A wish is a hope or desire for something. In fiction, wishes can be used as plot devices . In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used.
89-428: Several cultures engage in customs that entail wish-granting, such as blowing out the candles on a birthday cake , praying, seeing a shooting star at night, tossing a coin into a wishing well or fountain , breaking the wishbone of a cooked turkey , blowing a dandelion, or writing wishes on a ribbon or a sky lantern . Many believe such wishes can only come true if they are kept a secret from other people. Others, on
178-447: A beautiful child might have been a coincidence, but the father's wish in " The Seven Ravens " transforms his seven sons into ravens, just as the mother's wish in " The Raven " transforms her daughter. This is common in a tale involving a person, male or female, wishing for a child, even one that is a hedgehog , or a sprig of myrtle , or no bigger than a hazel nut . The number of wishes granted varies. Aladdin had an unlimited number in
267-461: A check." Williams explained to New York magazine that his previous Mork & Mindy merchandising was different because "the image is theirs. But the voice, that's me; I gave them myself. When it happened, I said, 'You know I don't do that.' And they [Disney] apologized; they said it was done by other people." Disney attempted to assuage Williams by sending him a Pablo Picasso painting worth more than $ 1 million, but this move failed to repair
356-742: A coin into the baking of the cake can represent financial success for the birthday individual. Different artifacts within cake can be used to symbolize a wish for the birthday girl or boy. Birthday parties in Egypt consist of two different birthday cakes for the birthday girl or boy. Often only one birthday cake has a set of birthday candles while the other is left untouched. While two birthday cakes are significant in Egyptian culture, other sweet treats can be seen at birthday parties such as cakes known as “ghettos”. In Israel, individuals celebrate their birthdays with candles on their birthday cakes that align with
445-525: A human handmaiden for the princess. 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 . Before Ashman's death in March 1991, he and Menken composed "Arabian Nights", "Friend Like Me", " Prince Ali " and Ashman's last song, "Humiliate
534-473: A lotus-paste-filled bun made of wheat flour and shaped and colored to resemble a peach. Rather than serving one large pastry, each guest is served their own small shòu bāo . In Western Russia, birthday children are served fruit pies with a birthday greeting carved into the crusts. As well in Russia and Lithuania, rather than a birthday cake, Russian adolescents receive a pie with a sweet birthday message that
623-554: A public apology to Williams. In turn, Williams would reprise the role in the second sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves , in 1996. Aladdin was the third — after The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast — and the final Disney film that Alan Menken and Howard Ashman had collaborated on, with Tim Rice as lyricist after Ashman had died in March 1991. Although fourteen songs were written for Aladdin , only seven are featured in
712-527: A request for wealth being granted through inheritance/insurance on the death of a loved one). Certain authors have also tried an "always on" approach: the careless use of the word "wish" in everyday conversation having, often unpleasant, consequences. Birthday cake A birthday cake is a cake eaten as part of a birthday celebration. While there is no standard for birthday cakes, they are typically highly decorated layer cakes covered in frosting , often featuring birthday wishes ("Happy birthdays") and
801-513: A story set in the Middle East would be commercially appealing, and their project was removed from active development. Ashman and Menken were soon recruited to compose songs for Beauty and the Beast . 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
890-409: 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". Warner Bros. Cartoons director Chuck Jones called the film "the funniest feature ever made", and James Berardinelli gave the film three and a half stars out of four, praising the "crisp visuals and wonderful song-and-dance numbers". Roger Ebert of
979-519: A wide variety of, more or less, inanimate objects. W. W. Jacob's Monkey's Paw is an example of this. Piers Anthony puts a spin on this idea in Castle Roogna : a magic ring claims to grant wishes and then claims credit when a wish comes true, apparently from the unaided efforts of the characters—but every wish made on the ring sooner or later comes true. Some wishes appear to be granted by nothing in particular. Snow White 's mother's wish for
