Movies - Aladdin

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	Movies - Aladdin

Aladdin is the thirty-first animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released on November 25, 1992 by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. It relates a version of the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. As is usual with Disney film adaptations, many aspects of the traditional story were changed for the movie. It was released at the peak strech of the Disney renaissance era beginning with The Little Mermaid and ending with The Lion King
.

It was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker and songs were by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (with additional lyrics provided by Tim Rice after Ashman's death). Menken received the 1992 Academy Award for Original Music Score of Aladdin. The main soundtrack song "A Whole New World" (sung during the closing credits by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle) won a Grammy Award as well as the Academy Award for Best Song in 1993.

Voice actors included Robin Williams as the Genie. In fact, this was the first major American animated feature film in which particular attention was paid to a celebrity cast member, such as a major movie star, in the film as part of its promotion. This has led to a subsequent increased attention to the casts of later productions, such as Toy Story
and Shrek
, as a major element of animated film marketing.

Aladdin was followed by two direct-to-video sequels: The Return of Jafar
(1994) and Aladdin and the King of Thieves
(1996), and an animated television series, Aladdin, set between the two sequels.

Synopsis

The story takes place in the mystical city of Agrabah, which is based mainly on the medieval city of Baghdad, the home of the 1001 Arabian Nights, though it also contains some elements of Indian culture and there are some inconsistencies in the time period. The sultan (who is never given a name) of Agrabah, is secretly being controlled by his grand vizier, Jafar. Jafar, who is also a sorcerer, wants to be the sultan himself and rule Agrabah; to further his goals he has spent years searching for the Cave of Wonders, so he can harness the power of the Genie of the Lamp found within. However, Jafar discovers that only one person, a metaphorical "Diamond in the Rough", can enter the cave (In reality, anyone can enter as long as they are accompanied by the "Diamond in the Rough" like Abu and Sora from Kingdom Hearts did).

The sultan, meanwhile, is having problems with finding a prince for his daughter, Princess Jasmine, to marry and Jafar convinces the sultan, by mesmerizing him with his magical staff, that he (Jafar) needs the sultan's ring to find Jasmine a husband. Jafar actually needs the ring to discover the identity of the "Diamond in the Rough."

Jasmine, who does not want to be married off, decides to run away disguised as a peasant girl. In the anarchy of the streets, she is saved by a street urchin named Aladdin, though she doesn't learn his name. Meanwhile, Jafar discovers that Aladdin is the "Diamond in the Rough", and he sends palace guards to apprehend him. When Jasmine asks what happened to her savior, Jafar lies to her, falsely reporting that Aladdin had been executed for "kidnapping the princess."

Later, Jafar, disguised as an old man, sneaks Aladdin to freedom and takes him to the Cave of Wonders. Jafar tells Aladdin that if he brings back the lamp, he will be rewarded. The Cave admits Aladdin entrance, but only if he touches nothing more than the lamp. Inside the Cave, Aladdin successfully finds the lamp, but his pet monkey, Abu, loses control and attempts to take a jewel, causing the cave to come alive and attempt to trap them inside. Aladdin and Abu manage to escape with the aid of a flying carpet (appropriately named "Carpet"). Upon his escape, he hands Jafar the lamp, and Jafar decides to give him his "eternal reward", preparing to attack with his dagger. Abu saves Aladdin by biting Jafar's arm, and Abu and Aladdin fall back into the cave as it closes.

Aladdin, Abu, and Carpet are all trapped inside the Cave of Wonders. Jafar discovers, to his dismay, that Abu got the lamp from him before they disappeared. Aladdin discovers that the lamp is home to an eccentric genie, who will grant him any three wishes, excluding wishes to force a person to fall in love, to kill someone, to bring someone back from the dead, or to give his master extra wishes, or himself duplicated.

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Movies - Aladdin

Synopsis

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