50 Fun Facts About Aladdin

Who voices the Genie in Disney's 1992 Aladdin?

Katzenberg suggested Candy, Martin and Eddie Murphy, but the directors had written the part for Williams and won him over with a test animated to his stand-up.

Roughly how many characters is the Genie's voice actor estimated to have improvised in the booth?

Supervising animator Eric Goldberg went through the recordings and picked the best lines to animate.

The Genie's actor took SAG scale pay of $75,000 instead of $8 million on what condition?

Disney reneged, Williams refused the first sequel, and a Picasso painting sent as an apology reportedly clashed with his decor.

Who replaced the original Genie in the 1994 sequel The Return of Jafar?

The Simpsons' Homer voice also played the Genie in the TV series; Williams came back for Aladdin and the King of Thieves in 1996 after a public apology from Disney.

Who directed the 1992 film, having chosen it over Swan Lake and a project that became The Lion King?

The Little Mermaid team also co-wrote the screenplay with Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio.

Which lyricist first pitched an animated Aladdin to Disney in 1988 and died before it was finished?

His treatment was a campy 1930s musical; Tim Rice took over the lyrics after his death in March 1991.

What is the name of the fictional city where the film is set?

It was changed from Baghdad because of the Gulf War, which also stopped the crew travelling there for research.

Whose caricatures inspired the film's swooping character designs?

Jafar was the exception; his animator Andreas Deja wanted him to contrast with the others.

Aladdin's look was redesigned from a boyish Michael J. Fox type to resemble which actor?

Glen Keane's team also drew on Calvin Klein models and aged the character up to 17 or 18.

Who supplied Aladdin's speaking and singing voices?

Weinger auditioned with a homemade tape on which his mother played the Genie.

Who provides Jasmine's singing voice on the film's big duet?

Linda Larkin speaks the part; Salonga would later sing Mulan too.

Which comedian voices Iago the parrot?

Iago was going to be an uptight British type until the filmmakers saw Gottfried in Beverly Hills Cop II; the animator worked his half-closed eyes into the bird.

Which veteran voice actor plays Abu, Rajah AND the Cave of Wonders?

He was the only original voice actor to return for the 2019 remake, in the same three roles.

What did studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg demand on the day staff called 'Black Friday'?

He also ordered Aladdin's mother written out ('Eighty-six the mother') and Aladdin made 'a little rougher, like a young Harrison Ford'.

Which 1940 film supplied elements like the villain Jaffar and the name Abu?

Linda Woolverton's early draft even had Abu as an aged human thief.

How does Aladdin finally defeat the villain?

Genies are bound to their lamps, so the all-powerful Jafar is trapped, taking Iago with him.

What does Aladdin use his third wish for?

He keeps his promise instead of taking the Genie's advice, and the Sultan changes the law so Jasmine can marry whom she likes.

Which 'Arabian Nights' lyric was changed after complaints from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee?

It became 'where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense'; the 'barbaric' line stayed.

Which song became the first from a Disney film to win the Grammy for Song of the Year?

The end-credits duet by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle also hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

How many Academy Awards did Aladdin win?

Best Original Score for Alan Menken and Best Original Song; it was also nominated for two sound awards.

What box-office milestone did Aladdin become the first animated film to reach?

It was the highest-grossing film of 1992 and the top animated film ever until The Lion King.

What grade did CinemaScore audiences give Aladdin?

The rare top mark; Home Alone 2 still beat it on its first wide weekend.

What is the Genie wearing when he leaves at the end, a nod to a Disney-MGM Studios short by his voice actor?

The film is packed with cameos: Beast, Sebastian and Pinocchio all briefly appear.

In the original One Thousand and One Nights tale, where does Aladdin live?

The sorcerer who recruits him comes from the Maghreb, and the story is not in the original Nights manuscripts at all.

Who added Aladdin to the Arabian Nights, and where did he get the story?

Galland met Diyab, a Maronite from Aleppo, in Paris in March 1709; no authentic Arabic source has ever been found.

What trick does the sorcerer use to steal the lamp in the original tale?

Aladdin's wife, unaware of the lamp's power, hands it over.

Who directed the 2019 live-action Aladdin?

Pasek and Paul described his take as 'very muscular and action-packed'; it was shot at Longcross Studios and in Jordan's Wadi Rum.

Who plays the Genie in the 2019 film?

He said he was 'terrified' but found 'a lane that pays homage' to Williams while making it his own.

Who play Aladdin and Jasmine in the 2019 remake?

Casting delayed production; Tara Sutaria had also been considered for Jasmine.

How much did the 2019 Aladdin gross worldwide?

Against a $183 million budget it became the third-highest-grossing Disney live-action remake at the time.

What new song was written for Jasmine in the 2019 film?

Alan Menken wrote it with Pasek and Paul; it made the Oscar shortlist but was not nominated.

Which new character, a Nordic suitor for Jasmine, appears in the 2019 film?

Billy Magnussen plays him; Nasim Pedrad's handmaiden Dalia is also new.

Who voices Iago in the 2019 film?

The only original voice to return was the actor behind Abu, Rajah and the Cave of Wonders.

Where did the Aladdin stage musical premiere in 2011 before Broadway?

It reached the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway in March 2014 after a Toronto tryout.

Which Broadway house has hosted Aladdin since March 2014?

It is the seventh-highest-grossing Broadway production of all time.

Who won the Tony Award for playing the Genie on Broadway?

It was the show's only win from five nominations, for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

Which trio of Aladdin's friends, cut from the film in favour of Abu, were restored for the stage musical?

Howard Ashman had created them for his original 1988 treatment.

How many episodes of the Aladdin animated TV series were made, breaking Disney's usual 65-episode limit?

It ran from September 1994 to November 1995, ending three years to the day after the film's release, on The Disney Afternoon and CBS.

Which was the third and final Disney film Alan Menken made with his late lyricist partner?

Ashman's last completed song was 'Humiliate the Boy', which was cut.

What colour scheme rule did the animators follow?

The whole film was coloured with the CAPS computer system.

Animator Randy Cartwright compared animating which character to 'acting by origami'?

He kept folding a piece of cloth as he worked; the carpet's pattern was added digitally afterwards.

Where did the animators go to study monkey movement for Abu?

Duncan Marjoribanks was Abu's supervising animator.

Which classic film character partly inspired the bumbling Sultan?

Douglas Seale voiced him; Val Bettin took over for the TV series.

How did Disney try, unsuccessfully, to make peace with the Genie's actor after the dispute?

It was a self-portrait of Picasso as Van Gogh and reportedly clashed with the Williams family decor.

Which actor voices the villainous vizier Jafar in the 1992 film?

Supervising animator Andreas Deja worked Freeman's own facial expressions and gestures into the character.

Which of these actors did Jeffrey Katzenberg suggest for the Genie before Robin Williams was approached?

Musker and Clements had written the character with Williams in mind; Katzenberg also floated John Candy and Steve Martin.

The 1996 direct-to-video third Aladdin film is inspired by which One Thousand and One Nights tale?

Robin Williams returned as the Genie for the direct-to-video film, which reveals Aladdin's father Cassim as the King of Thieves.

What is the name of Aladdin's long-lost father, revealed in the third film?

Aladdin tracks the thieves to their hideout, Mount Sesame, and must pass an initiation called 'the Challenge'.

Disney renamed the princess from the original tale's Badroulbadour after which actress?

Animator Mark Henn based her look partly on his own sister, an anonymous theme-park guest and actress Jennifer Connelly.

What animal's head tops Jafar's hypnotic staff?

He uses it to control the Sultan, and in the finale transforms himself into a giant version of the same creature.