I saw a bunch of episodes of the TV show, but I never bothered to watch Return of Jafar all the way through, so I'm still foggy on how Iago's Heel–Face Turn happened. If it was a pretty good movie, then it must have been because it was the first of Disney's direct-to-video sequels, so they didn't think they could get away with being completely sloppy with the plot at that point. I think the final sequel was better, though, just for wrapping more stuff up, rather than wrapping up Genie Jafar but leaving everyone else in a stasis where they can go on more adventures with a Genie who's practically useless for some reason.
It's been a while since I've seen it, but I could have sworn that they established in the first film that genies become less powerful when they are freed. It's basically the trade-off. Nearly limitless powers but at the mercy of a master vs limited powers as a freed being. If it wasn't established in the first movie, they definitely mentioned it later on as a hand-wave. In the TV series it worked so they wouldn't have a broken, all powerful genie to magic all their problems away.
As for Iago's Heel–Face Turn, he was basically softened up by the kindness he was shown by the others. The whole reason he left Jafar in the first place was because of a perceived lack of respect. He ends up saving Aladdin's life, whether deliberately or not, I can't recall at the moment, so they take him in. After spending some time with the heroes and gaining their full trust, he's sort of like "Hey, I could get used to this" and the rest is history.
edited 13th Jul '11 10:53:56 AM by KoujiTamino
Hm, yeah, it just feels a little awkward how the first movie gave the Genie this big musical number boasting about how he could do anything, and in the end it seems more like it's the lamp that has all the power, the Genie simply channels it and molds it to one's liking, and without the bondage of the lamp, genies are stuck with some pretty flimsy abilities. I don't know if the original movie really did establish that: Genie didn't say he felt weaker at the end; he was just excited about being able to take a vacation. But there is the fact that nobody said "Hey, since you aren't limited by the lamp-in-a-cave deal anymore, can't you just make Aladdin a prince again now?", so maybe that was implied. Or is it just the fact that the Genie can't really grant political power, perhaps due to a general restriction against wishes directly messing with the lives and wills of anyone else, so he had to settle for dolling up his master to appear to be of the proper station, and that wouldn't work anymore because all their secrets were out? I'm confusing myself now.
I'm not gonna shoot you (you got off easy!)- I loved it too. It was, then, Disney's only DTV sequel, and so it is the only one of there's that is the most cemented in my memory.
I don't think the story was strong enough to warrant a theatrical release though, even if it could be saved by better animation. It was made to establish the premise for the TV show, which is why it focuses on Iago so much.
GOOD THING THEY NE-VER MADE A-NO-THER SE-QUEL!!!! -Stepford Smile- -eye twitch-
... Aladdin has been rerun on ABC Family for a good number of years now (and in HD!), so it's getting some luv.
edited 13th Jul '11 10:43:39 AM by kyun
I like Return of Jafar but it felt more like the answer t oa few odd questions rather than a movie to enjoy Ya see, I never knew Return of Jafar existed for a long time. Basically it was Aladdin and then Aladdin and the King of thieves, both movies I love by the way, and along with the TV series somewhere between them. Basically it just answered "Why is Iago a good guy now?" Which was a childhood plothole I was willing to ignore becuase I somehow perceives that his chemistry with Abu was excellent.
It also answered "When did Genie come back" but I ignored that childhood plothole too becuase I saw it as "You can't have an Aladdin adventure without Genie, that's insane!"
And it also answered "Why is Abis Maul a recurring villain" but I didn't care about that either.
So really, while I like Return of Jafar, I only saw it once a while ago and it was really just filler to me between the first and least films.
The Blog The ArtSaluk is a pretty intimidating villain, and the Forty Thieves concept was done pretty well - Aladdin had some pretty good sequels, especially considering with the exception of The Lion King Disney doesn't have that great a track record with that sort of thing.
The only thing that semi-bothered me about Ro J was the slight difference in Jafar's character - he's less... human, you might say. Tons more awesomely malicious, but even as a kid I didn't find myself rooting for him as much as I did in the first movie, because he was a bit less quirky and determinedly ineffectual.
Still, he owns the Jerkass Genie trope, as far as I'm concerned.
And I can hardly wait to discombobulate!
Send ya back and packing in a shipping crrrate!
Ye'll make a batter living with a spinning plate!
YOU'RE ONLY SECOND RAAAAATE!
Jonathan Freeman was having fun. That's for sure.
edited 13th Jul '11 6:05:44 PM by KnownUnknown
The only real problem with "Return of Jafar" is that it relies entirely on the events of the first movie for it's story. It had some good moments and fun songs (both "Now I'm Home" and "Second Rate" are pretty catchy), Dan Castellaneta is about the best option you have for replacing Robin Williams and Iago's Heel–Face Turn works as he is a character who tries to stick with the guy who's going to win. The big thing that always bugged me was that Aladdin remained in his street rat clothes for ROJ and the series, when he could have and should have gotten something a little nicer now that he was living in the palace engaged to a princess.
"King of Thieves" was the superior movie in just about every way, it had a sharper plot that expanded the universe (the oracle and the turtle island) and didn't rely on any previous story, Williams return was fantastic (I still laugh at his "How 'bout a pack of nutty buddies?" to the fat thief), Genie was realistically the game breaker in the action sequences, the animation was solid if not feature quality, it expanded a bit on Aladdin's backstory and he only briefly wore his street rat clothes. The new bad guy was appropriately nasty and his defeat was satisfactory karmic. If all DTV movies were like KOT the whole industry would be much better respected.
The focus on the story of the first film was kind of necessary, since they needed to tie up loose ends and set-up the status quo for the TV series. It's not so much a standalone film as it is a bridging pilot. It and King of Thieves aren't even comparable, as the latter is an actual film. The mistake they made was not just hyping the hell out of it as a TV "movie" to kick off the series.
edited 16th Jul '11 1:15:09 PM by KoujiTamino
But on that note, a main thing I found iffy about Ro J was that they seemed to think of the villain not dying as a loose end. I liked the fact that Jafar didn't die at the end of Aladdin, it fit his character more to be trapped by his own attempts at power beyond what he deserved.
It helps that he originally wasn't played as blackheartedly Complete Monster-y than some other Disney villains (he was cruel and manipulative, sure, but his actions weren't presented as quite as damning as, say, Scar), something they instead kind of emphasized in the sequel.
edited 16th Jul '11 1:30:22 PM by KnownUnknown
The only necessary thing about "resolving loose ends" is that they wanted to make Iago a part of the series. If they didn't want to do that they didn't have to bring back Jafar, despite him being a Sealed Evil in a Can.
edited 16th Jul '11 1:36:54 PM by KJMackley
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What bothered me about the King of Thieves was that the peddler sings his Arabian Nights reprise to Aladdin and Jasmine instead of the audience.
Using the deleted Arabian Nights reprise to wrap up the franchise was a brilliant move on Disney's part, but the song is sung to the AUDIENCE, not to other characters.
When is the trilogy coming out of the vault?
edited 16th Jul '11 4:41:48 PM by TacoWiz
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Respect the Red Right Hand

I liked it.
DON'T SHOOT
The question is: how did this happen?
In fact, I'd go as far as to say I wish it was given a higher budget and a theatrical release. This could've been a GREAT movie.
When are the Aladdin films coming out of the vault, anyway?
edited 13th Jul '11 12:35:46 AM by TacoWiz
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