Did you know that one of Disney’s most well-known films was based on another film? Aladdin is a popular Disney movie that came out in 1992 and was based on The Thief of Bagdad. This movie follows the life of a poor street rat named Aladdin, who lives in the made-up city of Agrabah. Throughout the movie, Aladdin is trying to reconnect with the Princess while trying to avoid Jafar. The Thief of Bagdad, a movie released in 1940, is a bunch of stories within a story. The movie’s main plot is that a man named Amed is looking for the Princess he once met. Similar to Aladdin while Amed is doing this, an evil man named Jafar is trying to stop him. In both of these films, there are negative stereotypes describing people from the Middle East and Asia, known as Orientalism. As with most stereotypes, people often see the bad before the good. In Aladdin, the characters are portrayed as barbaric and mystical, emphasizing these oriental stereotypes. Between The Thief of Bagdad and Aladdin, there were many changes to make the movie more geared toward an American audience which proves that it is difficult to make stories like these accessible to English-Speaking audiences without succumbing to Orientalism because people are unwilling to change their mindset and expectations.
One of the most significant changes between the two films is that The Thief of Bagdad is set in an actual location while Aladdin is set in a made-up one. Why is this the case? It could be because the producers of Aladdin feared that people would be uncomfortable with the idea that the Middle East is a real place with a different culture. By making up a place like Agrabah, people would be more likely to watch the movie because it was all made up. In addition to the emphasis on a made-up location, the producers emphasize the Genie’s magical abilities, once again convincing the viewer that the story is not real, perpetrating the orientalist stereotype. While some people may call Aladdin a work of Disney’s magic, others can see past the facade. Yet another way that the producers emphasize the made-up location is by making the Palace look like the Taj Mahal, a building in India. It is clear that the film is set in a Middle Eastern setting, and instead of sticking with one culture, the producers mix two completely different cultures showing that they did not put thought into the design. If producers and viewers were okay with acknowledging that different cultures are part of what makes up society, then maybe Aladdin could have been made as a live-action movie. But instead, the producers did what they thought would get them more views, and by doing so, succumbed to Orientalism.
A second big difference between The Thief of Bagdad and Aladdin is the main character’s name. In The Thief of Bagdad, the main character’s name is Amed, while in, Aladdin the main character is named Aladdin. In The Thief of Bagdad, there were characters named Abu, Genie, and Jafar. These names also appear in Aladdin, so why does the name Amed not appear? One reason may be that Amed is a common name for people of the Middle East, while Aladdin is not. By changing the main character’s name, the producers are once again trying to make the movie more appealing to an American audience. To a native English speaker, Aladdin is easier to pronounce and remember. Of course, the producers would want an easy name to remember so that people could easily talk about the film. It is also interesting because, at this time, it was unusual for Disney to name the movie after the main character, let alone not after the Princess of the movie. Why did the producers not feel they could name the movie after an Arab princess? This may be because they are once again caught up in Orientalism and stereotypes about Arab women.
In The Thief of Bagdad, most of the characters had accents that made it hard to understand when they spoke. To help understand the movie better subtitles were turned on. In order to avoid the need for subtitles, the producers of Aladdin succumbed to Orientalism by making the movie’s main characters not have an accent. If there had been a need for subtitles, it would have meant that the movie would not be as easily accessible to children. Disney chose to find actors without accents to make the movie more accessible, but by doing so, they lost a crucial piece of culture. Another noticeable change in the dialogue is the pronunciation of Jafar. In The Thief of Bagdad, Jafar is pronounced Jaaf Far, while in Aladdin, the name is pronounced Jafar. This subtle but apparent change is yet another way that Disney is trying to Americanize The Thief of Bagdad. Had the producers of Aladdin used actors with accents the movie would have felt less Americanized. While this may have made it easier for the viewer to understand, it took away a lot of the authenticity and depth.
The changes that Disney makes are very surprising. Usually, when comparing an old movie and a new movie, you notice a positive change. However, this is not the case when looking at the changes between The Thief of Bagdad and Aladdin. In fact, in many ways, it is the complete opposite. It is clear that Disney cared more about making money and a movie that would become well known rather than embracing and sharing a new culture. We have no idea how people would have reacted had Aladin not strayed as far from The Thief of Bagdad. Of course, we would like to think that people would have enjoyed the movie just as much but this is something we will never really know. It has now been 30 years since Aladdin was released. So do you think that people are now ready to have a movie where the actors have foreign accents and the movie is not set in a made-up place?
