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The seventh full-length musical by Team StarKid, Twisted gives Aladdin the Wicked treatment, exploring the true story of Jafar (or rather, "Ja'far"). Along the way, StarKid both thoroughly lampoons and pays its respects to the many, many tropes popularized by Disney.

Ja'far is a hardworking, honest politician in a magic kingdom that has fallen on hard times. Corruption is rampant on all levels, crime is up (thanks to the efforts of that thief Aladdin), and the kingdom is on the verge of bankruptcy. When the naive princess angers the prince of the Kingdom of Pik-zahr, Ja'far remembers a tale told to him by his deceased wife of an all-powerful Djinn, hidden in a common lamp. To save the kingdom from certain destruction, Ja'far must do everything he can to get his hands on that lamp, even when the road gets a little twisted, to ensure a happy ending for all.


Twisted provides examples of:

  • Accidental Innuendo: In-Universe, Prince Achmed recounts to his troops that the Princess's tiger "tore right through the seat of [his] pants and grabbed ahold of [his] woody", referring to his Woody doll. It only serves to intensify his Tigerfucker nickname.
  • Actor Allusion: The Sea Witch, an Expy of Ursula from The Little Mermaid, is played by Jaime Lyn Beatty, who was working on the Dolphin Safe Tunes EP at the time that portrayed her as a mermaid on the cover. In a behind the scenes video she jokes about doing an "Ursula Safe Tunes" version of the album in Ursula's voice.
    • This is now extra Hilarious in Hindsight with Jaime having played a mermaid in a 2019 Super Bowl commercial.
    • The rest of the cast was impressed enough by Australian actor Robert Manion's flawless American accent that they'd randomly lapse into an Australian accent in scenes with him to try to mess him up, until director Brian Holden had to ask them to stop.
  • Adaptational Comic Relief: Everyone, to some degree, given the nature of the musical, but in particular Razoul/The Captain of the Guard's mild Comically Serious tendencies from Aladdin go up to eleven.
  • Adaptational Heroism:
    • As Wicked did with the Wicked Witch of the West, Twisted portrays Ja'far as a goodhearted, sympathetic hero who was never evil to begin with. This extends even to altering the Establishing Character Moment in Aladdin, where Ja'far is genuinely shocked and appalled by the bloody Noodle Incident by which his contact obtained the other half of the necklace and the contact has to explain it's an Unusual Euphemism.
    • The Captain of the Guard is much nicer than Razoul, if still snarky towards Ja'far. He has a legitimate grievance against Aladdin that the latter got several of his men killed and is a menace to the commoners. When arresting him, he takes time to make sure the Princess hasn't been harmed before explaining to her how Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse.
  • Adaptation Expansion: Here we see where Ja'far got the Scarab necklace, how he became Vizer, and where he got Iago.
  • Adaptational Villainy: Aladdin, the Sultan, and Prince Achmed are major villains here.
  • Added Alliterative Appeal: The Magic Kingdom's core values are Duty and Devotion, "The 2 'D's".
  • Adults Dressed as Children: The newborn Bird is depicted by dressing the full-sized Bird puppet in a bib and bonnet.
  • An Aesop: The story makes no bare-bones about how its main message is that making actual change is difficult: the genuinely good and hardworking people can only make an inch of progress, paving the way for future generations who are naively thinking they have easy solutions for complex problems. Change is possible, but at a great price. Yet this emphasis makes the impact more meaningful when Ja'far recognizes that the Princess is capable of growth and change, and before he has to return to the Tiger-Head Cave gives her the means to become a great sultan.
  • Affectionate Parody: Of Wicked, Aladdin, and the Disney Renaissance in general.
  • Agent Scully: Ja'far. To begin with, he is a staunch proponent of science and reason over stories of magic and djinns but he learns that he truly does live in a world with magic caves and flying carpets, and his plan to save the Magic Kingdom from invasion hinges on finding a Djinn with the power to grant wishes. His struggle to believe in magic as a solution to the world's problems is part of his Character Development.
  • Allegory: Agrabah is referred to here as "the Magic Kingdom", and its fall into disrepair, struggle to reclaim its former glory and trade conflicts with the neighbouring kingdom of Pik-zahr are all a metaphor for the career of the Disney Animation Studios throughout the 2000s. It's even refered to at one point as "The Happiest Place On Earth" by the opening narration.
    • A particularly heartbreaking example is the moment where the kingdom's entire 2D department is revealed to have been "sacked" — that is, put into sacks and then beaten to death. Ja'far laments the loss of so many creative minds and craftsmen, only to admit that it's his fault, because he "didn't have them producing anything of value". OUCH.
  • All Men Are Perverts: Ja'far tries to stress this point to the Princess by claiming boys who sing are only trying to get into her pants, thanks to the helpful phrase "A song is a dick in sheep's clothing, a song means a dick is on the way". At first it only works figuratively (the Captain of the Guard interrupts with bad news), but then she realizes what Aladdin is trying to do.
  • All of the Other Reindeer: The citizens of the Kingdom give Ja'far this treatment.
  • Almost Kiss: Try as he might, Aladdin can't get the Princess to do more than cuddle.
  • Altar Diplomacy: Eventually Averted, the princess is almost married off to make a solid alliance with a neighboring kingdom. The previous suitor was Prince Achmed, and we all know how well that story went.
  • Alternative Joke Interpretation: In-universe when the Captain is recounting Aladdin's encounter with Prince Achmed, wherein Aladdin made the remark about Achmed's horse having two rear ends.
    Captain: Now, I'm not sure if the thief meant that the prince had a big horsey ass or a horse ass for a face...
  • Amputative Sentencing: Played With. Sharia law is implied to be in effect in the Magic Kingdom. There's a situation where a Street Urchin steels from a merchant. The merchant is about to cut off his hand, but Ja'far intervenes and neutralizes the situation.
    Ja'far: [to the merchant] Why take this boy's hand when you could just as easily put it to work? [to the thief] And you, boy, don't you see that if everyone were to steal from Omar's cart, that he would be the one who was starving?
    • Then there’s the musical’s version of Gazeem, who brings Ja'far the other half of the scarab pendant. Ja'far thinks he’s joking when he says the merchant he screwed over "really chopped [his] dick off." He isn’t.
  • Anachronism Stew: In the ancient Middle East, the exports of the magic kingdom include "trash-compacting robots", Prince Achmed has a toy Woody doll, and the Djinn quotes movies from thousands of years in the future. Naturally, all of these are played for laughs.
  • Anger Montage: Ja'far has an unusually-short one when he learns that the Sultan had ordered the execution of his 2D department. This leads to him finding one half of the golden scarab in the room.