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#17327809627451068-573: A young leading man, more of a teen-hunk version than before." –John Musker on Aladdin's early design Designed by a team led by supervising animator, Glen Keane , Aladdin was initially going to be as young as thirteen, and was originally made to resemble actor Michael J. Fox . During production, it was decided that the design was too boyish and lacked appeal, so the character was made "seventeen to eighteen", and redesigned to add elements derived from actor Tom Cruise and Calvin Klein models. For
1157-526: Is attached to his lamp, and Jafar to the Sultan — and is represented visually by the prison-like walls and bars of the Agrabah palace and the scene involving caged birds, which Jasmine eventually frees. Jasmine is also depicted as a different type of Disney Princess , being rebellious against the royal life and the social structure. A large promotion campaign preceded Aladdin ' s debut in theaters, with
1246-521: 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 co-wrote with the writing team of 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
1335-471: Is based on the work of caricaturist Al Hirschfeld , which production designer, Richard Vander Wende , also considered appropriate to the theme, due to similarities to the flowing and swooping lines found in Arabic calligraphy . Jafar's design was not based on Hirschfeld's work, because Jafar's supervising animator, Andreas Deja , wanted the character to be contrasting. Each character was animated alone, with
1424-537: Is beautifully drawn, with near-classic songs and a cast of scene-stealing characters." On Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade, on a scale of A+ to F. Most critics praised Robin Williams's performance as the Genie, with Janet Maslin of The New York Times declaring that children "needn't know precisely what Mr. Williams
1513-481: Is considered to parallel the Philosopher's Stone of western alchemy and also thought to be capable of fulfilling any wishes. In many works of fantasy fiction a wish is a supernatural demand placed on the recipient's unlimited request. When it is the center of a tale, the wish is usually a template for a morality tale , "be careful what you wish for"; it can also be a small part of a tale, in which case it
1602-480: Is customary for the guests to sing Happy Birthday to You in unison, or an equivalent birthday song appropriate to the country. Upon the conclusion of the song, the celebrant is traditionally prompted to blow out the candles and make a wish, which is thought to come true if all the candles are extinguished in a single breath. Another common superstition holds that the wish must be made in silence, not to be shared with anyone else, or else it will not come true. Though
1691-405: Is evoking to understand how funny he is". 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". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone stated that the film's comedic aspect made it accessible to both children and adults,
1780-399: Is illustrated with icing on top of the birthday pie. The Swedish birthday cake is made like a pound cake that is often topped with marzipan and decorated with the national flag. Dutch birthday pastries are fruit tarts topped with whipped cream. Traditionally an English birthday cake is infused with artifacts that signify importance and good luck when baking the cake. To illustrate, adding
1869-522: Is later stolen by Iago and brought to Jafar. Now the Genie's master, Jafar uses his first two wishes to become sultan, then a powerful sorcerer, and sends Aladdin to a frozen wasteland. Using the magic carpet, Aladdin escapes and returns to Agrabah, where he fights Jafar for the lamp. Aladdin taunts Jafar for being less powerful than the Genie, tricking him into using his last wish to become a genie himself. This causes Jafar to become trapped in his new lamp, taking Iago with him. The Genie throws Jafar's lamp into
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#17327809627451958-421: Is often used as a plot device . One can wish on many things for example: wishing wells , dandelions when one blows the seeds or light them on fire, stars and much more. When one wishes on a well, a coin is thrown in and the thrower silently makes a wish in the hope it comes true. A template for fictional wishes could be The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , specifically the tale of Aladdin , although in
2047-542: Is only a rectangular shape that expresses itself through pantomime — "It's sort of like acting by origami ". Cartwright kept folding a piece of cloth while animating to see how to position the Carpet. After the character animation was done, the carpet's surface design was applied digitally. "In early screenings, we played with him being a little bit younger, and he had a mother in the story. [...] In design he became more athletic-looking, more filled out, more of
2136-615: The Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film 3 stars out of 4, and commented that Williams and animation "were born for one another." However, he considered the music to be inferior to 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
