History YMMV / Aladdin

* SignatureSong: However, it's the reverse for this trope. Indeed, "Friend Like Me" is very beloved and fun to listen to in its own right thanks to Creator/RobinWilliams giving it his all. However, "A Whole New World" stirs up more emotions with its beautiful melody, great lyrics written by the legendary Creator/TimRice, and captivating vocals of Brad Kane and Creator/LeaSalonga. "A Whole New World" is so iconic a song that not only did the Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle end credits version also topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100--the only Disney song to achieve this feat so for almost thirty years until it was joined by "[[WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}} We Don't Talk About Bruno]]" in 2022--it won the UsefulNotes/GrammyAward for Song of the Year, still the ''only'' Disney song to do so to date (as of 2023).

* SignatureScene:

* ValuesDissonance: The "Prince Ali" song casually mentions that Ali has slaves, immediately after the line "he's generous; so generous", none the less. This was already DeliberateValuesDissonance in 1992, but nowadays Disney would most likely not even include it ''at all.'' At least they were just imaginary slaves made by the Genie.

* {{Wangst}}: Jasmine was born into royalty, never had to struggle for anything in her life, owns a tiger and is one marriage away from having authority over an entire city, but she takes it all for granted because her father wants her to marry someone she's not psyched about.

** Jasmine is cooped up in the palace, which forces her to sneak out in order to have any fun. Her mother is hinted to have died when she was very young, her father is unwittingly brainwashed by Jafar, and over the course of the movie, she's set up in an arranged marriage with Jafar.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Despite Rajah having a male name and being called a "he" in supplementary material, viewers are often puzzled about his gender because he is only ever called by his name in the movie itself.

* MisaimedFandom: Jasmine draws a lot of ire from certain feminist circles, [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass often being regarded as poorly as the first three Disney Princesses because "all she wants to do is get married"]]. This sentiment reached its peak when the 2019 live-action adaptation changed Jasmine's motivation to wanting to be the sultan, [[https://comicbook.com/movies/2019/02/02/aladdin-producer-empowering-princess-jasmine-anthem-new-song/ because the film's director, and the character's actress, Naomi Scott, felt that the original movie didn't give her "enough of a goal, it was really just to meet a guy"]], completely ignoring the fact that Jasmine didn't even want to be royalty and that it was a matter of ''if'', not ''when'', she decided to get married. In fact, "A Whole New World", [[SignatureSong one of the most iconic songs from the movie]], was all about Jasmine finally experiencing the life of freedom that she's always wanted after Aladdin humbly offers to take her a magic carpet ride around the world, as a chance to see it and get out of the palace. [[https://www.eonline.com/news/701126/aladdin-cast-and-directors-divulge-new-details-about-the-disney-movie-and-reflect-on-robin-williams-performance Jasmine's voice actress, Linda Larkin, had this to say when questioned about whether or not Jasmine is a good role model]]:

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass: Jasmine has sometimes been hit with this for her storyline largely involving an ArrangedMarriage and ending up a DamselInDistress in the climax, but these criticisms ignore that she is actively turning down her arranged marriages and says she'll give up being a princess if it means she has to marry. In the climax, she's among every other character who gets incapacitated by Jafar (the Sultan is chained up, Abu turned into a toy, Carpet unravelled) and she gets trapped in the hourglass while actively trying to stop him.

** The film was also denied eligibility for Best Adapted Screenplay due to Robin Williams's improv as well.

* ValuesDissonance: The "Prince Ali" song casually mentions that Ali has slaves, immediately after the line "he's generous; so generous", none the less. This was already DeliberateValuesDissonance in 1992, but nowadays Disney would most likely not even include it at all. At least they were just imaginary slaves made by the Genie.

* ActorShipping: There were rumors of a mutual crush between Brad Kane and Lea Selonga, the singing voices of Aladdin and Jasmine. It was fueled by the fact that after a ''A whole new world'', they recorded another romantic duo, named ...[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA88ZgE9PFE ''We could be in love'']].

* SmurfetteBreakout: Jasmine is a supporting character while the story is about Aladdin, but she is included in the Franchise/DisneyPrincess franchise and is the only princess in the lineup who isn't the main character in her film.

