Aladdin is a 1992 American animated movie with music and fantasy elements, based on the Arabic story "Aladdin" from One Thousand and One Nights. It was made by Walt Disney Feature Animation and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, who also helped write the screenplay with Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. The movie includes the voices of Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried, and Douglas Seale. The story follows a poor boy from the streets of Arabia named Aladdin, who finds a magic lamp containing a genie. With the genie’s help, Aladdin pretends to be a wealthy prince to impress the Sultan of Agrabah and win the love of the Sultan’s free-spirited daughter, Princess Jasmine, while the Sultan’s evil advisor, Jafar, tries to steal the magic lamp.

The idea for the movie was first suggested by lyricist Howard Ashman to Disney Studios president Jeffrey Katzenberg. The screenplay was rewritten three times before Katzenberg approved it. Artists used drawings by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld as a reference and used computers to complete the hand-drawn artwork and add special effects. The music was composed by Alan Menken, and the soundtrack includes six songs written by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, who took over after Ashman’s death.

Aladdin was released on November 11, 1992, and was both critically and commercially successful. Critics praised the animation and Robin Williams’ performance as the Genie. The movie earned over $504 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1992 and the first animated movie to reach $500 million in box office revenue. At the time of its release, it was the fifth highest-grossing film overall and the highest-grossing animated film until The Lion King (1994) surpassed it.

Aladdin won two Academy Awards and received other awards for its soundtrack, including a Grammy Award for Song of the Year for the song “A Whole New World,” performed by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle. The movie’s VHS release set a sales record, earning about $500 million in the United States. Aladdin inspired many other works, including two direct-to-video sequels: The Return of Jafar (1994) and Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996), an animated TV series (1994–1995), and a stage musical in 2011. A live-action version of the film, directed by Guy Ritchie, was released on May 24, 2019.

Plot

Jafar, a sorcerer and the royal vizier of the fictional Middle Eastern city of Agrabah, searches for a magic lamp hidden inside the Cave of Wonders. Only "the diamond in the rough" can retrieve the lamp, which is a young, kind-hearted street urchin named Aladdin. Aladdin lives on the streets with his pet monkey, Abu, and often shares food with others. At the same time, Princess Jasmine feels unhappy with her life in the palace and leaves to explore the city. She meets Aladdin, and a friendship begins to form between them. Jafar captures Aladdin and imprisons him after learning Jasmine’s identity. Jasmine demands that Jafar release Aladdin, but Jafar lies, claiming that Aladdin has already been killed.

Jafar, pretending to be an old beggar, frees Aladdin and Abu and sends them to retrieve the lamp from the cave. The cave’s guardian allows Aladdin to enter but warns him to touch only the lamp. Inside the cave, Aladdin finds both the lamp and a flying magic carpet. However, Abu grabs a large jewel, causing a cave-in. They escape to the cave’s entrance and give the lamp to Jafar. Jafar tries to kill Aladdin but is interrupted when Abu bites his hand, causing them to fall into the cave. While trapped, Abu reveals that he stole the lamp back. Aladdin rubs the lamp, and the Genie appears. The Genie offers Aladdin three wishes, but Aladdin tricks him into freeing them without using a wish. When the Genie expresses a desire to be free, Aladdin promises to use his last wish to release him. To impress Jasmine, Aladdin uses his first wish to become a prince.

With the help of his parrot sidekick, Iago, Jafar plans to marry Jasmine and then kill her and her father, the Sultan. Meanwhile, Aladdin arrives in Agrabah as Prince Ali, but Jasmine is not interested in him. That night, Aladdin takes Jasmine on a romantic ride on the magic carpet. When Jasmine realizes that Aladdin is the boy she met earlier, he lies, saying he sometimes dresses as a commoner to avoid palace life. Aladdin brings Jasmine home, but Jafar’s guards attack him and throw him into the sea. The Genie uses Aladdin’s second wish to save him. Back at the palace, Aladdin tells Jasmine and the Sultan about Jafar’s plan, but Jafar discovers Aladdin’s identity and escapes.

After the conflict seems resolved, the Genie asks for his freedom, but Aladdin refuses, fearing he needs the Genie’s disguise to stay with Jasmine. Heartbroken, the Genie returns to the lamp, which is later stolen by Iago and given to Jafar. Now the Genie’s master, Jafar uses his first two wishes to become the Sultan and a powerful sorcerer. He sends Aladdin to a frozen wasteland. Using the magic carpet, Aladdin escapes and returns to Agrabah. He confronts Jafar for the lamp and tricks him into using his last wish to become a genie, trapping Jafar and Iago inside a new lamp. The Genie throws Jafar’s lamp into the Cave of Wonders.