  • Arranged Marriage: The movie staple of an unwanted arranged marriage is here Played for Laughs and Deconstructed. Ja'far's primary goal is to renew the trade agreement with Prince Achmed; whether Achmed and the Princess hit it off is secondary. Like the Sultan in the original movie, he does put some mild pressure on the Princess to consider marrying soon, but this is because she legitimately seems unable to take care of herself.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: Ja'far asks the Princess how she is going to save the Magic Kingdom from Prince Achmed if he declares war, once she is ruler. The Princess says she'll make everyone her equal as fellow princesses, but is hurt when Ja'far admits it's a terrible idea. She then, against her better judgment, asks Aladdin in prince guise to marry her after he lies that he has a giant army, since that should protect the kingdom.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: From the soundtrack version of "No One Remembers Achmed":
    Achmed: The kingdom has oppressed us for years! Stripped us off our most basic rights! Our dignity! Our pants!
  • Ascended Extra: Prince Achmed.
  • Ascended Meme: The Urban Legend that Aladdin whispers "good teenagers, take off your clothes" at one point in the movie is exaggerated and played for laughs here, with Aladdin trying to get into the Princess' pants by whispering "take off your clothes" (it doesn't work) and leading into a whole musical number about the other supposed subliminal messages in Disney movies.
  • As You Know: "We mustn't let ourselves forget the saying every child born within the kingdom knows."
  • Author Tract: Matt Lang has said in interviews that he has been specifically upset at Disney's Aladdin for years for being a beloved children's movie that, he believes, justifies stealing as a way to make a living. He even gives Ja'far the opportunity to lecture a poor orphan boy that if everyone used this rationale to ignore other people's property rights, society would crumble.
  • Award-Bait Song: Parodied during the credits by the pop version of "A Thousand and One Nights".
  • Ax-Crazy: Aladdin.
  • Badass Boast: Prince Achmed, while trying to figure out why no one remembers him.
  • Bait-and-Switch: In the climax of the show, when Ja'far wishes himself into a djinn. His voice goes to Suddenly Shouting as he recites his lines from the movie, making it seem as if he’s gone mad with power, "The universe is mine to command, to control!"… only to turn and offer the lamp to the Princess, finishing in a softer tone "And I am at your service, Princess."
  • Barefoot Poverty: Aladdin briefly goes through this until he loots a dead body.
  • Beauty Breeds Laziness: Parodied with the song "Dream a Little Harder," which makes fun of Disney's tendency to have heroes who end up receiving good fortune by virtue of being beautiful rather than any active effort. During the song, Ja'far notes that his lack of good looks means he had to work hard and use his wits to get ahead.
  • Beleaguered Boss:
    • Ja'far is the one running the Kingdom, but the populace hating him and his guards not being very good at their jobs doesn't help. While technically subservient to the Sultan, his every plan to improve the kingdom is thwarted by the ignorant citizens who hate him on principle, the insane sultan and his Decadent Court, or the Sultan's (actually Ja'far's) irresponsible Bratty Teenage Daughter. He ends up having to try to prevent a war sparked by the Princess' self-centered behavior while accused of being a traitor by the sociopathic thief Aladdin.
    • While not exactly a paragon of sanity (he declares war on the Magic Kingdom both to avenge himself of the insult given by the Princess and because he thinks this will make her love him), Prince Achmed is completely unable to make his army understand that he did not have sex with the Princess' tiger, no matter how often he explains it (they're under the impression he's making war on the kingdom solely to elope with the tiger).
  • Beleaguered Bureaucrat: Ja'far. He really just wants to return the kingdom to its golden age. He's just not very successful. Or appreciated.
  • Benevolent Genie: While the Djinn is rather annoying, he's still helpful enough to grant Ja'far's wishes. He also says no to Aladdin wishing for the Princess to have sex with him. Ja'far himself becomes one of these at the end of the play.
  • Berserk Button: Don't imply that Prince Achmed fucked a tiger.
  • Bestiality Is Depraved: Prince Achmed becomes known as Tigerfucker to his people. Subverted in that they vocally approve.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: Sultan, Aladdin, and Achmed.
  • The Big Damn Kiss: Ja'far and Sherrezade in the finale.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Ja'far can never be with his daughter again, just after they realized their relationship, and he'll go down in history as the villain of the story. But he gets his wife back thanks to the Princess's last wish, and they can view anywhere in time and space while waiting for someone else to find the lamp.
  • Blatant Lies: Aladdin, full stop. "I've never done this before."
  • Book Ends: Aladdin's story begins and ends with a thief committing murder over a loaf of bread. At the beginning, he's the murderer; at the end he's the murdered.
  • Both Sides Have a Point:
    • Ja'far tells off the Princess for setting her tiger on Achmed, and how she seems to have too-high standards for any of her suitors. The Princess retorts that her suitors so far have either been "rapey" or "fucked a fish". Yes, she's being spoiled, but she's kinda right. Ja'far is also right that she can't keep using her tiger to mess with the suitors because it's political suicide.
      • Not only that, Ja'far has a point about the extreme nature of the Princess's dreams, but the way he goes about it clearly hurts and upsets her, while he doesn't even consider more modified versions of her dreams.
    • In the past, Ja'far met Sherrezade while treating her after a courtier cut off her ear. She told him a story about her scarab necklace; he said he doesn't believe in the magical cave she mentions because he trusts only things he can see and touch, like items on maps. Sherrezade points out that magic "touches the soul", the way stories do, and "there's no greater feeling than that". Ja'far is easily convinced, because it's Sherrezade.
  • Brainless Beauty: The Princess isn't exactly brainless, but she is very, very naive.
  • Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Ja'far tries to warn the Princess of listening to boys and their songs ("A song is often a prelude to a dick") since the Sultan is too far gone to do so. And then it turns out that Ja'far is the Princess' father. She gets better.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall:
    • Aladdin and the Princess both talk to the audience before their carpet ride, and the camera even nods when the Princess asks if it's a bad idea.
    • At the end, the cameraman plays along with the "too close" gag from the film.
  • Brick Joke:
    • The Sultan's apparently random story about how he inverted his penis. Near the end, Ja'far realizes that because of this, he must be the Princess's real father.
    • Also, when the Princess says she wants to fix the socioeconomic inequality by making everyone a princess. When she becomes Sultan, she does just that, and it is extremely effective.
  • BSoD Song: The beginning of "Twisted", before the other Disney villains show up.
  • But Now I Must Go: After taking the Djinn's place in the magic lamp, Ja'far tells the Princess he must return to the Tiger-Head Cave once he grants her wishes — not as a direct punishment against him as in the Disney movie, but as part of the preexisting system to keep his power from being misused.
  • Butt-Monkey: Ja'far, Prince Achmed.
  • The Caligula: The Sultan.
  • Call-Back: Near the end, one of Achmed's guards references the opening song.
    Princess: Ja'far?
    Achmed: Ja'far...
    Guard: Ja'FAR!
  • The Cameo:
  • Canon Foreigner: Scheherazade and the Sultan's former Royal Vizier.
