History Film / Aladdin2019

* CentralTheme: The identity you project to others versus who you truly are inside. Aladdin is a street thief with a heart of gold (the "Diamond in the Rough") who becomes a prince because it's the only way he can get people to take notice of him, but he starts to [[BecomingTheMask lose himself]] in the "Prince Ali" act. Jafar on the other hand is a street thief who became a vizier, and is secretly a warmongering aspiring EvilOverlord who hides his true colors. Then there's Jasmine, who wants to be sultan herself and not have to marry a foreigner who just wants the throne, but feels she's being ignored and not given the opportunity to show her worth. Genie tells Aladdin that most people who get their hands on the lamp immediately wish for money and power, and implies that even when his past masters haven't been greedy and ambitious out of the gate, the power of the wishes goes to their head and they get DrunkOnTheDarkSide. It's clearly made him a bit jaded and cynical to keep using his powers for such selfish, shallow wishes, and he urges Aladdin not to let himself be changed like he's seen other master sdo.

* WheresTheFunInThat: During the scene where he steals bread, gets pursued by guards, and then climbs up a building, Aladdin uses door tents to cushion his fall. Jasmine tells him there are stairs, so Aladdin replies with this line.

-->'''Aladdin:''' ... Uh, yes, we have a north... and a South.

** Aladdin and Abu meet Carpet who's stuck under a rock, just like what happened in the original movie while they try to escape the collapsing Cave of Wonders. Though it also happens here.

** Genie magic can't bring people back to life. [[spoiler:A magically animated weave of cloth, while a character all its own, is not technically a person, so when Carpet gets torn by Jafar's magic, Genie can magically stitch him back together.]]

** Carpet is shown building a sandcastle in the background as Aladdin and Genie discuss his Prince wish. It gradually becomes a rather impressive sculpture and, and Carpet even does the Disney logo arch by throwing sand over it.

* FreudianExcuse: In his youth, Jafar spent 5 years in the dungeons of Shirabad. This has left him with an all-consuming desire for revenge against Shirabad and its people, which drives a large part of his schemes in the court of Agrabah.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Razoul the {{jerkass}} head of the guards in the animated film - who happily threw Aladdin off a cliff and grudgingly took orders from him in the series - is replaced with Hakim. This time a noble ReasonableAuthorityFigure [[spoiler: who after a pep talk from Jasmine, refuses to take orders from Jafar when he makes himself Sultan]].

* AdaptationalProtagonist: The film follows Disney's idea of giving the original ''Literature/{{Aladdin}}'s'' Princess Badroulbadour (now named Jasmine) more prominence. This time, it goes even further as not only is Jasmine Aladdin's {{Deuteragonist}} but she is also responsible for half the plot's events. She becomes a (good-intentioned) politically ambitious princess [[spoiler: who becomes Sultana at the end of the movie]].

** The Peddler, the original movie's [[FramingDevice framing character]], is absent and replaced by the Mariner [[spoiler: who like the Peddler, is also played by the same actor as and implied to be the Genie.]]

* AmbiguousSituation: Is the Mariner's story really just a story, or is it [[spoiler:an actual telling of Genie's past]]? [[spoiler:Dalia was ''very specific'' about her desires to travel the seas on a boat with a son and daughter born 3 years apart with predetermined names]]. Or perhaps it's both? The audience is never given an answer. [[spoiler: At least not in the final cut. A deleted epilogue showed the genie and his kids meeting Aladdin and Jasmine on Agrabah port.]]

* ClippedWingAngel: [[spoiler: Jafar]] wished to be the most powerful being in the Universe. [[spoiler:Genie accomplishes this by making Jafar into a genie, and without a master to command him, he gets sucked into his newly-created lamp.]]

* DarkReprise: While 1992's "One Jump Ahead" had one of these reprises depicting Aladdin's desires for a richer life, this version not only retains this song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQqX5u3GqxY but also adds another reprise]], where Aladdin begrudgingly accepts having to tell Jasmine the truth, despite the potentially damaging consequences. Also, while Genie is granting [[spoiler: Jafar's second wish]], a minor-[[{{Scales}} key]] version of "Friend Like Me" plays.

