WARNING: Aladdin's prettty much my favorite, so the following may be long-winded and contain a lot of images... ;)
Aladdin
Riff-raff, street rat!
I don't buy that,
If only they'd look closer,
Would they see a poor boy? Nosiree...
They'd find out
There's so much more to me.
One Jump Ahead (reprise)
Menken/Ashman
Aladdin is an orphan. Fending for himself in the hustle and bustle of Agrabah, he lives on the streets, steals what he needs to survive, and lives in a hovel with a mangy (albeit adorable) monkey called Abu. He's an unlikely hero at the onset, a diamond in the rough, a sort of rogue with a heart of gold, but he has lofty ambitions. He promises Abu that someday they'll "be rich, live in a palace, and never have any problems at all."
It isn't long until he meets who he believes to be an uncommonly beautiful peasant in the marketplace. Naive as Princess Jasmine (in disguise) is about the outside world, she gets herself into quite a lot of trouble with a vendor, and Aladdin intervenes, rescuing her in the nick of time. Aladdin is instantly smitten with the girl, much to Abu's frustration. Jasmine and Aladdin find they share a bond, feeling out of place and trapped in their respective situations. Their connection is instant and undeniable, but when the Agrabah guards find Aladdin's hovel, Aladdin and Jasmine try to run. When they are caught, and Jasmine reveals her identity as princess of Agrabah, demanding the guards release the boy. They refuse, claiming their orders come from the Sultan's Royal Vizier, Jafar. Unbeknownst to either of them, Jafar has learned by mystic means that Aladdin is the only person who can enter an enchanted cave in the desert and retrieve from it a magic lamp. For this reason, Jafar had Aladdin imprisoned in the palace dungeon. When Jasmine confronts Jafar, he lies that Aladdin has already been executed, claiming the boy's charge was kidnapping the princess. Disguised as a rickety old prisoner, Jafar approaches Aladdin in the dungeon, promising him jewels and riches if he goes into the cave and fetches the lamp, opening a tunnel in the dungeon wall. When Aladdin and Abu enter the Cave of Wonders, with orders to touch nothing but the lamp, they encounter a flying Carpet that shows them the way. As Aladdin approaches the lamp, sticky-fingered Abu becomes distracted when he spies a gigantic ruby in the hands of a golden ape statue, and when he reaches out to grab it, the cave begins to crumble and lava begins to flow all around them. With the help of the Carpet, they reach the opening of the cave, but Jafar demands the lamp before he'll help them out. With the lamp in hand, Jafar sends Aladdin careening back into the cave, seemingly to his doom. The Carpet breaks his fall, and when Aladdin comes to, he's surprised to see that Abu has swiped the lamp back from Jafar. Rubbing the lamp to more clearly see what's written on it, Aladdin unknowingly unleases an outrageous blue Genie, who informs Aladdin that he has three wishes.
After tricking the Genie into getting them out of the cave, and after promising to use his last wish to free the Genie from an eternity of servitude, Aladdin uses his first wish to become a Prince, hoping to have a chance of winning Princess Jasmine's hand. He parades into Agrabah as the rich and famous Prince Ali Ababwa, with a massive and impressive entourage (courtesy of Genie), but Jafar has already made plans for the princess. As she hasn't chosen a husband, and must be married within a few days, Jafar deludes the Sultan into thinking that, according to law, a princess is to marry the royal vizier in the event a suitable suitor cannot be found. Aladdin schmoozes his way into the Sultan's good graces, putting on an aristocratic act. Jasmine overhears them discussing her fate like she was a toy to be handed around, and is furious, refusing to be introduced to Prince Ali.
Aladdin tentatively approaches Jasmine's balcony, hoping to impress her and attract her attention, but it proves a little more difficult than he thought. Jasmine starts to recognize him, though not saying right away where from, and when she gets the clue that he's the boy from the marketplace, she agrees to go on a whirlwind tour of the world on the Magic Carpet. On the roof of a Chinese rooftop, under the glow of a dazzling fireworks display, Jasmine confronts Aladdin about his identity, and he "admits" that he sometimes dresses as a servant to escape the pressures of palace life. She's placated, and is softening toward him. After they share a goodnight kiss on the balcony, Aladdin finally thinks things are starting to go his way.
Jafar, however, has other plans for Prince Abooboo, and has Aladdin arrested and thrown into the sea with a ball and chain. Running out of air fast, he manages to cradle the lamp in his hands, and the Genie appears. Unable to trick his way into another wish, Aladdin nearly unconsciously consents, and his second wish is used to save his life. Back at the palace, Jasmine tells the Sultan that she's made a decision, but, under Jafar's hypnotic influence, the Sultan demands she marry Jafar. Much to the Vizier's surprise, Aladdin appears and reveals that Jafar tried to have him killed. He escapes in a puff of smoke when the guards try to apprehend him, but the Sultan is thrilled that Jasmine has chosen a fiance. Aladdin is less than thrilled that he's being awarded a royal wife and a throne for being someone he's not, and when he refuses to use his last wish to free the Genie, he understands he has to come clean with Jasmine.
Aladdin realizes too late that he should have kept him word when Jafar's treacherous parrot Iago steals the lamp and brings it to his master. Jafar brings an immediate reign of terror and abject humiliation to Agrabah as he uses his first wish to become the Sultan. Jasmine and the Sultan are forced to serve him, and when Jafar uses his second wish to become the most powerful sorcerer in the world, and Aladdin's true identity is rashly and harshly revealed to Jasmine, he's banished to the Ends of the Earth. Jafar's reign is interrupted when Aladdin, with the help of the Carpet, returns and faces him in a fierce battle of Jafar versus everyone. He tricks Jafar into using his third wish to become an all-powerful Genie, and perfectly according to Aladdin's plan, Jafar gets his wish, and everything that comes with it, including entrapment in a lamp
The Genie restores Agrabah to its pre-Jafar glory, and Jafar is sent to the Cave of Wonders for a nice, long nap. When Aladdin is confronted with the prospect of his final wish, and he can choose either to become a prince again, and be worthy of Jasmine's hand, or he can keep his word to the Genie. Genie fully expect him to wish for princedom, so when Aladdin wishes the Genie free, he's ecstatic and touched. The Sultan adjusts the law, Aladdin's worth having been proven, and Jasmine chooses Aladdin.