* ComedyGhetto: Not so much when it came out, but over time, ''Aladdin'' often got overlooked by the masses for having a comedian in a prominent role and being the most light-hearted out of the Renaissance films (except maybe ''{{WesternAnimation/Hercules}}'') - that has led to lots of defensive fans reminding people that the movie still has a lot of heart despite the focus on comedy. It doesn't help that, out of [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid the big]] [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast four Disney]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Renaissance movies]], ''Aladdin'' has the lowest average critics score on both Metacritic and Website/RottenTomatoes.[[note]]That being said, this movie's Tomatometer score is actually the ''highest'' of the four.[[/note]]

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Putting aside [[TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson the Genie's many pop culture references]] ([[http://www.bustle.com/articles/100968-pop-culture-references-in-aladdin-that-are-sooooooo-outdated-now such as these examples]]), the film has [[ArabianNightsDays a romantic tone of the Middle East]] that would be much harder to sell after the oncoming of UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror. Its [[TheThemeParkVersion very loose depiction]] of Arabian culture was somewhat controversial even at the time, as but increased political sensitivity has resulted in later Disney films like ''{{WesternAnimation/Coco}}'' or ''{{WesternAnimation/Moana}}'' or ''{{WesternAnimation/Encanto}}'' making a larger effort to respectfully and accurately portray the customs, clothing, and architecture of their depicted nations (though still with a fair amount of ArtisticLicenseHistory).

* ValuesDissonance: Aladdin's plan to marry the princess is to kidnap her every night and go to bed with her without revealing himself. She is terrified and tells her father, who leaves a guard outside her door, who are no match for the Genie, who simply spirits her away each night (though Aladdin does leave a sword between them so she can defend herself and never actually has sex with her until they're married). She seems rather taken by the fact that he doesn't rape her.

*** "Over, sideways and under on a magic carpet ride."

** Is Aladdin a nice guy who simply uses a good thing to his advantage and falters from time to time only to do the right thing at the end or is he a selfish opportunist who lies and uses people to get his way and frees Genie because leaving him enslaved would break Aladdin's bond with Jasmine?

** When Genie granted Jafar's wish to become a genie himself, he's clearly horrified at having to do so. Jafar's wish then backfires when he's [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor trapped in a lamp to accommodate his new form]]. Was Genie's horror simply at the prospect of Jafar becoming his equal, and he really DidntSeeThatComing? Or did he know where Jafar's wish was going and only wincing because he thought that was [[EveryoneHasStandards too harsh a fate even for Jafar?]] Or just playing along to the last second?
** Jasmine abandons her plan to flee the palace and live in the marketplace as soon as she an Aladdin are caught. Is it because she realized how hard life on the streets was and felt she could deal with the struggles that came with being a princess more? Or is it more motivated by how she was easily able to stop the guards by announcing who she was - and therefore realizing that being a princess had its own advantages? Alternatively, was she unable to bring herself to due to the guilt from her believing she had caused Aladdin to be executed?

* AngstWhatAngst: While the Sultan confronts Jafar for executing a man without his permission, he never shows any concern for the fact that his daughter ran away from the palace. Likewise, despite being tortured by Jafar and Iago, he approaches Aladdin and Jasmine with a smile, saying that as thanks for Aladdin saving him, his daughter and the kingdom, he is changing the law so that she can marry him. No anger about Aladdin for the deception, or trauma.

** For an internal example, there's some who think "Friend Like Me" should've won Best Original Song over "A Whole New World", though its downplayed by both being regarded as excellent.

* CommonKnowledge: Jasmine is often assumed to be fifteen about to turn sixteen, confusing her with [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ariel]] based on an early story idea where she would have been that age. That was actually nixed because Jeffrey Katzenberg was worried about fifteen-year-olds getting married. Jasmine's age is never stated in the film (just that she has to be married by her ''next'' birthday).

** Jafar gets quite a bit of shipping with [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]], probably due to them both being tall, thin sorcerous characters who dress in dark colors, carry magical staffs and have bird sidekicks.
* DracoInLeatherPants: Jafar has fans that see him this way. They say that he just wants to save his home from ruin that's caused by an idiot sultan, a con artist, and an irresponsible princess. Remember that he commits treason, tries to murder Aladdin ''four times'', enslaves the ruler and his daughter, lusts after and tries to kill said daughter, and turns into an evil giant snake and an evil genie. Jafar was also already in charge by hypnotizing the Sultan and tried to openly assume power out of egotism more than anything, and he hated the Sultan despite having the guy's trust and respect. ''Series/OnceUponATime'', for example, gave him a very tragic backstory following on from this that there was not a hint of in the film, as well as ''Theatre/TwistedTheUntoldStoryOfARoyalVizier'', which takes this one step further by giving Aladdin the RonTheDeathEater treatment (albiet as a parody of ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}''.
* EscapistCharacter: Aladdin is easily one of the biggest examples in the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon. He's smart, athletic, handsome, can do whatever he wants for always outrunning the city guards, later befriends a shapeshifting [[RealityWarper all-powerful]] BenevolentGenie, who helps him get the girl of his dreams and now has a rich future as the Sultan ensured. It's easy to see oneself in his shoes.