  • Cerebus Callback: Aladdin's story of being orphaned at 33 is initially just a joke about him being a Basement-Dweller Manchild still dependent on his parents at that age; we then find out that he was orphaned at 33 because his parents wanted him to move out and his homicidal alter ego objected.
  • Cerebus Retcon: "One Jump Ahead" gets this treatment when guard talks about people dying in the chase. Recurs with the guard talks about the traffic jams, property destruction, rioting, and trampling deaths caused by the unplanned parade in "Prince Ali". Prince Achmed's role as a minor gag character also gets this treatment, as he angrily and not-completely-inaccurately informs Ja'far that siccing a tiger on a visiting prince is serious diplomatic offense. Achmed gathering his army to raze the Magic Kingdom in response ends up forming the B story.
  • Character Development:
    • Ja'far goes from a heavily idealistic, good-hearted man who just wants to make things better to a slightly jaded, still good-hearted man who does make things better, though it costs him his reputation and humanity.
    • The Princess goes from a naive Spoiled Brat who falls for Aladdin's lies to a idealistic-but-not-stupid ruler who manages to be a good leader, and tells Aladdin to piss off after she becomes ruler of the Magic Kingdom. It first happens when Ja'far warns her that all men want to get into her pants, and they lead into it by singing; and "Prince Aladdin" starts singing to the Princess alerts her to his true intentions. She only agrees to marry him because she thinks she loves him.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The necklace Sherrezade shows to Ja'far, which is actually half the key to the Tiger-Head Cave.
  • Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Deconstructed and Discussed. The overlying belief of the Magic Kingdom's citizens is that if you wish upon a star and want something enough, reality will eventually conform to fit this model. This is portrayed as naive, toxic, and shallow, everyone sitting idly-by as socio-economic inequality persists and treating Ja'far (the only man in power trying to improve things) as the source of it all because he isn't conventionally attractive. Though the play ends with the Princess's first decree — that everyone is a princess — improved the Magic Kingdom's standard of living, implying that even when born of naive ideals, hope should endure.
  • Clarke's Third Law: Partial version. Magic does exist, in the form of the far-off Tiger-Head Cave and the Djinn therein, but is not actually present in daily life. Ja'far is a scientist, not a sorcerer, his supposed psychic powers simply come from being more intelligent than everyone around him, his Smoke Out is powered by simple real-life chemistry (and he heavily inists that he is not performing magic), and Abu and Iago are reduced from being Funny Animals with human intelligence to mundane pets. Although it is implied that before the Genie empowers him with his first wish, many of Disney's Jafar's tricks (like the smoke bomb) were also Fake Wizardry.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: The Djinn is a deliberately over the top example. He only speaks in hackneyed movie references. Also, the Sultan who addresses his court by first telling them all how he gave himself an inverted penis, apropos of nothing.
  • Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Aladdin seems to be able to get straight answers out of the Djinn when he is in his lamp in Aladdin's hat.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: All over the place, especially the opening song.
  • Comically Missing the Point: When the Princess thanks Aladdin for helping her when a merchant wanted to reprimand her for taking some of his apples:
    Aladdin: Yeah, those merchants are real dicks about that kind of stuff. It's like, is he really going to eat all those apples? And did you know the ones he doesn't eat, he's trying to sell? For money? So greedy.
  • The Comically Serious: The Captain of the Guard.
  • Composite Character: The ending reveals that Aladdin would eventually become the street merchant from the beginning of the film.
  • Continuity Snarl: Belle appears in the opening song, yet Beauty and the Beast is one of the stories to appear in the title song.
  • Costume Porn: A major step up from other StarKid productions; they could actually hold up in a mainstream Broadway show.
  • Covers Always Lie: The official poster makes it look like Ja'far is under the insidious influence of Iago (or in this case, Bird). The poster is merely a shout-out to that of Wicked, and Bird is no more than a dumb animal.
  • Creator Thumbprint: One thing fans of this musical appreciate is that the lyricist, Kaley McMahon, is a firm believer in the maxim that musical theatre should if at all possible only use perfect rhymes and not slant rhymes — there's only one slant rhyme in the whole show, and that's "philosophy" with "reciprocity" in "The Golden Rule", a direct reference to "The Bear Necessities". Notable because slant rhymes are pretty darn common in other Starkid lyrics, and Darren Criss has been quite open about his willingness to use slant rhymes in his own work — understandably so given how the original A Very Potter Musical songs were often composed in a matter of hours.
  • Crowd Song: "Dream a Little Harder", "The Golden Rule", "No One Remembers Achmed", and the finale.
  • Dark Reprise: "The Golden Rule (Reprise)", as Ja'far's predecessor laughs at his attempts at political morality and sings about how money is the only "golden rule", turning "Follow the Golden Rule" into "Follow the gold, and rule".
  • Deadpan Snarker:
    • The Captain of the Guard. HEAVY on the deadpan.
    • Ja'far, especially after the main plot with the lamp gets going. Probably helps him cope.
  • Death by Irony: Aladdin becomes a merchant, and is murdered by a thief over a loaf of bread.
  • Decadent Court: The court of the Magic Kingdom. While Ja'far seeks to implement positive change for the Magic Kingdom, the Sultan’s court and then-Grand Vizier are only interested in maintaining their own lavish lifestyle at the expense of the people. When Ja'far trues to propose some reforms, they laugh him off and go to enjoy some opium. They cut off Sherrezade’s ear to spite her, and later kidnap her for the Sultan when he declares she will be part of his harem.
  • Deconstructor Fleet: Not just to Aladdin, but to Disney in general.
    • Aladdin's antics in "One Jump Ahead" and "Prince Ali" got multiple people killed.
    • The Princess allowing her tiger to attack Prince Achmed is acknowledged as being an act of war.
    • The people hope that dreaming and being pretty will fix the kingdom's problems, while such passive ideas are just letting things get worse.
    • The Princess letting her domesticated, foreign birds out of their cage resulted in their deaths.
    • The age difference between Aladdin and the Princess is frequently commented upon.
  • Delayed Narrator Introduction: Sherrezade gives the opening monologue, appropriately enough given her name, and is not revealed as an actual character in the musical until partway through Act I. She then dies, and the explanation for her Posthumous Narration is not given until the very end of the story.
  • Demoted to Extra: To some extent, the Sultan, the Genie/Djinn, and Abu/The Monkey. However, the most striking would be Iago/Bird, whom Ja'far dismisses during the very first scene after it insults him, and who's never seen again in the entire musical (a flashback notwithstanding).
    • Interestingly, we are given an actual explanation for the Magic Carpet ("a carpet bound to the soul of a lecherous thief") implying some Adaptational Villainy for it — but when the carpet, appears it's only used as a vehicle and its sentience never comes up.
  • Determinator: Everyone in the kingdom hates Ja'far and nothing ever goes his way. Will that stop him from trying to fix the kingdom's problems with logic, reason, and elbow grease? Nope.