The Genie encourages Aladdin to use his third wish to become a prince and legally marry Jasmine. Instead, Aladdin keeps his promise and frees the Genie. The Sultan allows Jasmine to marry whoever she chooses, and she happily chooses Aladdin. The Genie says goodbye and leaves to explore the world, while Aladdin and Jasmine begin their new life together.

Voice cast

• Scott Weinger as Aladdin, a poor but kind Agrabah thief and street child who loves Princess Jasmine. For his audition, Weinger sent a homemade tape of Aladdin, with his mother playing the Genie. After several callbacks, he learned six months later that he was chosen as the main character. Glen Keane was Aladdin’s supervising animator. Brad Kane provided Aladdin’s singing voice.
• Robin Williams as the Genie, a lively jinn who can grant three wishes to anyone who finds his magic lamp. He adds humor to the film. The directors wrote the Genie’s role for Robin Williams, but faced resistance. They made a video of Williams’s stand-up comedy, showing the Genie growing another head to argue with himself, based on a joke about schizophrenia. This made Williams laugh and convinced him to accept the role. Williams’s work in Aladdin started a change in animation, using famous actors instead of trained voice actors. He also voices a peddler at the film’s beginning, which the directors intended to be the Genie in disguise telling the story. Bruce Adler provided the peddler’s singing voice.
• Linda Larkin as Jasmine, a beautiful Agrabah princess and the Sultan’s daughter who is bored with palace life and falls in love with Aladdin. Larkin was chosen nine months after her audition and adjusted her voice to match the filmmakers’ vision. Mark Henn was Jasmine’s supervising animator. Lea Salonga provided Jasmine’s singing voice.
• Jonathan Freeman as Jafar, a dishonest, power-hungry sorcerer and Agrabah’s grand vizier who plots to overthrow the Sultan by obtaining the Genie’s lamp. Freeman was the first actor cast and spent 21 months recording his lines. He changed his voice after Weinger and Larkin were cast, as the directors wanted Jafar to be a calm, scary villain instead of an irritable one. Andreas Deja was Jafar’s supervising animator, while Kathy Zielinski animated Jafar’s beggar and snake forms.
• Frank Welker as Abu, Aladdin’s kleptomaniac monkey with a high-pitched voice. Welker also voices Jasmine’s tiger, Rajah, and the Cave of Wonders. Duncan Marjoribanks supervised Abu’s animation, Aaron Blaise supervised Rajah’s animation, and Eric Goldberg supervised the Cave of Wonders’ animation.
• Gilbert Gottfried as Iago, Jafar’s sarcastic, hot-tempered red lory sidekick. Will Finn supervised Iago’s animation.
• Douglas Seale as the Sultan, a friendly but naive Agrabah ruler who wants to find a good husband for Jasmine. David Pruiksma was the Sultan’s supervising animator.
• Jim Cummings as Razoul, the Captain of the Guards. Phil Young and Chris Wahl animated Razoul and the other guards.
• Charlie Adler as Gazeem, a thief sent by Jafar into the Cave of Wonders at the film’s start. T. Daniel Hofstedt animated Gazeem.
• Corey Burton as Prince Achmed, an arrogant prince Jasmine rejects as a suitor.

Production

In 1988, lyricist Howard Ashman proposed an animated musical version of the story Aladdin. He wrote a 40-page film treatment that stayed true to the original story’s plot and characters but imagined it as a fun, 1930s-style musical with a Genie inspired by that era. With his partner, Alan Menken, Ashman wrote several songs and added new characters, such as Aladdin’s friends Babkak, Omar, and Kassim.

However, Michael Eisner believed a story set in the Middle East might not be popular, so the project was put on hold. Ashman and Menken were then asked to write songs for Beauty and the Beast. Linda Woolverton, who also worked on Beauty and the Beast, used parts of Ashman’s treatment to create a draft that included ideas from The Thief of Bagdad, such as a villain named Jafar, a retired thief named Abu, and a human handmaiden for the princess.

Directors Ron Clements and John Musker joined the Aladdin project, choosing it over two other ideas: an adaptation of Swan Lake and King of the Jungle (which later became The Lion King). Before Ashman died in March 1991, he and Menken wrote songs like “Arabian Nights,” “Friend Like Me,” “Prince Ali,” and Ashman’s final song, “Humiliate the Boy.”