** Jasmine being fifteen, about to turn sixteen. See CommonKnowledge for more information.

** CelebrityVoiceActor - Robin Williams and Gillbert Gottfried weren't cast as names to bring in audiences (and the latter wasn't exactly an A-lister) but people whom the roles were carefully tailored for. As such their presence enhances the story rather than detracts from it.[[note]]James Woods was a similar case as Hades; his fast-talking snarky persona [[ActorInspiredElement came from the former]] so the role fit the actor.[[/note]]

** The Genie cuts off his own head to demonstrate that he can't kill anyone, complete with Aladdin grabbing his throat as the Genie is decapitated, as if to say "Sheesh, that looks painful". Later on the Genie also yanks on a tie he's wearing after he loses an important chess piece to Carpet. Both scenes are ''very'' uncomfortable to watch given that his voice actor would later commit suicide by hanging.
** In one scene of the first movie, Jafar deceives Jasmine into believing that Aladdin has been [[OffWithHisHead executed "by beheading"]] (while Al is actually alive and imprisoned). In the first sequel, Al is condemned to death by decapitation, and nearly beheaded by PublicExecution when Genie arrives in time to save him in a BigDamnHeroes moment. In a TV series's episode, Al finally gets his head "cut off" by Caliph Kapok... [[LosingYourHead or rather separated]], since the rest of Al's body is still alive while his friends find a way to reunite it with his head. Though since his brain and heart are no longer connected, he becomes a complete {{jerkass}}.
** The Genie spends the whole film imprisoned with the hope that he'll one day be freed, and at one point Aladdin backtracks on his promise to free him - and the Genie briefly turns on him because of it. This rather uncomfortably foreshadows the real life falling out between Robin Williams and Disney - as a condition of him voicing the Genie was that his voice would not be used to sell toys or for marketing. That happened anyway, leading to a very public feud that lasted until the end of the decade.

** It's made clear several times that Aladdin doesn't like Jasmine because she's the princess; he likes her because she's "funny, smart, and beautiful!" In fact, he'd be willing to marry her and stay poor, if that was what she wanted. The TV series had a few episodes where either he or Jasmine became an InsecureLoveInterest, with Jasmine worried that if she lost her looks then he would no longer like her. Each time, they reaffirm their live for each other After [[ItMakesSenseInContext a run-in with a cream that turns the user into a snake]], Aladdin uses it on ''himself'' when Jasmine seems permanently stuck in the reptilian form, telling her YouAreWorthHell. He also goes toe-to-toe with a mermaid that turned him into a shark because she took Jasmine hostage and he wants his girl back.

* ValuesDissonance: The "Prince Ali" song casually mentions that Ali has slaves, immediately after the line "he's generous; so generous", none the less. This was already DeliberateValuesDissonance in 1992, but nowadays Disney would most likely not even include it at all.

* GenreTurningPoint: ''Aladdin'' may not have invented the CelebrityVoiceActor trope [[note]] A handful of early animated films in the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon featured voice actors who were actually pretty well-known for other things in their day. For example, Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards (Jiminy Cricket in ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'') was a popular jazz musician, as were Phil Harris and Louis Prima (Baloo and Louie in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Jungle Book|1967}}''). And ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad'' memorably featured the voices of Creator/BasilRathbone and Creator/BingCrosby.[[/note]] but Creator/RobinWilliams' performance as the Genie ''was'' the definitive TropeCodifier that almost single-handedly opened voice-acting up to all of Hollywood. With the overwhelmingly positive response to Williams' take on the character--which utilized his [[SignatureStyle trademark comedic style]] to great effect--he turned voice-acting into a "respectable" gig that practically every actor in the business wanted to take a crack at. For perspective, Creator/BeaArthur had previously turned down the role of Ursula in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'' just three years before ''Aladdin'' hit theaters--but ''after'' it was released, we got Creator/JamesEarlJones and Creator/MatthewBroderick in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'', Creator/MelGibson in ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', Creator/DemiMoore and Creator/JasonAlexander in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'', Creator/DannyDeVito and Creator/JamesWoods in ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', Creator/EddieMurphy in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'', and Creator/MinnieDriver in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}''.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The original lyrics for the opening musical number, "Arabian Nights", included the verses "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face. It's barbaric, but hey, it's home", to which many people reacted negatively. In the home video release, Disney changed the first verse to "Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense", making it so that "It's barbaric, but hey, it's home" alluded to the land and the heat rather than the Arabian people and thereby removing any potential insensitivity.