* PoliticallyActivePrincess: Very much subverted in Jasmine's case, to her dismay. In her first appearance in the bazaar, she examines the dirty, poor, and hungry children. However, she has almost no say in political matters. It's implied she has been studying and observing the politics of her father's reign. [[spoiler: Double-subverted in the end when she becomes the next Sultan.]]

* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: As in the original, the Sultan uses his power to change the law to allow Jasmine to marry Aladdin. This time, [[spoiler: he allows her to succeed him as the first female Sultan and lets her change the law herself.]] Genie also suggests to Aladdin to use his last wish to change the law so Jasmine can marry him without him being a prince.

* SecondaryAdaptation: This live-action film is a [[TheRemake remake]] of {{Creator/Disney}}'s ''{{WesternAnimation/Aladdin}}'', an animated film. Said animated film is [[InNameOnly loosely inspired]] by the ''Literature/ArabianNights'' tale of "[[Literature/{{Aladdin}} Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp]]," a written copy of Arabic OralTradition.

-->'''Aladdin''': I'm sorry for [[spoiler:the jams, and the jewels... and the buying you.]] That wasn't me -- [[VerbalBackspace it]] ''[[VerbalBackspace was]]'' [[VerbalBackspace me]], I don't... It was me, I don't have a twin or anything, but I... um... [{{Beat}}]

* ToBeLawfulOrGood: When Jafar wishes himself into the Sultancy, he demands the guards serve him as the law demands. Jasmine, as she is being led away, calls out to the head guard Hakim and essentially poses this question: will he follow the law and obey who ever the Sultan is (even if he's a tyrant), or will he remain loyal to the well-being of Agrabah's people? [[spoiler: Hakim chooses loyalty to Jasmine, the Sultan, and the people of Agrabah, which spurs Jafar's VillainousBreakdown.]]

* TheDogBitesBack: After Jafar makes him [[spoiler:watch Dalia getting tortured, the Genie with an angry smile quite happily grants the man's last wish: to become the most powerful being in the universe. There is a reason why the Genie warned Aladdin about grey area in wishes]].

* SpiritualSuccessor: The movie ends up being one for Will Smith's previous film ''Film/{{Hitch}}''. The Genie playing matchmaker for Aladdin and Jasmine is exaggerated here, but the movie has a few additional moments that makes the connection more obvious, such as [[spoiler: Genie acquiring his own love interest in Dalia and the movie having a DancePartyEnding almost identical to ''Hitch'']].

* CentralTheme: The identity you project to others versus who you truly are inside. Aladdin is a street thief with a heart of gold (the "Diamond in the Rough") who becomes a prince because it's the only way he can get people to take notice of him, but he starts to [[BecomingTheMask lose himself]] in the "Prince Ali" act. Jafar on the other hand is a street thief who became a vizier, and is secretly a warmongering aspiring EvilOverlord who hides his true colors. Then there's Jasmine, who wants to be sultan herself and not have to marry a foreigner who just wants the throne, but feels she's being ignored and not given the opportunity to show her worth. Genie tells Aladdin that most people who get their hands on the lamp immediately wish for money and power and it's clearly made him a bit jaded and cynical that he kept getting masters who used his powers for selfish means.

* DarkReprise: While 1992's "One Jump Ahead" had one of these reprises depicting Aladdin's desires for a richer life, this version not only retains this song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQqX5u3GqxY but also adds another reprise]], where Aladdin begrudgingly accepts having to tell Jasmine the truth, despite the potentially damaging consequences. Also, while Genie is granting [[spoiler: Jafar's second wish]], a minor-key version of "Friend Like Me" plays.

** The woman who sings "still I think he's rather tasty" during "One Jump Ahead" is depicted as more of a BigBeautifulWoman than an AbhorrentAdmirer like her animated counterpart.