Clements and Musker wrote a screenplay draft and showed it to studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg in April 1991. Katzenberg thought the script was not engaging and, on a day called “Black Friday,” ordered the story to be rewritten without changing the film’s November 25, 1992, release date. He asked the directors to move away from Ashman’s vision and to remove Aladdin’s mother, saying, “Eighty-six the mother. The mom’s a zero.”

Katzenberg also changed the story so Jasmine would not be forced to marry by age sixteen, instead having the Sultan say, “your next birthday,” and requiring her suitor to be a prince. Screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio rewrote the story, removing Aladdin’s mother, making Jasmine a stronger character, and cutting some of Ashman and Menken’s songs. Aladdin’s personality was changed to be “a little rougher, like a young Harrison Ford.” The parrot, Iago, was redesigned after seeing actor Gilbert Gottfried in Beverly Hills Cop II.

By October 1991, Katzenberg approved the new version of Aladdin. The film’s setting was changed from Baghdad to the fictional city of Agrabah because of the Gulf War, so most research was done at a Saudi Arabian expo in Los Angeles.

According to a 1994 article in The Advocate, Katzenberg asked openly gay producer Thomas Schumacher if scenes with gay references, such as the Genie acting like a “swishy fashion designer,” offended him. Schumacher said the references were “in good fun” and noted that many hairdressers are gay.

Character designs were inspired by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, with flowing lines similar to Arabic calligraphy. Jafar’s design was different, as his animator, Andreas Deja, wanted him to stand out. Animators worked separately but collaborated on scenes.

Aladdin’s animator, Glen Keane, and Jasmine’s animator, Mark Henn, worked in different locations and shared designs by phone, fax, or email. Animators studied monkeys at a zoo to create Abu’s movements. Iago’s design included traits from actor Gilbert Gottfried, and the Sultan’s look was inspired by The Wizard of Oz.

Jafar’s animator, Andreas Deja, used actor Jonathan Freeman’s expressions. Animator Randy Cartwright found it challenging to animate the Magic Carpet, which had to act through movement alone. After animation, the carpet’s design was added digitally.

Early versions of Aladdin had him as young as 13 and looked like actor Michael J. Fox. Later, he was redesigned to be 17 or 18, with features from actor Tom Cruise and Calvin Klein models.

Scenery was inspired by 19th-century paintings of the Arab world and Disney films from the 1940s and 1950s. Colors were chosen based on characters: light colors for heroes, dark colors for villains, and yellow for Agrabah. Computer animation was used for scenes like the Cave of Wonders and the collapsing cave. Software like Pixar’s RenderMan was used.

Clements and Musker created the Genie with Robin Williams in mind, even though other actors were suggested. Williams recorded his lines during breaks from filming Hook and Toys. Much of his dialogue was improvised. Animator Eric Goldberg chose the best lines to animate.

The film included many jokes and references to earlier Disney works, such as a “cameo” by directors Clements and Musker.

Themes

The original story had a message similar to winning the lottery, where getting everything you want is wonderful, but losing it is bad, and getting it back is good. The filmmakers did not want the movie to have this message. Instead, they changed the story to show that getting wishes fulfilled seems like a good solution but later causes problems. Another important theme was pretending to be someone you are not. Both Aladdin and Jasmine face difficulties when they act like different people. Prince Ali's false identity does not impress Jasmine, and she only falls for Aladdin after learning who he really is. The film also explores the idea of being trapped or limited. Many characters, including Aladdin and Jasmine, are restricted by their lives, while the Genie is bound to his lamp and Jafar is tied to the Sultan. This is shown visually through the prison-like walls and bars of Agrabah palace and scenes with caged birds, which Jasmine later frees. Jasmine is also portrayed as a different kind of Disney Princess, as she challenges the rules of royal life and the social system she is part of.

Release

Before Aladdin was released in theaters, a large marketing campaign took place. The film's trailer was included with most Disney VHS releases, such as One Hundred and One Dalmatians in April 1992 and Beauty and the Beast in October 1992. Many related products and licensed items were also released. Aladdin premiered in two theaters on November 11, 1992: the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles and the City Cinemas 1, 2, and 3rd Avenue in New York City. It earned $196,664 in its first five days. The film expanded to 1,131 theaters on November 25, 1992, and earned $19.2 million during the weekend, ranking second at the U.S. box office behind Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. It took eight weeks for Aladdin to surpass Beauty and the Beast as the most successful animated Disney film in the United States. The Lion King later surpassed Aladdin in 1994.