* NewerThanTheyThink: Not part of the original ''Literature/ArabianNights'' tales, but added in Antoine Galland's French translation of the book in 1710. Since the story cannot be traced to authentic Arabic sources, its origin seems to be Galland's uncredited oral source for several tales for his translation (including Literature/AliBabaAndTheFortyThieves), Syrian Maronite writer and storyteller Hanna Diyab.

* NewerThanTheyThink: Not part of the original ''Literature/ArabianNights'' tales, but added in the Antoine Galland's French translation of the book in 1710. It was originally written by Syrian Maronite writer Hanna Diyab.

* MinorityShowGhetto: Averted. The film had a cast consisting of Arabian characters and it was wildly successful, being regarded as many as one of Disney's most beloved classics. Though in recent years, the movie (and by extension, its sequels and TV spinoff) has gotten some criticism for the fact that most of the Middle Eastern characters were voiced by white actors.

* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Surprisingly, the Carpet became one. It was even popular enough to have been made into a Xbox Live Avatar prop. It's become an icon in how to animate a character with a ton of personality despite their not having any lines or even facial features.
** For the villain's sidekick, Iago ended up becoming more popular than anticipated. Enough that in the sequel he was given a HeelFaceTurn and made into a regular character for the TV series. It's the role Gilbert Gottfried is most identified with.

** Aladdin has been frequently shipped with ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}''. They're kind, socially awkward, compassionate young men who have both been ostracized over something in their lives that they cannot control, and dream about escaping this by living in a more impressive environment, not to mention that Aladdin's wits and cunning decently contrast Hercules' simple-minded nature (this was exploited in an ''actual'' Disney-made crossover between them where Aladdin tells Hercules that he's on his way to becoming a great hero and [[FireForgedFriends they become good friends]]... though not before [[LetsYouAndHimFight getting off on the wrong foot]]).

* DracoInLeatherPants: Jafar has fans that see him this way. They say that he just wants to save his home from ruin that's caused by an idiot sultan, a con artist, and an irresponsible princess. Remember that he commits treason, tries to murder Aladdin ''four times'', enslaves the ruler and his daughter, lusts after and tries to kill said daughter, and turns into an evil giant snake and an evil genie. Jafar was also pretty much already in charge by hypnotizing the Sultan and tried to openly assume power out of egotism more than anything, and he hated the Sultan despite having the guy's trust and respect. ''Series/OnceUponATime'', for example, gave him a very tragic backstory following on from this that there was not a hint of in the film, as well as ''Theatre/TwistedTheUntoldStoryOfARoyalVizier'', which takes this one step further by giving Aladdin the RonTheDeathEater treatment (albiet as a parody of ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}''.

** For the villain's sidekick, Iago ended up becoming more popular than anticipated. Enough that in the sequel he was given a HeelFaceTurn and made into a regular character for the TV series. It's pretty much the role Gilbert Gottfried is most identified with.

* FairForItsDay: Even when it was first released, ''Aladdin'' was considered offensive, and even a little racist, for [[TheThemeParkVersion boiling Middle Eastern culture down to]] [[ArabianNightsDays its most recognizable stereotypes]] and for the fact that all the film's Middle Eastern characters [[FakeNationality were all voiced by white Americans and Brits]], to the point where Disney added a content advisory warning viewers about it on Creator/DisneyPlus. However, ''Aladdin'' is still pretty progressive as it was the very first film from [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Walt Disney Animation Studios]] to revolve ''entirely'' around people of color[[note]]the Latin American locals in ''WesternAnimation/SaludosAmigos'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros'' weren't seen very often and had ''really'' minor roles when compared to Donald, José, or Panchito, and Mowgli was the only major human character in ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967''; the rest of the cast were animals.[[/note]] when they had been spending decades telling mostly white stories (it was also a fairy tale film much like ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'', ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'', and ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', all of which marked crucial turning points for Disney and were known to be the studio's greatest financial and critical achievements), and the film contains largely friendly, sympathetic, and heroic Middle Eastern protagonists.