  • Dies Wide Open: The guard in the beginning who dies in the chaos after Aladdin steals a loaf of bread. The Captain then closes the dead guard's eyes for him.
  • Dismantled MacGuffin: The golden scarab pendant. Once the two halves are put together, they'll reveal the way to the Tiger-Head Cave containing the Djinn's lamp. Sherrezade gives one half to Ja'far before being taken to the Sultan's harem, and Ja'far hires an investigator to find the other one.
  • Disney Villain Death: Alluded to in "Dream a Little Harder":
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Aladdin threatens the baker with death if he puts any more raisins in his bread.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: Invoked by Aladdin as part of his Subliminal Seduction of the Princess.
    Aladdin: Look at the west tower of the palace (and take off your clothes!) What does it look like? A big long shaft, with a tiny head on top, what does that remind you of?
  • Dude, She's Like in a Coma: Discussed by Ja'far and The Princess when he brings up a past suitor.
    Ja'far: What about that first prince you met? He was a charming fellow.
    The Princess: I heard he once made out with a girl while she was blacked out! That's not charming! That's kind of rapey.
  • Dumbass Has a Point: Ja'far spends most of the story complaining about the unrealistic expectations and oblivious idealism of people like the Princess. In the end, he decides that young people have to believe they can make the world perfect or else they'll never even try, and that by the overly optimistic attempts of idealistic young people like he used to be, the world is made a tiny bit better for each generation that goes by. As it turns out, the Princess' plan to solve social inequality by making everyone a Princess worked.
  • The Eleven O'Clock Number: "Twisted", though it takes a break from being this to call in some other Disney villains with similar unfair stories.
  • Equal-Opportunity Evil: Surprisingly for an elitist of the Aladdin time period, the previous Royal Vizier allowed women to join his cabinet and the Royal Guard.
  • Everyone Has Standards: The Djinn says that he cannot grant Aladdin's wish to remove the Princess's consent to "fuck" her, in addition to the "no falling in love" rule, and it's implied that he is disgusted by Aladdin suggesting it.
  • Economy Cast: The total number of actors is twelve and everyone except Ja'far and the Princess plays multiple parts, even Aladdin.
  • Embarrassing Nickname: "TIGERFUCKER! TIGERFUCKER! TIGERFUCKER!" Note that Achmed is the only person to be embarrassed by it; his soldiers actually think he's awesome for having been sodomized by a tiger.
  • "Eureka!" Moment: Ja'far makes an important realization about the Princess by mentioning how much he loves her ("not that kind of love, you shit for brains!"):
    Ja'far: My wife was with child when she was taken away by the Sultan. She died in childbirth. And then the Princess was coincidentally born around... the same time. By Allah! How could I have never seen it before! The Sultan inverted his penis years ago! He couldn't have children!
  • Even Evil Has Standards:
    • The other Disney villains can't get behind Cruella De Vil wanting to make a coat out of puppies. Although they're not exactly evil.
    • Even the murderous and sex-obsessed Aladdin is skeeved out by the idea of Ja'far being in love with the Princess, noting that he's old enough to be her father — disregarding that he himself is over 33 years old and in love with said teenage princess.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Princess, the Sultan, the Djinn, and some Disney villains.
  • Evil Chancellor: Ja'far's predecessor. And everyone's opinion of Ja'far himself.
  • Evil Is Hammy: Aladdin, Achmed, the previous Royal Vizier, etc.
  • Exact Words: An example where the wording backfires on the deal-maker: Ja'far's deal with Aladdin is that Aladdin must go to the Tiger-Head Cave, find a common oil lamp, and bring it to him. In exchange, Aladdin gets the rest of the treasure in the cave. When Aladdin comes back, he decides to keep the lamp since it contained a Djinn, so it's not the normal lamp Ja'far specifically asked for.
  • Expy:
    • The song "I Steal Everything" is this to "One Jump Ahead", and "Take Off Your Clothes" is one to "A Whole New World". The opening song is an expy of (and features a cameo from) "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast. "Everything and More" is a parody of Disney Princess I Want Songs, especially "Part of Your World". "The Golden Rule" sounds a bit like "The Bare Necessities" from The Jungle Book and "You've Got A Friend In Me" from Toy Story. "Twisted" features musical cues from each of the participants' movies.
    • Many of the songs and their purpose in the story are also based on the inspiration source, Wicked. "Dream a Little Harder" works as an analogue to "No One Mourns the Wicked", with both songs being at the start of the show (though not chronologically in the latter case), and while the latter is about how happy the Ozians are that Elphaba is (supposedly) dead, the former is about how happy the residents of the Magic Kingdom will be when Ja'far dies. The bubbly soprano soloist in it sounds a lot like Glinda, too. Ja'far's part in "Happy Ending" brings to mind "The Wizard and I" (the bridges are nearly identical), the title song bears similarities to "No Good Deed", as does "The Power in Me" to "For Good".
  • Faux Affably Evil: Aladdin.
  • Fauxshadow: "That was my bird, he has the ability to repeat words that others have spoken." This trick is never used to catch someone out later on.
  • Flat "What": Ja'far in the opening song.
    Woman: I need six eggs!
    Ja'far: Why not buy some?
    Man: I want to fly!
    Ja'far: That's unrealistic.
    Bookseller: I want to be a cat!
    Ja'far: ...What?
    Bookseller: Fuck you.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Aladdin mentions that at first, he thought Monkey's suggestion that they should kill the baker for baking raisins into the bread Aladdin stole was overboard, but then he considered it a good idea. This hints at Aladdin having a murderous alternate personality who murdered his parents.
    • Ja'far takes the Sultan's place in canon when he tells off the Princess for setting her tiger on Prince Achmed. He then gives her a sincere but honest lecture that no one gets everything they want in life, not even royalty, and she has to learn to think about the consequences of her actions. Almost like something a father would say, eh?
    • When Ja'far heals Sherrezade's ear, she asks him coyly if he is a sorcerer. This accusation will be a lot more serious the next time he hears it.
    • In "Happy Ending", Ja'far sings about wanting to retire to a far-off place with Sherezzade and live in an "itty-bitty living space." At the end of the play, he becomes a genie and has to spend eternity in the magic lamp, but gets to enjoy Sherezzade's company.
  • Fourth-Date Marriage: It's a Disney parody, so this is a given. Ja'far and Sherrezade meet, fall in love, and get engaged over the course of the same conversation. It actually works, though it is lampshaded. ("Took you long enough!") Averted, however, by the Princess and Aladdin; they don't get together, period.
  • Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: When the Princess tries to defend Aladdin from having to face trial because he had unfortunate circumstances, the Captain of the Guard points out that Aladdin killed someone, whose Good Parents dearly miss him.
  • From Bad to Worse: Ja'far finds that there's no 2D department anymore, and that they have all been sacked. Then, it turns out that in this context, this means they have all been stuffed into sacks, beaten to death, and thrown out a window.