2225-655: The Walt Disney Classics line, although it was not officially advertised until October 1. In its first three days of availability, Aladdin sold 10.8 million copies, setting the fastest sales record and grossing about $ 265,000,000 (equivalent to $ 559,000,000 in 2023) in the United States. 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
2314-428: The 19th century. However, the link between cakes and birthday celebrations may date back to ancient Roman times; in classical Roman culture , cakes were occasionally served at special birthdays and at weddings . These were circles made from flour and nuts, leavened with yeast, and sweetened with honey. In Germany by the 18th century, the tradition of celebrating birthdays with a birthday cake and candles began. One of
2403-467: The Anglosphere, the number of candles often corresponds to the age of the individual being celebrated, occasionally with one extra for luck. An increasingly popular alternative is to use candles shaped as the numeral digits of the celebrant's age. Sparklers may also be used alongside or instead of the traditional wax candles. The cake is usually presented with all the candles lit, at which point it
2492-440: The Arab world". The ADC also complained about the portrayal of the lead characters, Aladdin and Jasmine. They accused the filmmakers of anglicizeing their features and giving them Anglo-American accents, in contrast to the other characters in the film, which have "foreign accents, grotesque facial features, and appear villainous or greedy". In October 2020, in response to the criticism and in acknowledgment of racial stereotypes in
2581-563: The Boy". Musker and Clements wrote a draft of the screenplay, and delivered a story reel to studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg in April 1991. 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. Katzenberg requested for Clements and Musker to not be heavily dependent on Ashman's vision, and
2670-508: The Cave of Wonders. 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, wishing the Genie free. The Sultan allows Jasmine to marry whomever she chooses, and she gladly chooses Aladdin. The Genie bids the group a fond farewell and leaves to explore the world, while Aladdin and Jasmine start their new life together. In 1988, lyricist Howard Ashman pitched
2759-410: The Genie uses Aladdin's second wish to rescue him. Returning to the palace, Aladdin reveals Jafar's plot to Jasmine and the Sultan, but Jafar realizes Aladdin's identity and escapes from the guards. With everything seemingly resolved, the Genie requests his freedom; however, Aladdin declines, worried that he needs the Genie's facade to stay with Jasmine. The Genie, offended, retreats into his lamp, which
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2848-497: The King of Thieves , an animated television series , and a Broadway adaptation . A live-action film adaptation directed by Guy Ritchie was released May 24, 2019. Jafar , a sorcerer and the royal vizier of the Middle Eastern city of Agrabah , seeks a magic 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
2937-427: The Sultan, inspired by Aladdin's altruism, changes the law to make it legal for Jasmine to able to marry anyone she deems worthy. Screenwriting duo Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were brought in to rework the story, 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. Aladdin's personality
3026-411: The Sultan. Meanwhile, Aladdin arrives in Agrabah as Prince Ali, but Jasmine is uninterested in his grandstanding. Later, Aladdin takes Jasmine on a romantic ride on the carpet. After she deduces that Aladdin is the boy she'd met earlier, he lies that he sometimes dresses as a commoner to escape palace life. After Aladdin brings Jasmine home, Jafar has the guards capture him and throw him into the sea, where
3115-479: The Swiss middle class. One statement depicted a birthday cake as having lighted candles which correspond to each year of life. These candles were required to be blown out, individually, by the person who is being celebrated. In June 2017 researchers at Clemson University reported that some individuals deposit a large number of bacteria onto the cake frosting when blowing out the candles. They found that on average,
3204-549: The United States. On release of the Sega Genesis video game adaptation in November, Aladdin sold approximately 30 million home video units, earning more than $ 500,000,000 (equivalent to $ 1,050,000,000 in 2023) in the United States. It was the best-selling home video release until a record broken by The Lion King . This VHS edition entered moratorium on April 30, 1994. A THX -certified widescreen LaserDisc
3293-482: The act increased the amount of bacteria by 14 times, but one of the researchers described this as "not a big health concern". There are many variations of sweets which are eaten around the world on birthdays. Different cultures have different unique birthday cake traditions. The Chinese birthday pastry is the shòu bāo ( simplified Chinese : 寿包 ; traditional Chinese : 壽包 ) or shòu táo bāo (simplified Chinese: 寿桃包 ; traditional Chinese: 壽桃包 ),