* MinorityShowGhetto: Averted. The film had a cast consisting entirely of Arabian characters and it was wildly successful, being regarded as many as one of Disney's most beloved classics. Though in recent years, the movie (and by extension, its sequels and TV spinoff) has gotten some criticism for the fact that most of the Middle Eastern characters were voiced by white actors.
* MisaimedFandom: Jasmine draws a lot of ire from certain feminist circles, [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass often being regarded as poorly as the first three Disney Princesses because "all she wants to do is get married"]]. This sentiment reached its peak when the 2019 live-action adaptation changed Jasmine's motivation to wanting to be the sultan, [[https://comicbook.com/movies/2019/02/02/aladdin-producer-empowering-princess-jasmine-anthem-new-song/ because the film's director, and the character's actress, Naomi Scott, felt that the original movie didn't give her "enough of a goal, it was really just to meet a guy"]], completely ignoring the fact that Jasmine didn't even want to be royalty and that it was a matter of ''if'', not ''when'', she decided to get married. In fact, "A Whole New World", [[SignatureSong one of the most iconic songs from the entire movie]], was all about Jasmine finally experiencing the life of freedom that she's always wanted after Aladdin humbly offers to take her a magic carpet ride around the world, as a chance to see it and get out of the palace. [[https://www.eonline.com/news/701126/aladdin-cast-and-directors-divulge-new-details-about-the-disney-movie-and-reflect-on-robin-williams-performance Jasmine's voice actress, Linda Larkin, had this to say when questioned about whether or not Jasmine is a good role model]]:

* ParodyDisplacement: Of course, Genie's impressions were always meant as a ParentalBonus, but some are getting obscure even for the adults, at least the ones who weren't already adults in the 1990s. You know when Genie says there are provisos and quid pro quos? That's an impression of Creator/WilliamFBuckleyJr, whom you're unlikely to be familiar with if you're either not American or not old enough to remember the Reagan administration.

** Mostly due to the fact that Creator/RobinWilliams was allowed to [[HarpoDoesSomethingFunny ad-lib most of his lines as the Genie,]] resulting in him throwing in a lot of irreverent humor and pop culture references that would easily fly over a kid's head, but have the parents laughing hysterically.[[note]]''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' parodied this when Billy says that genies are supposed to "do impressions of people only my dad knows, followed by Thromnambular, the wish-granting skull, doing a Jimmy Durante impression.[[/note]]

* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: The Finnish dub is not only regarded by many Disney fans as the best Finnish dub of the entire Disney canon, but according to the dub's director, Pekka Lehtosaari, Disney themself called it the best foreign dub of the movie. The show stealer of the dub was easily Vesa-Matti Loiri as the Genie, who, due to him already being a beloved actor and comedian, many Finnish Disney fans even prefer over Williams. Loiri's performance was so well-regarded that Eric Goldberg, Genie's lead animator, himself sent him [[https://www.non-disneyinternationaldubbingcredits.com/uploads/6/5/9/0/65903623/eric-goldberg.jpg a personal thank you illustration]]

* CommonKnowledge: Jasmine is often assumed to be fifteen about to turn sixteen, confusing her with [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ariel]] based on an early story idea where she would have been that age. That was actually nixed because Jeffrey Katzenberg was worried about the UnfortunateImplications that fifteen-year-olds could be married. Jasmine's age is never stated in the film (just that she has to be married by her ''next'' birthday).

* UnfortunateImplications: Disney [[{{Bowdlerise}} removed one of the verses in the opening number "Arabian Nights"]] -- "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face", with the altered version being "Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense" -- in July 1993 when the next verse, "It's barbaric, but hey, it's home", [[https://web.archive.org/web/20070405005650/http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=283 was perceived to be reinforcing negative stereotypes about Middle Eastern people]], although this verse, as well as a scene where an apple vendor nearly cuts off Jasmine's hand for stealing from his cart, [[MoralGuardians were still considered offensive even in the altered version]][[note]]Note that this kind of penalty actually did exist in a lot of Middle Eastern countries, so the part about cutting off one's ear isn't ''entirely'' inaccurate[[/note]]. Ultimately, Disney altered ''both'' of these verses while having the apple vendor [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory deprive Jasmine of her bracelet instead]] in the 2019 live-action remake, and Creator/DisneyPlus aired a statement immediately before it and its sequels would begin playing warning viewers of the fact that they contain potentially offensive content.

** Robin Williams's appearance is often mis-heralded as the trope maker for celebrity voice acting when it's more of a trope codifier in terms of selling a film based on a celebrity's voiceover role (against Williams' own request), but was far from being the first to employ notable film actors (Williams was even in a second animated film that year, ''WesternAnimation/FengullyTheLastRainforest''). Disney's own ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'' a few years prior starred not only TV legends Creator/BobNewhart and [[Series/GreenAcres Eva Gabor]] (reprising from the 1977 film), but also Oscar winner Creator/GeorgeCScott and in the comic relief role, Creator/JohnCandy around the apex of his popularity as one of the most in-demand comedic leading men in Hollywood.