  • The Genie Knows Jack Nicholson: The Djinn speaks entirely in movie quotes that make no sense in the ancient Arabian setting, although it does make him really funny. "Here's Johnny!"
  • The Golden Rule: Ja'far's philosophy in life. He tries imparting it to the original vizier, whose version of the Golden Rule is... different...
  • The Good Chancellor: Deconstructed Trope with Ja'far. While he always maintains his dedication to the people of the nation, he began the job brimming with optimism and over the years becomes a disenchanted Beleaguered Bureaucrat. No matter what he does or how hard he tries, everyone percieves him as an Evil Chancellor anyways.
  • The Greatest Story Never Told:
  • Grief Song: "If I Believed".
  • Hail to the Thief: The parts of "Dream a Little Harder" where they really rip on Ja'far.
  • Hard Work Hardly Works: Ja'far is the only one in the palace actually trying to improve the lot of the Magic Kingdom, but all his efforts come to nothing, even when he gets hold of the magic lamp. In the end, he decides that hard work isn't enough; to really change the world, you have to be optimistic (or even naive) enough to believe that you can actually do it, just like the Princess.
  • Heel Realization: Averted. Aladdin seems to be on the tip of one when his other personality rears its head. Doesn't really take, though.
  • Heroic BSoD: Ja'far undergoes this several times as his life and the kingdom fall apart, first (chronologically) after losing his wife and unborn child, then when his 2D staff is executed, and finally when Aladdin accuses him of being a sorcerer and causes him to be cast out by the Sultan.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: The musical recasts Ja'far as this. Everyone in the Magic Kingdom thinks he's the Evil Chancellor, but he's actually the only one trying to make things better.
  • High-Five Left Hanging: The Captain of the Guard salutes the Princess by holding his hand up in the air. The Princess, who's a Bratty Teenage Daughter and Soapbox Sadie, tells him "no high-five", to his confusion.
  • Historical Domain Character: Ja'far's lover, Scheherazade, was a real woman, best known for epic-length bedtime stories and being mailed to the Sultan wrapped up in a carpet.
  • Honorary Princess: The Princess's solution to the socioeconomic inequality? Why, make everyone in the kingdom a princess. After the Sultan kicked the bucket, she made that decree. It works surprisingly well.
  • Hope Spot: The Captain intrudes on Ja'far explaining a song just means a dick is on the way, but isn't bringing bad news for once...
    Ja'far: I feel like you only come to see me when there's bad news!
    Captain: Not this time.
    Ja'far (ecstatic): Oh, thank heavens, what is it then?
    Captain: Horrible news!
  • Hurricane of Puns: It's Team StarKid, but it's not quite as prevalent as it is in Holy Musical B@man.
  • Hypocritical Humor:
    • The citizen who blames Ja'far for them not having enough to eat then shoves away the bread Ja'far tries to offer him.
    • The Princess is a limousine liberal who keeps going on about how much more she wants out of life, while fully enjoying the perks of being a princess. She even berates a handmaiden working in a silk sweatshop (her own silk sweatshop no less) for being part of a corrupt system.
    • Not to mention this little gem. Keep in mind, Aladdin is 33 while the Princess is 16.
    Ja'far: You have no idea how much that girl means to me! I love her!
    Aladdin: Oh... You love her? Dude, she's like half your age, you're a total pedo.
    • Belle telling Ja'far to "keep your fat face out of that motherfucking book." She is even reading a book herself while saying this.
  • "I Am Great!" Song: "I Steal Everything" for Aladdin and "No One Remembers Achmed" for Prince Achmed.
  • Incoming Ham: Gaston at the beginning of the title song. "Au con-traire!"
  • Inconsistent Spelling:
    • As observed, Jafar's name is officially spelled "Ja'far" in this story, which not only avoids trademarks, but is also a more historically-accurate spelling of the name.
    • There doesn't seem to be an official spelling for the name of Prince Achmed's kingdom: Pik-zahr and Pikzaar are both seen regularly. The YouTube captions of the show somewhat ruin the joke by just spelling it "Pixar".
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Ja'far's defining trait. No matter how much the world fights him, all he wants to do is make others' lives better, making "The Golden Rule" of treating all others the way he wants to be treated the central tenet of his life. Eventually, circumstances force him to make exceptions for the greater good, but the fact that, even after the Sultan took his pregnant wife into his harem, tried to arrest and kill him, and placed all the citizens of his kingdom in danger through his incompetence, he still doesn't wish to betray him, is proof enough that he's really, really squeaky clean.
  • Informed Flaw: The citizens talk a lot about how ugly Ja'far is, but even in the costume, Dylan Saunders doesn't look half bad. Possibly a reference to how attractive his Dumbledore was said to be. Or maybe beauty is just in the eye of the beholder; the citizens all hate Ja'far and his wife calls him "as wise as he is handsome, as handsome as he's kind."
  • Insane Troll Logic: The entire kingdom will jump through as many logical hoops as necessary to blame everything on Ja'far. Including the fact that the sun goes down at night or the Monochrome Casting.
  • Inspiration Nod: During the first song, Ja'far is reading Wicked.
  • Ironic Echo:
    • Early on, Aladdin takes the Princess to his home. When she asks if he owns it, he admits that he's "Just squatting here." The later reveal of his split personality sees the murderous personality say "You're just squatting here," establishing which of them is the real one.
    • "This is all Ja'far's fault" is uttered several times to blame every problem on Ja'far. At the end of the story, Ja'far is "blamed" for all the good things happening to save the magical kingdom.
  • It's All About Me:
    • Aladdin basically claims this as his life philosophy in "I Steal Everything". And boy, does it show.
    • The Princess pre-Character Development, the Sultan, and all the other government officials.
  • "I Want" Song: Parodied by the Princess's first song. Not only are her desires ridiculous, but they're often contradictory (i.e. wanting exciting, dangerous adventures as long as she stays safe).
  • Jackass Genie:
    • Subverted with the Djinn. While he is annoying to Ja'far, he grants all the wishes people request, no strings attached.
    • Ja'far invokes this when Aladdin takes the Princess hostage and demands the lamp. After Ja'far pretends to agree, he wishes to take the genie's place so that even if Aladdin has the lamp, he'll have to deal with Ja'far for his last wish. Aladdin sensibly hightails it out of there, while Ja'far selflessly grants the Princess's wishes to the best of his ability.
  • Jerkass: Aladdin. "Jerkass" is an understatement. "Sociopathic murdering rapist" would probably be more accurate.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: When the Captain of the Guards points out that Ja'far's 2D department was executed because they weren't "producing anything of value", Ja'far nods sadly.
  • Kick the Dog: Young Ja'far gets a Hope Spot when he learns his wife is expecting on the same day he finally gets an audience with the Sultan to discuss his land reforms. He's brutally brought back to reality when the Sultan ignores all his jabbering about land and takes his pregnant wife as a concubine.