3382-460: The album, Disneymania 3 . The pop duo version of the song, " A Whole New World ", performed by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle , which plays over the end credits, is, as of 2024 , the only Disney song to win a Grammy Award for Song of the Year . "The original story was sort of a winning the lottery kind of thing ... Like having anything you could wish for would be the greatest thing in
3471-747: The animators consulting with each other to make scenes with interrelating characters. Because Aladdin's animator, Glen Keane , was working in the California branch of Walt Disney Feature Animation , and Jasmine's animator, Mark Henn , was in Florida at Disney-MGM Studios , they had to frequently phone, fax or send designs and discs to each other. The animators filmed monkeys at the San Francisco Zoo to study their movements for Abu's character. Iago's supervising animator, Will Finn , tried to incorporate some aspects of Gottfried's appearance into
3560-528: The antagonists darker ones, such as red and black, and Agrabah and its palace use the neutral color, yellow. Computer animation was used for several elements of the film, such as the tiger entrance of the Cave of Wonders and the scene in which Aladdin tries to escape the collapsing cave. Some of the software that was used was Pixar 's RenderMan . Musker and Clements created the Genie with Robin Williams in mind; although Katzenberg suggested actors such as John Candy , Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy , Williams
3649-548: The birthday are lit. In the 20th century a birthday trend became evident in American culture where a birthday want or desire would only be achieved if the birthday recipient blew the candle in one exhale. Aladdin (1992 Disney film) This is an accepted version of this page Aladdin is a 1992 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution under Walt Disney Pictures . It
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3738-478: The celebrant's name. In many cultures, it is also customary to serve the birthday cake with small lit candles on top, especially in the case of a child's birthday. The cake often accompanies the singing of " Happy Birthday to You ". Variations include cupcakes , cake pops , pastries , and tarts . Birthday cakes have been a part of birthday celebrations in Western European countries since the middle of
3827-675: The condition that neither his name nor image be used for marketing, and that his character take no more than 25% of space on advertising artwork, since Williams's film, Toys , was scheduled for release one month after Aladdin ' s debut. For financial reasons, the studio reneged on both counts, especially in poster art, by having the Genie in 25% of the image but having other major and supporting characters portrayed considerably smaller. The Disney Hyperion book, Aladdin: The Making of an Animated Film , lists both of Williams's characters, "the Peddler" and "the Genie", ahead of main characters, but
3916-438: The damaged relationship, as the painting was a self-portrait of Picasso, as the artist, Vincent van Gogh , and apparently really "clashed" with the Williams's wilder home decor. Williams refused to sign for the 1994 direct-to-video sequel The Return of Jafar , and he was replaced by Dan Castellaneta as the Genie's voice actor. When Jeffrey Katzenberg was replaced by Joe Roth as chairman at Walt Disney Studios, Roth organized
4005-514: The entity from its constraint, usually by some simple action, allows the object's possessor to make a wish. The subservience of the extraordinarily powerful entity to the wisher can be explained in several ways. The entity may be grateful to be free of its constraint and the wish is a thank-you gift. The entity may be bound to obedience by its prison or some other item that the wisher possesses. The entity may, by its nature, be unable to exercise its powers without an initiator. Other wish providers are
4094-482: The exact origin of the birthday candle ritual is unknown, there are multiple theories which try to explain this tradition. One theory explaining the tradition of placing candles on birthday cakes is attributed to the early Greeks, who used candles to honor the goddess Artemis ' birth on the sixth day of every lunar month. The link between her oversight of fertility and the birthday tradition of candles on cakes, however, has not been established. In 18th century Germany,
4183-623: The film on a Diamond Edition Blu-ray on October 13, 2015. The film was released on Digital HD on September 29, 2015. 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 . The film's Blu-ray release sold 1.81 million units and grossed $ 39 million, as of 2017 . Aladdin
