, Aladdin arrives in Agrabah as Prince Ali but struggles to impress Jasmine. Later, Aladdin takes Jasmine on a ride with the carpet. After she deduces Aladdin as the boy from the marketplace, he tells her that he sometimes dresses as a commoner to escape palace life.
After Aladdin brings Jasmine home, Jafar has the guards capture and throw him into the sea. The Genie appears and rescues Aladdin as his second wish. Returning to the palace, Aladdin reveals Jafar's plot to Jasmine and the Sultan, but the latter realizes Aladdin's identity and escapes from the guards.
Facing a moral dilemma, Aladdin decides to wait before freeing the Genie. Iago steals Genie's lamp and brings it to Jafar, who uses his first wish to become sultan. Jafar's second wish turns him into a powerful sorcerer, sending Aladdin to a frozen wasteland. Using the magic carpet, Aladdin escapes and returns to Agrabah. Jasmine distracts Jafar to help Aladdin steal back the lamp, but Jafar discovers this and fights him. Aladdin taunts Jafar for being less powerful than the Genie, tricking him to use his last wish to become a genie himself. This causes Jafar to be trapped into his new lamp, taking Iago with him. The Genie throws Jafar's lamp into the Cave of Wonders.
With normalcy restored, the Genie encourages Aladdin to use his third wish to regain his royal title and legally marry Jasmine. Aladdin instead decides to keep his promise and frees the Genie. Realizing Aladdin's nobility, the Sultan allows Jasmine to marry whoever she chooses. The Genie bids the group a fond farewell and leaves to explore the world, while Aladdin and Jasmine start their new life together.
Production[edit]
Script and development[edit]
In 1988, lyricist Howard Ashman pitched the idea of an animated musical adaptation of Aladdin. Ashman had written a 40-page film treatment, remaining faithful to the plot and characters of the original story but envisioned as a campy 1930s-style musical with a popular 1930s-style Genie.[20] With partner, Alan Menken, Ashman composed several songs and added original characters to the story, such as Aladdin's friends, Babkak, Omar and Kassim.[21]: 216 [22]
However, Michael Eisner did not think that a story set in the Middle East would be commercially appealing,[23] and their project was removed from active development. Ashman and Menken were soon recruited to compose songs for Beauty and the Beast.[24] Linda Woolverton, who had also worked on Beauty and the Beast, used their treatment and developed a draft with inspired elements from The Thief of Bagdad, such as a villain named Jaf'far, an aged sidekick retired human thief named Abu, and a human handmaiden for the princess.[25][26]
Directors Ron Clements and John Musker joined the production, picking Aladdin from three projects offered, which also included an adaptation of Swan Lake and King of the Jungle — that eventually became The Lion King.[27] Before Ashman's death in March 1991, he and Menken composed "Arabian Nights", "Friend Like Me", "Prince Ali" and Ashman's last song, "Humiliate the Boy".[28]
Musker and Clements wrote a draft of the screenplay, and delivered a story reel to studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg in April 1991.[22] Katzenberg thought that the script "didn't engage", and on a day known by the staff as "Black Friday", he demanded that the entire story be rewritten without rescheduling the film's November 25, 1992, release date.[29] Katzenberg requested for Clements and Musker to not be heavily dependent on Ashman's vision,[21]: 217 and the removal of Aladdin's mother, remarking, "Eighty-six the mother. The mom's a zero."[30]
Katzenberg also influenced changing the plot element about Jasmine's marriage, which originally had her to be married by age sixteen as required by law, to remove the age — the Sultan says only, "your next birthday" — and make it more specific that her suitor needed to be a prince, which would also set up the ending in which the Sultan, inspired by Aladdin's altruism, changes the law to make it legal for Jasmine to able to marry anyone she deems worthy.[31]
Screenwriting duo, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, were brought in to rework the story,[22] and the changes they made included the removal of Aladdin's mother, the strengthening of the character of Princess Jasmine, and the deletion of several of Ashman and Menken's songs.[32] Aladdin's personality was rewritten to be "a little rougher, like a young Harrison Ford";[22][33] the parrot, Iago, originally conceived as an uptight British archetype, was reworked to a comic role after the filmmakers saw Gilbert Gottfried in Beverly Hills Cop II, who was cast for the role.[34] By October 1991, Katzenberg was satisfied with the new version of Aladdin.[20] As with Woolverton's screenplay, several characters and plot elements were based on The Thief of Bagdad,[35][36] although the location of the film was changed from Baghdad to the fictional Arabian city of Agrabah.[37]
According to a 1994 article in The Advocate, Katzenberg asked Thomas Schumacher, an openly gay producer, if any of the gay references in the film offended him, such as a scene in which the Genie becomes an "effeminate clothier", and another in which he tells Aladdin, "I really like you too, kid, but that doesn't mean I want to pick out curtains with you". Schumacher responded that such references were in "good fun", remarking that "I know we all argue amongst ourselves, but why try to deny the fact that swishy fashion designers exist? They do! What are we running from? Show me ten hairdressers; I'll show you eight gay men."[38]
Release[edit]
Box office[edit]
A large promotion campaign preceded Aladdin's debut in theaters, with the film's trailer attached to most Disney VHS releases (including One Hundred and One Dalmatians in April 1992 and Beauty and the Beast in October that year), and numerous tie-ins and licensees being released.[63] Aladdin was released November 11, 1992, in two theaters (the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles and the City Cinemas 1, 2 and 3rd Avenue in New York City), and grossed $196,664 in its first 5 days.[64][65] The film expanded to 1,131 theaters November 25, 1992, grossing $19.2 million for the weekend, finishing second at the U.S. box office, behind Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.[66] It took eight weeks for the film to surpass Beauty and the Beast as the most successful animated Disney film at the domestic box office (surpassed by The Lion King in 1994).[67]