In its eighth week of release, Aladdin earned $15.6 million and reached the top spot at the box office, beating A Few Good Men. By February 1993, it surpassed Batman Returns to become the highest-grossing 1992 film in the United States. In the U.S., the film held the top box office spot five times weekly and set a record for the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, earning $32.2 million during its 22-week run. Aladdin was the most successful film of 1992, earning $217 million in the United States and over $504 million worldwide. It held the record for the highest-grossing animated film until The Lion King two years later. It was the first full-length animated film to earn $200 million in the United States and Canada, and the first film to reach that mark since Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Outside the United States and Canada, the film earned $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 the week of November 26, 1993. It set an opening weekend record in South Africa. By 2002, the film earned $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.

Aladdin was first released on VHS on September 29, 1993, as part of the Walt Disney Classics line, though it was not officially advertised until October 1. In its first three days of availability, Aladdin sold 10.8 million copies, setting a record for the fastest sales and earning about $265,000,000 (equivalent to $591,000,000 in 2025) in the United States. In less than three weeks, the VHS release sold more than 16 million units and earned over $400,000,000 (equivalent to $890,000,000 in 2025) in the United States. When the Sega Genesis video game adaptation was released in November, Aladdin sold approximately 30 million home video units, earning more than $500,000,000 (equivalent to $1,110,000,000 in 2025) in the United States. It was the best-selling home video release until The Lion King broke the record. This VHS edition was no longer available for sale on April 30, 1994. A THX-certified widescreen LaserDisc was released 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 re-released on VHS and for the first time on DVD as part of Disney’s Platinum Edition line. The DVD included the movie and a second disc with bonus features. A $19 million marketing campaign supported the release, and 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 was no longer available for sale in January 2008 with its sequels.

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film on a Diamond Edition Blu-ray on October 13, 2015, and 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 on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks overall disc sales. The film’s Blu-ray release sold 1.81 million units and earned $39 million as of 2017.

Aladdin 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.

Reception

Upon its release, the film Aladdin received praise from movie critics. The website Rotten Tomatoes, which collects reviews, reports that 96% of 130 critics gave the film positive reviews, with an average score of 8.4 out of 10. The site’s summary states: "A highly entertaining movie from Disney’s renaissance era, Aladdin is beautifully drawn, with near-classic songs and a cast of characters that steal scenes." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100, based on 25 critics, which means it received "universal acclaim." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an "A+" rating, the highest possible grade on a scale from A+ to F.

Many critics praised Robin Williams’s performance as the Genie. Janet Maslin of The New York Times said children "needn’t know precisely what Mr. Williams is evoking to understand how funny he is." Brian Lowry of Variety praised the cast, calling the expressive magic carpet "its most remarkable accomplishment" and stating that the film "overcomes most story flaws thanks to sheer technical skill." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said the film’s humor made it enjoyable for both children and adults, a view shared by Desson Howe of The Washington Post, who noted 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 it three and a half stars out of four, praising "crisp visuals and wonderful song-and-dance numbers."

Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 stars out of 4, saying Williams and the animation "were born for one another." However, he criticized the music, calling it less impressive than in The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, and described the characters Aladdin and Jasmine as "pale and routine." He also criticized the film’s use of ethnic stereotypes, writing, "Most of the Arab characters have exaggerated facial features—hooked noses, glowering brows, thick lips—but Aladdin and the princess look like white American teenagers." Olly Richards of Empire Magazine gave the film 5 stars out of 5, stating it "brought a hip new sensibility to animated features" and "still stands up in the age of Pixar and DreamWorks thanks largely to a blistering improv turn from Robin Williams."

The film faced some criticism. Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine called it "racist, ridiculous, and a 'narcissistic circus act' from Robin Williams." One verse of the opening song "Arabian Nights," which originally said, "where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face," was changed to "where it’s flat and immense and the heat is intense" after complaints from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). This change first appeared on the 1993 video release. The original lyric was used on the initial CD soundtrack, but later releases used the edited version. The Broadway adaptation also uses the edited line. The next line, "It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home," remained unchanged.

The film has also been criticized for using stereotypes that depict Arab societies as exotic or foreign. The ADC noted that characters viewers are meant to identify with, such as Aladdin and Jasmine, are often shown with more white features, while villains are shown with more Arab features. Others pointed out the film inaccurately portrays Arab societies, with the main palace inspired by Mughal architecture, clothing resembling Turkish styles, and the environment closer to the Arabian Desert.