4272-550: The film's planned but ultimately cancelled IMAX reissue in 2003, and a second disc with bonus features. Accompanied by a $ 19 million marketing campaign, the DVD sold about 3 million units in its first month. The film's soundtrack was available in its original Dolby 5.1 track or in a new Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix. The DVD went into moratorium in January 2008 with its sequels. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released
4361-819: 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. Aladdin was released on 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. The film expanded to 1,131 theaters on November 25, 1992, grossing $ 19.2 million for
4450-402: The film, three by Ashman and four by Rice. Menken, Ashman and Rice were praised for creating a soundtrack that is "consistently good, rivaling the best of Disney's other animated musicals from the '90s". The Special Edition soundtrack released in 2004 included four songs in early animation tests and a music video of one, " Proud of Your Boy ", performed by Clay Aiken , which also appears on
4539-462: 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
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#17327809627454628-556: 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." The design for most characters
4717-444: The highest-grossing 1992 film domestically. 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. Aladdin was the most successful film of 1992, grossing $ 217 million in the United States, and over $ 504 million worldwide. It was the biggest gross for an animated film until The Lion King two years later, and
4806-400: The history of candles on cakes can be traced back to Kinderfest, a birthday celebration for children. This tradition also makes use of candles and cakes. German children were taken to an auditorium-like space. There, they were free to celebrate another year in a place where Germans believed that adults protected children from the evil spirits attempting to steal their souls. In those times there
4895-455: 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. With partner, Alan Menken , Ashman composed several songs and added original characters to the story, such as Aladdin's friends, Babkak, Omar and Kassim. However, Michael Eisner did not think that
4984-400: The lamp from the cave. The cave's guardian grants Aladdin entry, but warns him to touch only the lamp. Aladdin finds both the lamp and a flying magic carpet inside, but Abu grabs a large jewel and triggers a cave-in. They flee to the entrance and give the lamp to Jafar, who throws the pair into the cave. While trapped underground, Abu reveals to Aladdin that he stole the lamp back. Aladdin rubs
5073-512: The lamp, from which the Genie emerges. The Genie grants Aladdin three wishes, although Aladdin tricks him into freeing them from the cave without using a wish. Upon 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 his parrot sidekick, Iago , Jafar plans to marry Jasmine and then kill both her and her father,
5162-673: The location of the film was changed from Baghdad to the fictional Arabian city of Agrabah due to the Gulf War . Because the war prevented them from travelling to Baghdad for research, most of their research took place at the Saudi Arabian expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. According to a 1994 article in The Advocate , Katzenberg asked Thomas Schumacher , an openly gay producer, if any of
5251-545: The most notable occasions where using a birthday cake with candles took form was during Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf of Marienborn's birthday party in 1746 in Germany. His cake was said to be as big as an oven could make it, with candles stuck in it, marking the years of his age. From the 18th century, elaborate cakes continued to take form, having many aspects of the contemporary birthday cake, like multiple layers, icing, and decorations. However, these cakes were only available to
5340-512: The movie is quite inaccurate in its depictions of Arab societies. The main palace is inspired by Mughal architecture , but many of the clothes are Turkish in origin, and the outside environment is closer to that of the Arabian Desert . Entertainment Weekly ranked Aladdin in a list of the most controversial films in history due to this incident. The number has been described in reviews as "simultaneously glamorizing and barbarizing
5429-406: The number of years the birthday individual was born. As well an additional candle is added to the birthday cake to represent a candle for the following year. In the United States, lighting a birthday candle in correlation to the age of the birthday recipient is mirrored off of German customs. As well, singing happy birthday songs has become engraved in American birthday culture while the candles on