For its eighth week of release, Aladdin collected $15.6 million and reached the number one spot at the box office, beating A Few Good Men.[68] By February 1993, it would surpass Batman Returns to become the highest-grossing 1992 film domestically.[69] In the United States, the film held the top spot five times weekly and breaks the record for the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve, with $32.2 million during its 22-week run.[70] Aladdin was the most successful film of 1992, grossing $217 million in the United States, and over $504 million worldwide.[5] It was the biggest gross for an animated film until The Lion King two years later, and was the first full-length animated film to gross $200 million in the United States and Canada. Additionally, it was the first film to cross that mark since Terminator 2: Judgment Day.[71]
Outside of the United States and Canada, the film grossed $200 million in 1993,[72] and $250 million by January 1994.[73] In Europe, Aladdin defeated Jurassic Park to become the continent's box-office leader for the week of November 26.[74] It set an opening weekend record in South Africa.[75] By 2002, the film grossed $287 million overseas and $504 million worldwide.[76] Currently, it is the 35th highest-grossing animated film and the third-highest-grossing traditionally animated feature worldwide, behind The Lion King and The Simpsons Movie.[77] It sold an estimated 52.4 million tickets in the United States and Canada.[78] When adjusted for inflation (in 2022 dollars), its domestic gross totaled $491.4 million.[79]
Home media[edit]
The film was first released in VHS on September 29, 1993, as part of the Walt Disney Classics line, although it was not officially advertised until October 1.[80] In its first three days of availability, Aladdin sold 10.8 million copies,[81] setting the fastest sales record[82] and grossing about $265,000,000 (equivalent to $559,000,000 in 2023) in the United States.[83] In less than three weeks, the VHS release of Aladdin sold more than 16 million units and grossed over $400,000,000 (equivalent to $840,000,000 in 2023) in the United States.[84] On release of the Sega Genesis video game adaptation in November, Aladdin sold approximately 30 million home video units,[81] earning more than $500,000,000 (equivalent to $1,050,000,000 in 2023) in the United States.[85] It was the best-selling home video release until a record broken by The Lion King.[86] This VHS edition entered moratorium April 30, 1994.[87] A THX-certified widescreen LaserDisc was issued September 21, 1994,[88][89] and a Spanish-dubbed VHS for the American market was released April 14, 1995.[90] In Japan, 2.2 million home video units were sold by 1995.[91][92]
On October 5, 2004, Aladdin was rereleased onto VHS and for the first time released on DVD, as part of Disney's Platinum Edition line. The DVD release featured retouched and cleaned-up animation, which had been prepared for the film's planned but ultimately cancelled IMAX reissue in 2003,[93] and a second disc with bonus features. Accompanied by a $19 million marketing campaign,[94] the DVD sold about 3 million units in its first month.[95] The film's soundtrack was available in its original Dolby 5.1 track or in a new Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix.[57] The DVD went into moratorium in January 2008 with its sequels.[96]
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film on a Diamond Edition Blu-ray October 13, 2015. The film was released on Digital HD September 29, 2015.[97][98][99] In its first week of release on home media in the United States, the film topped the Blu-ray sales chart and debuted at number 2 at the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks overall disc sales behind the disaster film, San Andreas.[100] The film's Blu-ray release sold 1.81 million units and grossed $39 million, as of 2017.[101]
Aladdin was rereleased on HD and 4K digital download August 27, 2019, with a physical media re-release on Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray September 10, 2019, as part of the Walt Disney Signature Collection.[102]
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
The review aggregator website, Rotten Tomatoes, reports that 95% of 79 critics give the film a positive review, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The site's consensus reads: "A highly entertaining entry in Disney's renaissance era, Aladdin is beautifully drawn, with near-classic songs and a cast of scene-stealing characters."[103] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[104] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade, on a scale of A+ to F.[105]
Most critics praised Robin Williams's performance as the Genie,[103] with Janet Maslin of The New York Times declaring that children "needn't know precisely what Mr. Williams is evoking to understand how funny he is".[106]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times commented that Williams and animation "were born for one another."[107]
Warner Bros. Cartoons director, Chuck Jones, called the film "the funniest feature ever made".[22]
James Berardinelli gave it 3½ stars out of 4, praising the "crisp visuals and wonderful song-and-dance numbers".[108]
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said that the comedy made the film accessible to both children and adults,[109] a vision shared with Desson Howe of The Washington Post, who also said that "kids are still going to be entranced by the magic and adventure".[110]
Brian Lowry of Variety praised the cast of characters, describing the expressive magic carpet as "its most remarkable accomplishment", and considered that "Aladdin overcomes most story flaws thanks to sheer technical virtuosity".[111]
Some aspects of the film were widely criticized. Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine wrote a negative review, describing the film as racist, ridiculous, and a "narcissistic circus act" from Robin Williams.[112]
Ebert, who had generally praised the film in his review, considered the music to be inferior to its predecessors, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, and claimed that Aladdin and Jasmine were "pale and routine". He criticized what he saw as the film's use of ethnic stereotypes, writing, "Most of the Arab characters have exaggerated facial characteristics—hooked noses, glowering brows, thick lips—but Aladdin and the princess look like white American teenagers."[107]