  • Lampshade Hanging: Acting for Two is lampshaded when the Captain of the Guard offhandedly mentions that Robert Manion's character in a scene is the twin brother of Abdul, also played by Manion.
  • Large Ham: Prince Achmed and Ja'far's predecessor as the Royal Vizier (both played by king of ham Joe Walker). However, none of them could hope to match the hamminess of the other Disney villains.
  • Last Disrespects:
    • Aladdin's reaction to seeing the dead body of a guard he got killed is to kick him, steal his wallet, and offer his monkey to eat the corpse.
    • After beating all 150 members of the 2D department to death, the Royal Guard threw their corpses out of the highest window of the western tower.
  • Let's Duet: "A Thousand and One Nights", "Take Off Your Clothes", and "The Power in Me".
  • Let Me Get This Straight...:
    Aladdin: So lemme get this straight... you want me to go into this mystical cave, full of treasure, and all you want in return in a common oil lamp?
    Ja'far: Precisely.
    Aladdin: [[sidehugging Ja'far]] I love you, man!
  • Let Them Die Happy: The dying guard asks if the loaf of bread Aladdin stole was retrieved. Ja'far begins to sadly tell him Aladdin got away, but the Captain cuts him off, then tells the guard that they did get the bread back. The guard happily manages to get out, "Praise... Allah..." then dies.
  • Loophole Abuse:
    • Subverted. Aladdin acknowledges that he can't magically make the Princess love him, but does try to magically make her have sex with him, and is quite put out when he's denied.
    • Played straight in that Ja'far technically defies one of the other rules of being a genie (not killing someone) because the participant didn't actually wish for it. Specifically, the Princess wished for the Magic Kingdom to have a Sultan that would make it the happiest place on earth, something that could never happen as long as the current Sultan was alive. Lo and behold, he is mysteriously found dead moments later.
  • The Lost Lenore: Sherrezade.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Ja'far to the Princess.
  • Manchild: Aladdin was living with his parents until the age of 33. Then he murdered them because they were going to throw him out.
  • Major Injury Underreaction: Sherrezade doesn't honestly seem that bothered by losing her ear.
  • Massive Multiplayer Ensemble Number: "Dream a Little Harder" gives most of the characters present at least one solo line.
  • Marry for Love: Parodied when Aladdin backs out of having to marry a girl he knocked up by saying he wants this. Surprisingly, the girl is actually touched by this and he would've gotten away clean if he didn't forget her name.
  • Mind over Matter: Unlike the colorful magic powers he had in Disney's version, Ja'far's sorcery granted to him from his first wish seems to mostly be a handwavy version of this, along with Pstandard Psychic Pstance.
  • Missing Mom:
    • During "Dream a Little Harder", a girl wonders why her mother had to die. As it turns out, everyone else's mothers are dead too. It's probably a reference to Disney's long history of heroes with dead parents.
    • A Cerebus Callback and a bit of Fridge Horror: The instant Sherrezade becomes a mother, she also dies.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: The Sultan decided that the disbandment of the 2D department meant they had to be put in burlap sacks and beaten to death, even though he could have just taken away their jobs and sent them on their way.
  • Musicalis Interruptus: The Captain walking in on Ja'far singing "A song is a dick in sheep's clothing!" to the Princess. Specifically, Ja'far had just finished the second line, which explains that when you start singing, a dick will soon appear... just in time for the Captain to show up with more bad news.
  • My Friends... and Zoidberg: Cruella rightfully gets excluded even by the other Disney villains as the only actually evil one.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • When the Sea-Witch is telling her story, it's heavily implied that King Triton is her brother, an element that Disney didn't make explicit in the film version of The Little Mermaid, but was used more in the Broadway adaptation.
    • Ja'far's line, "I bet the lamp is under that lamp-sized hat!" might be a reference to the lyric "I bet you've got a bunny under your hat" from his song "You're Only Second Rate" from Aladdin: The Return of Jafar.
  • Nice Guy: Ja'far's defining trait, next to perhaps Only Sane Man.
  • "No. Just… No" Reaction: In the title song, as Disney villains try to explain their real causes, Cruella De Vil comes in to announce that she just wanted to make a coat out of puppies. The villains are quick to tear her down and shoo her away.
  • No Song for the Wicked: Averted by Aladdin and Achmed who both get songs, and then double-subverted by every song Ja'far and the other villains get to sing. Played straight with the Sultan, however.
  • Not Hyperbole: The 2D department was sacked and their talent thrown out the window. That is to say, the department was stuffed in sacks, beaten to death, and the corpses flung from the highest tower in the palace.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Aladdin's escape after stealing a loaf of bread, him parading through the streets as Prince Ali, and finding the magic lamp are all big, action-packed events that take place off-stage. Since they would be impossible to recreate live, the play instead shows what Ja'far's up to during these scenes, and he's informed of what happened afterwards.
  • Off with His Head!: The Sultan tries to have this done to Ja'far, thinking he's a sorcerer, but Ja'far escapes with the aid of chemistry.
  • Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Being a reversal of the original movie, Ja'far and Aladdin are this.
  • Only Sane Man: Ja'far.
  • Opening Monologue: The play begins with Sherrezade playing narrator and setting the scene.
  • Our Genies Are Different: Apparently, Genies are able to see into the future/exist outside of time and space and therefore can watch movies, hence why the Djinn was able to know all of his dated and out-of-place movie references.
  • Papa Wolf: Part of the reason Ja'far has a grudge against Aladdin is because the man keeps boasting about how he's going to bone the Princess and murder anyone who tries to protect her. In the end, Ja'far uses his first two wishes to protect the Princess and willingly becomes a genie to save his daughter from Aladdin.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: The Prince Ali getup from the film is mocked. "It is you, you're just wearing different clothes."
  • Parental Substitute: Despite the Princess hating him, she treats Ja'far more like her father figure than she treats her actual father, the Sultan. He's the only one willing to give her advice when she needs it and talks to her like a person, rather than ignoring or trying to bone her. Then the "substitute" part goes out the window when he realizes he's her actual father.
  • Pep-Talk Song:
    • "No One Remembers Achmed", where Prince Achmed's troops sing his many accomplishments, including their mistaken conclusion that he had sex with a tiger, much to Achmed's horror.
    • "Twisted" goes from a BSoD Song to this when the Disney villains appear and tell Ja'far they were actually beings with good intentions. Ja'far gains a Heroic Second Wind to use the lamp's wishes to protect the Magic Kingdom.
  • Pet the Dog: Aladdin's one heroic moment (looking for his pet monkey so they can escape the besieged city) is instantly cancelled when he shrugs and decides to leave him behind.
    • The Sultan's last act before he dies (offstage) is to sign an order allowing the Princess to marry who she pleases.
  • Phrase Catcher: "This is all your fault, Ja'far."