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#17327809627455518-521: The original story, but was restricted to three wishes in the 1992 Disney film . As in the Charles Perrault tale " The Ridiculous Wishes ", three is the most common, but others may be granted to fit the constraints of the tale. Several authors have spun variations of the wish for more wishes theme, though some disallow this as cheating. In many stories the wording of the wish is extremely important. For example, characters often say, "I wish I
5607-542: The other hand, believe that wishes come true only if they are told to someone else. In Christianity , especially among Roman Catholic , Lutheran and Anglican denominations, believers pray novenas to request a favour they wish to obtain. Within Hinduism , Buddhism and Jainism , the Kalpavriksha trees were believed to have once held the ability to grant wishes. The Cintamani stone of Hindu-Buddhist origin
5696-458: The palace. One day, she escapes the palace and encounters a young street urchin named Aladdin , and his pet monkey, Abu. As a bond between Aladdin and Jasmine develops, Jafar has the palace guards capture and imprison Aladdin, who learns Jasmine's identity. Jasmine demands that Jafar release Aladdin, but he lies and claims that Aladdin has already been beheaded. Disguised as an elderly beggar, Jafar frees Aladdin and Abu and orders them to retrieve
5785-533: The parrot's design, especially his semi-closed eyes and the always-appearing teeth. Some aspects of the Sultan were inspired by the Wizard of Oz , to create a bumbling authority figure. Andreas Deja, Jafar's supervising animator, tried to incorporate Jonathan Freeman's facial expressions and gesturing into the character. Animator Randy Cartwright described working on the Magic Carpet as challenging, since it
5874-422: The princess look like white American teenagers." The film did not go without criticism. In a scathing review, Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine described the film as racist, ridiculous, and a "narcissistic circus act" from Robin Williams. One of the verses of the opening song "Arabian Nights", in which the speaker uses the lyric "where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face" to describe his homeland,
5963-418: The removal of Aladdin's mother, remarking, " Eighty-six the mother. The mom's a zero." 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
6052-505: The scenery design, various architectural elements seen in 19th-century orientalist paintings and photographs of the Arab world were used for guidance. Other inspirations for design were Disney's animated films from the 1940s and '50s and the 1940 film The Thief of Bagdad . The coloring was done with the computerized CAPS process, and the color motifs were chosen according to the personality —the protagonists use light colors, such as blue,
6141-452: The supervising animator for the Genie, reviewed Williams's recorded dialogue, and selected the best gags and lines that his crew would create character animation to match. The producers added many in-jokes and references to Disney's previous works in the film, such as a "cameo appearance" from directors, Clements and Musker, and drawing some characters based on Disney workers. Beast , Sebastian and Pinocchio make brief appearances, and
6230-426: The tale of Aladdin the actual wishes were only part of the tale. Also, Aladdin's demands, while outrageous, were mainly variations on wealth (which is still often taken as the most common request). Classically the wish provider is often a spirit, genie , or similar entity, which is bound or constrained within a commonplace object (Aladdin's oil lamp for example) or a container closed with Solomon 's seal. Releasing
6319-545: 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. 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
6408-404: The very wealthy. Birthday cakes became accessible to the lower class as a result of the industrial revolution and the spread of more materials and goods. The practice of serving cake on birthdays is commonplace in many cultures. In contemporary Western cultures, birthday cakes for children are often topped with candles, secured with special holders or simply pressed down into the outer frosting. In
6497-475: The wardrobe of the Genie at the end of the film — a Goofy hat, a Hawaiian shirt, and sandals — are a reference to a short film that Robin Williams did for the Disney-MGM Studios tour in the late 1980s. In gratitude for his success with Touchstone Pictures 's Good Morning, Vietnam , Robin Williams voiced the Genie for SAG scale pay ($ 75,000) instead of his usual asking fee of $ 8 million, on
6586-517: The week of November 26. It set an opening weekend record in South Africa . By 2002, the film grossed $ 287 million overseas and $ 504 million worldwide. It sold an estimated 52.4 million tickets in the United States and Canada. When adjusted for inflation (in 2022 dollars), its domestic gross totaled $ 491.4 million. The film was first released in VHS on September 29, 1993, as part of
6675-542: The weekend, finishing second at the U.S. box office, behind Home Alone 2: Lost in New York . 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). 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 . By February 1993, it surpassed Batman Returns to become