In The Return of Jafar, Jafar is back, and in hiding, with a plot to take his revenge on Aladdin and Agrabah. Enlisting the reluctant help of Iago, and forcing the help of a thief, Abis Mal, Jafar lays his plans. With a lot of disguising and turns of fate, including a change of heart from Iago, Aladdin and company defeat Jafar for good.
In Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Aladdin and Jasmine are preparing for the wedding of the century (although the notion that they were married after the first film is up for debate...). When their wedding is brusquely interrupted by a siege by the legendary 40 Thieves, in search for a mystical oracle, capable of answering any question, Aladdin goes on a quest to discover his parentage and learns a lot about himself along the way.
Aladdin is voiced by Scott Weinger ('Steve' on Full House) and his singing voice is Brad Kane.
Aladdin has been featured in three films (Aladdin, The Return of Jafar, and Aladdin and the King of Thieves), as well as a TV series chronicling his adventures.
He may be slightly dated, a total product of the early 90s (with design taken from Tom Cruise, MC Hammer and Michael J. Fox), but his stellar character animation by Glen Keane shows he has real heart, real character, and he's admirable on a great many levels. Definitely one of the finest animated heroes in animation history. (Besides, I have a little more than an unreasonable crush on Jasmine...)
One of my drawings of the cutest couple in Agrabah...
Guard: I'll have your hands for a trophy, Street Rat!
Aladdin: All this for a loaf of bread?
Guard: You won't get away so easy.
Aladdin: You think that was easy?
Woman: Getting in trouble a little early today, aren't we, Aladdin?
Aladdin: Trouble? No way. You're only in trouble if you get caught.
Razoul: Gotcha!
Aladdin: I'm in trouble.
Aladdin: Look at that, Abu. It's not every day you see a horse with two rear ends!
Aladdin: Hey, if I were as rich as you, I could afford some manners!
Aladdin: I'm not worthless! And I don't have fleas!
*scratches his head*
Aladdin: Someday, Abu, things are gonna change. We'll be rich, live in a palace, and never have any problems at all...
Aladdin: [saving Jasmine from an irate merchant] Thank you, kind sir. I'm so glad you found her. I've been looking all over for you.
Princess Jasmine: [whispering] What are you doing?
Aladdin: [whispering] Just play along.
Man in market: You, uh, know this girl?
Aladdin: Sadly, yes. She is my sister. She's a little crazy.
Man in market: She said she knew the sultan.
Aladdin: She thinks the monkey is the sultan.
Princess Jasmine: [bowing to Abu] Oh, wise sultan, how may I serve you?
Aladdin: Tragic, isn't it? But, no harm done. Now, come along, sis. Time to go to the doctor.
Princess Jasmine: [to a camel] Oh, hello, doctor. How are you?
Aladdin: No, no, no. Not that one.
Aladdin: Wow. The palace looks pretty amazing, huh?
Princess Jasmine: [disappointed] Oh, it's wonderful.
Aladdin: I wonder what it'd be like to live there, and have servants and valets.
Princess Jasmine: Oh, sure. People who tell you where to go and how to dress.
Aladdin: That's better than here. You're always scraping for food and ducking the guards.
Princess Jasmine: You're not free to make your own choices.
Aladdin: Sometime you feel so...
Princess Jasmine: You're just...
Aladdin, Princess Jasmine: ...trapped.
Aladdin: Ah, no, I never actually wished to get out of the cave. Heh. You did that on your own.
Aladdin: Abu, this is no time to panic! (He pulls Abu off his head and sees they are flying into a wall.) Start panicking!
Aladdin: Provisos? You mean limitations? On wishes? Some all-powerful Genie. Can't even bring people back from the dead. I don't know, Abu. He probably can't get us out of this cave. Looks like we'll have to find a way out of here.
Aladdin: Princess Jasmine, you're very...
Genie: Wonderful! Magnificent! Glorious!... Punctual!
Aladdin: Punctual!
Princess Jasmine: Punctual?
Genie: Sorry.
Aladdin: Uh... uh... beautiful!
Genie: Nice recovery.
Aladdin: Do you trust me?
Aladdin: Why I even have servants who go to the marketplace for my servants, so it couldn't have been me you met.
Aladdin: They want to make me Sultan. No, they want to make Prince Ali Sultan. Without you, I'm just Aladdin.
Genie: Al, you won.
Aladdin: Because of you. The only reason anybody thinks I'm worth anything is because of you. What if they find out I'm not really a prince? What if Jasmine finds out? I'd lose her. Genie, I can't keep this up on my own. I-I can't wish you free.
Aladdin: Are you afraid to fight me yourself, you cowardly snake?
Jafar: You little fool. You thought you could defeat the most powerful being on Earth...Without the genie, boy, you're nothing.
Aladdin: The genie. The genie! The genie has more power than you'll ever have.
Jafar: What?
Aladdin: He gave you your power. He can take it away
.
Genie: Al, what are you doing? Why are you bringing me into this?
Aladdin: Face it, Jafar. You're still just second best.
Aladdin: Hey--I'm a street rat, remember? I'll improvise.
Jasmine's Animated Heroines page