  • Psychopathic Manchild: Aladdin, the Sultan, and Achmed.
  • Race Lift: The show features a nearly all-white cast. This being Team StarKid, it gets an early Lampshade Hanging as one more thing to blame Ja'far for. Ironically, the line "Why is everyone in the kingdom white?" is sung by Lauren Lopez, who is half Latina.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Ja'far is the only authority figure, actually, who falls under this until the end. He spends his days trying to make life better for everyone in the Happiest Place on Earth, including pleasing a Jerkass prince whose resources the kingdom badly needs. When the Princess insults Achmed by setting her tiger on him, Ja'far tells her off for being so reckless, but also gently tells her that she needs to start thinking about the consequences of her actions.
  • Rebellious Princess: Like in the source material, the Princess does not want to get married and wants to escape the palace, but she still wants to keep all the comforts that being a princess entails.
  • Refuge in Audacity: When being menaced by the father of a girl he knocked up, Aladdin says, "That's completely fair, but in my defense, dude, your daughter's hot!" The guy then gives him a high five.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Ja'far admits that he treats the Princess like his daughter because she would have been the same age his child would have been since they were born around the same time. Which makes him realize that she is his daughter because the time is too coincidental and the Sultan is infertile.
  • Related in the Adaptation: Here, it is revealed that Ja'far is the Princess's actual father.
  • Reprise Medley: "Happy Ending" gives "I Steal Everything" and "Everything and More" a reprise at its climax.
  • Robbing the Dead: Aladdin takes the wallet and shoes from a dead guard early on in the musical.
  • Rule of Three:
    • When Ja'far meets up with Gazeem, who has procured the other half of the golden scarab, Gazeem says, "I had to slit a few throats, but I got it." Ja'far is appalled, so Gazeem laughs and explains that it's an expression meaning that he got a "killer" deal on the item. He further explains that he went to the shrewd businessman and "fucked his puppy". Ja'far is again shocked, and Gazeem explains that this is another expression, meaning that he dealt with the businessman in a no-nonsense fashion. He reminisces about how angry the businessman was upon realizing how little Gazeem had been able to haggle the item down to, and concludes, "Man, did he ever chop my dick off!" Ja'far initially looks taken aback until he figures that this must be yet another expression, and laughs to humor Gazeem... who storms over to him and furiously shows him that this is not another expression, much to Ja'far's horror.
    • Shows up again when Ja'far intercepts Achmed's army:
    Princess (stupefied): Ja'far!?
    Achmed (suspicious): Ja'far...
    Soldier (triumphant): Ja'FAR!
    Achmed: (incredulous look at the soldier, shakes his head)
  • Running Gag:
    • "This is all your fault, Ja'far."
    • The Princess being unable to remember Aladdin's name.
    • Prince Achmed's troops erroneously believing, and being incredibly proud of, the fact that he fucked a tiger.
    • Before he ever shows up on stage, several characters (and the plot summary) make sure we know that the Djinn, in addition to his other attributes, is also really funny.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: The entire point of "The Golden Rule (Evil Reprise)": "Follow the gold, and rule". Meanwhile, Ja'far prefers the Screw the Money, I Have Rules! route.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Ja'far ultimately decides to make this decision when he steals the lamp. Rather than turn himself in to the Sultan whom he has just betrayed, to die or be tortured, he decides to use the D'jinn to save the Kingdom from Prince Achmed and Aladdin. If this means others will see him as the villain? So be it.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Aladdin made a run for it when confronted by Ja'far in Genie/Djinn form.
  • Self-Made Orphan: Aladdin turns out to have murdered his parents for kicking him out of the house.
  • Shown Their Work: Disney's villain Jafar is named after a real historical figure, whose first name was indeed more properly spelled "Ja'far", and who was indeed portrayed as a heroic figure in the real Arabian Nights before modern adaptations turned him into a villain (starting with The Thief of Bagdad (1940)). The real Ja'far was known for being an accomplished statesman and a patron of the sciences, and for being executed by his Sultan, Haroun al-Rashid, for unclear reasons, possibly related to sexual jealousy (Ja'far may have slept with al-Rashid's sister). All of this makes the hero of this musical far truer to the original source than the Disney character.
  • Skewed Priorities: The Princess yells at Aladdin for wanting to have sex while Achmed is attacking the Kingdom. She gets fed up with him and tells him off for being exactly what Ja'far said he was. He responds by taking her hostage and using her as a bargaining chip to get the lamp.
  • Split Personality: Aladdin turns out to have one. One side's an arrogant, selfish dick, while the other one's an arrogant, selfish, murderous dick.
  • Shout-Out:
    • There are many references to Disney movies, especially in the opening song.
    Dream hard enough, my friend
    Ja'far will meet a violent end
    He could be skewered by a sailing ship
    Or hanged in tangled jungle vines
    Or eaten by hyenas
    Or he'll plummet to his death
    From a castle
    A clock
    Or a cliff
    • "Take Off Your Clothes" describes the leaves on the ground spelling something explicit... "SFX?" This is a reference to a controversy about the sky in The Lion King containing the word "sex", although the animators claimed it was an homage to the SFX (special effects) department.
      • The song's title is actually a reference to a similar controversy. It was believed by some that in a certain scene in Aladdin, Aladdin could be heard saying "good teenagers, take off your clothes." The line is supposedly Aladdin saying to Rajah "Good kitty, take off and go," though a close listen of the soundtrack makes it very difficult to tell exactly what's being said. This bit of audio was removed entirely from the DVD release.
      • Others include "that priest has a boner" or a phallic-looking tower (both from The Little Mermaid).
    • The title song contains cameos from Ursula, Scar, Gaston, Maleficent, Captain Hook, and Cruella de Vil.
    • At one point, Ja'far gives a nod to the Carousel of Progress ride at Disney World, even quoting the song that plays throughout it.
    • There are several shout-outs to Wicked, down to Ja'far reading Wicked in the opening scene:
      • Likewise, Ja'far's relationship with the Princess is similar to Elphaba's relationship with Glinda, with the added twist of him being her father, a shout out to the Wizard being revealed to be Elphaba's father.
      • The Princess's whole arc is also very similar to the arc Glinda goes through in Wicked.
      • The ending is nearly identical to the ending of Wicked, with Ja'far/Elphaba being remembered as a villain while Aladdin/the Wizard is remembered as a hero. Ja'far/Elphaba can never see the Princess/Glinda again, but the Princess/Glinda is now in charge of the land and becomes a great ruler while Ja'far/Elphaba lives out their days with their true love (Sherrezade/Fiyero).
    • Prince Achmed notes that some of the Magic Kingdom's greatest exports over the last ten years produced by Pik-zahr include toys, exotic fish, trash-compacting robots, and "other such incredibles."
    • Ali Baba's lost treasure, which the Princess uses to buy Prince Achmed's kingdom, comes to 7.4 billion drachma. This is a direct reference to the $7.4 billion for which Disney acquired Pixar in 2006.