6764-448: 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 on November 11, 1992. It received positive reviews from critics (particularly for Williams's performance). It
6853-405: The world and having it taken away from you is bad, but having it back is great. We didn't really want that to be the message of the movie." –Ron Clements The filmmakers thought that the moral message of the original tale was inappropriate, and decided to "put a spin on it" by making the fulfillment of wishes seem like a great solution, but eventually becoming a problem. Another major theme
6942-433: 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
7031-542: Was altered to "where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense" following complaints from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). The revision first appeared on the 1993 video release. The original lyric was intact on the initial CD soundtrack release, but the rereleases use the edited lyric. The Broadway adaptation also uses the edited line. The subsequent line, however, "It's barbaric, but hey, it's home",
7120-435: Was approached and eventually accepted the role. Williams came for voice recording sessions during breaks while filming two films he was making at the time, Hook and Toys . Unusual for an animated film, much of Williams's dialogue was ad-libbed . For some scenes, Williams was given topics and dialogue suggestions, but allowed to improvise his lines. It is estimated that Williams improvised 52 characters. Eric Goldberg ,
7209-401: Was avoiding an attempt to be what the person is not — both Aladdin and Jasmine get into trouble pretending to be different people, and Prince Ali's persona fails to impress Jasmine, who falls for Aladdin only when she finds out who he truly is. Being "imprisoned" is also presented, a fate that occurs to most of the characters — Aladdin and Jasmine are limited by their lifestyles, while the Genie
7298-456: Was forced to refer to him as only "the actor signed to play the Genie". Disney, while not using Williams's name in commercials as per the contract, used his voice for the Genie in the commercials and used the Genie character to sell toys and fast food tie-ins, without having to pay Williams additional money. Williams unhappily quipped at the time, "You realize when you work for Disney why the mouse has only four fingers--because he can’t pick up
7387-414: Was issued on September 21, 1994, and a Spanish-dubbed VHS for the American market was released on April 14, 1995. In Japan, 2.2 million home video units were sold by 1995. 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
7476-421: Was left intact. The film has also been subject to criticism for its use of Orientalist stereotypes that depict Arab societies as exotic and foreign. The ADC has pointed out that the characters in the movie that the viewer is supposed to identify and sympathize with are generally presented with more white features, while the villains are presented with more Arab features. Other people have pointed out that
7565-582: Was no tradition of bringing gifts to a birthday; guests would merely bring good wishes for the birthday person. However, if a guest did bring gifts it was considered to be a good sign for the person whose birthday it was. Later, flowers became quite popular as a birthday gift. A reference to the tradition of blowing out the candles was documented in Switzerland in 1881. Researchers for the Folk-Lore Journal recorded various "superstitions" among
7654-596: Was re-released on HD and 4K digital download on August 27, 2019, with a physical media re-release on Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray on September 10, 2019, as part of the Walt Disney Signature Collection . 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
7743-540: Was rewritten to be "a little rougher, like a young Harrison Ford "; 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. By October 1991, Katzenberg was satisfied with the new version of Aladdin . As with Woolverton's screenplay, several characters and plot elements were based on The Thief of Bagdad , although
7832-402: 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 . Outside of the United States and Canada, the film grossed $ 200 million in 1993, and $ 250 million by January 1994. In Europe, Aladdin defeated Jurassic Park to become the continent's box-office leader for
7921-444: Was wealthy." This wording could be taken literally, the wish granted so that at one time the wisher was (used to be) wealthy but is not any more. Saying, "I wish to be wealthy", then because "to be" refers to either the present or the future, they would become wealthy. A common problem is the granter of the wish being either extremely literal or through malice granting the request in a manner designed to cause maximum distress (such as
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