Entertainment Weekly listed Aladdin as one of the most controversial films in history due to these issues. The film has been described as "simultaneously glamorizing and barbarizing the Arab world." The ADC also criticized the portrayal of Aladdin and Jasmine, accusing the filmmakers of making them look more like Anglo-American teenagers with "foreign accents, grotesque facial features, and appear villainous or greedy." In October 2020, Disney added a disclaimer to Aladdin on Disney+, acknowledging the film’s racial stereotypes in response to criticism and the George Floyd protests.

Another scene, where Aladdin is threatened by the tiger Rajah on the palace balcony, was also controversial. Some viewers reported hearing Aladdin say, "Good teenagers, take off your clothes," which they interpreted as a subliminal reference to promiscuity. However, the film’s creators said this line was not recorded and that the actual line was "Good tiger, take off and go…" The word "tiger" was overlapped by Rajah’s snarl. A second voice, possibly accidentally added, was later removed in later editions of the film.

Some animation fans have noted similarities between Aladdin and Richard Williams’s unfinished film, The Thief and the Cobbler (also known as The Princess and the Cobbler and Arabian Knight). These similarities include similar plots, characters, scenes, and background designs, as well as the antagonist Zig-Zag resembling the Genie and Jafar. Although Aladdin was released first, The Thief and the Cobbler began production in the 1960s and faced challenges like financial problems, copyright issues, and delays caused by multiple studios trying to complete the film after Richard Williams was fired. Later releases of The Thief and the Cobbler, including edits by Miramax, have sometimes led to claims that it is a copy of Aladdin.

Legacy

The movie Aladdin played an important role during the Disney Renaissance and helped change how Hollywood animated films used real-life actors as voice performers. The success of Robin Williams's performance as the Genie made audiences especially interested in this character. Entertainment writer Scott Meslow noted that, compared to Aladdin, the Genie was the most popular and valuable character for Disney. This led to more animated films featuring famous actors, such as Shark Tale and Puss in Boots.

Before Aladdin was released in theaters, Disney asked Tad Stones and Alan Zaslove to create an animated TV series based on the movie, similar to the Little Mermaid series. Stones liked the character Iago and wanted to include him in the story. He suggested making a direct-to-video sequel instead of a TV special. This led to the release of The Return of Jafar in June 1994. The film introduced a new character, Abis Mal, voiced by Jason Alexander. Robin Williams did not return as the Genie, and his role was taken over by Dan Castellaneta. Douglas Seale's role was replaced by Val Bettin.

The story of The Return of Jafar focuses on Jafar seeking revenge against Aladdin. This time, Iago is on Aladdin's side, and Abis Mal becomes Jafar's new helper. The Aladdin TV series began in September 1994 on The Disney Afternoon block. The episodes followed Aladdin's adventures after the events of The Return of Jafar. In 1996, the final sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, was released on video. The story shows Aladdin and Jasmine preparing for their wedding when Aladdin learns his father is still alive and is the king of thieves in Agrabah.

The Aladdin characters appeared in other media, such as the Hercules: The Animated Series and the TV show House of Mouse. Jafar was also the leader of the villains in Mickey's House of Villains.

The film inspired a Disney On Ice show and two theme park attractions: "The Magic Carpets of Aladdin," a ride similar to Dumbo the Flying Elephant at Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, and Tokyo DisneySea; and "Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular" at Disney's California Adventure and Tokyo DisneySea.

Three video games based on Aladdin were released when the film came out. Other games followed, including Aladdin: Nasira's Revenge and Disney's Aladdin Chess Adventures.

The Kingdom Hearts video game series includes a world called Agrabah where players can explore Aladdin’s story. The plot in these games connects to the original film and its sequels. The Genie also appears as a character players can summon in the series.

In 2015, Disney announced a live-action movie called Genies, which was meant to be a prequel to the Aladdin film. The movie was written by Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, with Tripp Vinson producing. Disney planned to use some unused lines from Robin Williams’s recordings but later learned his will prevented the use of his likeness for 25 years after his death in 2014.

In 2016, Disney began developing a live-action Aladdin film directed by Guy Ritchie. John August wrote the script, which kept the musical elements from the original film. The cast was to be diverse. In 2017, Will Smith was cast as the Genie. After delays in finding actors for Aladdin and Jasmine, Mena Massoud was chosen as Aladdin, Naomi Scott as Jasmine, and Will Smith as the Genie. New songs were written by Alan Menken, Pasek, and Paul. The film began filming in September 2017 and was released in May 2019.