    • The "Magic Kingdom", which represents Disney while Prince Achmed's kingdom represents Pixar, is said to have had "two Golden Ages", referencing The Golden Age of Animation and The Renaissance Age of Animation. The musical begins with the sacking of Ja'far's "2D department" (that is, put in burlap sacks and beaten to death), referencing the idea that Disney's Renaissance ended with their abandonment of 2D animation.
    • The inside baseball continues with the story of Prince Achmed's kingdom turning against Ja'far's kingdom paralleling Pixar's attempts to sever ties with Disney as their sole distributor in 2004-2005, culminating in Disney outright buying Pixar in 2007 (as the Princess does with Ali Baba's hidden treasure). In the musical, this opens a third Golden Age for the Magic Kingdom; YMMV if The Millennium Age of Animation is panning out that way in real life.
    • The refrains of "The Golden Rule" and its Dark Reprise spoof that of "You've Got a Friend in Me".
    • After Ja'far tells Aladdin he can have the rest of the treasure in the cave, the latter says, "I'm gonna have so much gold! I could swim through it, like a pool."
    • During Aladdin's Villainous Breakdown, he shrieks, "Who else could have done it, and come this far?!", lifted from a similar monologue at the end of Death Note, his delivery identical to the English dub.
    • There's several lines taken straight from Disney, of course.
  • "Somewhere" Song: The Princess sings about going to live somewhere... exactly like the palace she lives in now.
  • Speaks in Shout-Outs: Everything the Djinn says is a reference, usually to a movie. It's revealed that inside the lamp, he is outside of time, so he can watch all the movies which haven't been made yet. The references he makes bewilder Ja'far, but all the other characters find him to be very funny.
  • Speed Sex: "No One Remembers Achmed" brags that Prince Achmed can "pleasure sixty concubines in only an hour", which Achmed responds to with "Less!" And then you realize that leaves a minute for each one. Does this mean he only lasts a minute with each one or that each one only lasts a minute with him?
  • Street Urchin: Aladdin is a subversion in this show. He steals way more than he needs, issues death threats, and many more things that make him unlike a lovable "street urchin" stereotype. He's also 33 years old, meaning that the "urchin" part has long been untrue.
  • Subliminal Seduction: Aladdin attempts an incredibly unsubtle one on the Princess. She's just smart enough to see through it. The song also references several real accusations that have been lobbed at Disney movies, and even gives the real explanations to the ones that have them: the priest in The Little Mermaid has knobby knees, and the dust cloud in The Lion King spells "SFX."
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial:
    Aladdin: Why would I pretend to be a prince? Just to get laid? That's not me.
  • Sustained Misunderstanding: Achmed shows his rear to his soldiers to show that he's been attacked by a tiger. They all interpret it as his having had sex with the tiger, and cannot be convinced otherwise.
  • Take That!: The opening number "Dream A Little Harder" pokes fun at the morals offered up by some Disney animated fairy tales:
    No need to be proactive:
    Good things will just happen to you!"
    "If you're sure of your intention,
    Will give you the edge that you need!"
  • The Talk: Ja'far gives the Princess a variant of this. It's not the usual "birds and the bees" talk, since she's old enough to already know all that, but instead a talk about how predatory, older men (like, ya know, Aladdin) might try and take advantage of her naivete and coerce her into sex. This leads to the immortal line, "A song is a dick in sheep's clothing!" It becomes rather heartwarming in retrospect, when you watch again with the knowledge that Ja'far is actually her father. And, since she becomes more wary of Aladdin after that, she actually did listen to the lecture, even if she won't admit it.
  • Talking Is a Free Action: As Ja'far is escaping from the Sultan and his guards, he explains to the audience, at length, how he is using a scientifically understood chemical reaction to create a cloud of smoke. Despite this, his escape is mistaken for sorcery.
  • Then Let Me Be Evil: Or rather, "Then let them think I'm evil." Ja'far's epiphany in the title song is that he should stop worrying about what people think of him, and just do the right thing so at least they'll still be alive to hate him.
  • They Died Because of You:
    • The Captain says that Abdul's death at the hands of the thief who has been terrorising the marketplace is Ja'far's fault because, "there wouldn't be any thieves if you fixed the socioeconomic inequality like you promised!"
    • Ja'far later finds that the Royal Guard have just killed the entire 2D department on the Sultan's orders.
    Captain: Don't blame the Sultan, Ja'far! This is all your fault! You didn't have the 2D department producing anything of value.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Turns out the Disney villains were actually good guys with bad reputations, except Cruella De Vil, who's quite evil but seems quite surprised to hear it.
  • Triumphant Reprise: The finale version of "A Thousand and One Nights".
  • Truer to the Text: In a twisted way. Although this is very much an irreverent, fourth-wall breaking parody of Aladdin, bringing back a version of Scheherazade, restoring Ja'far to heroic status, and even Aladdin being a layabout mooching off his parent/s bring this story closer to the original Arabian Nights. (See Shown Their Work above.)
  • Ugly Hero, Good-Looking Villain: Ja'far is said to be ugly by the other characters, whereas Aladdin is handsome, charismatic, and a total sociopath.
  • Underling with an F in PR:
    • Achmed's soldiers have difficulty with the concept that their prince did not have sex with a tiger, and in fact bring up his supposed mating as if it were a badge of pride.
    • Assorted Disney villains come forth to explain that they were recast as the villains of their stories later on when they only had good intentions (Ursula was the victim of misogyny, Scar wanted to end segregation, Gaston wanted to stop a case of stockholm syndrome, Hook wanted to teach the hero responsibility, Maleficent just wanted to have friends)... aaaaaand then Cruella comes out and says she only ever wanted a coat made out of puppies. Everyone else quickly boots her offstage.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Most of the citizens Ja'far is trying to help, but special mention to the man in the opening song who demands to know why there isn't enough to eat. Even after Ja'far gives him the bread from his hands, he still sings about how evil and hideous he is.
  • Uninvited to the Party: Maleficent "only wished to feel included" by being invited to the party, among other Disney villains shown to be Not Evil, Just Misunderstood.
  • Unusual Euphemism: A whole series of these from the Expy of Gazeem the thief, whose famous line "I had to slit a few throats, but I got it" initially appalls this more heroic version of Ja'far. Then it turns out the last one wasn't a euphemism at all.
  • Villain Love Song: "No One Remembers Achmed" has a part where Achmed says he will try to win the Princess's heart by killing all citizens of the magic kingdom. "Take Off Your Clothes" may also count, even though Aladdin's just trying to get into her pants.
  • Villain Song:
    • "The Golden Rule Reprise", "No One Remembers Achmed", "I Steal Everything", and "Orphaned at 33".
    • "Twisted" is a subversion, but it's sung by some of Disney's greatest villains.
  • "The Villain Sucks" Song: The citizens singing "Dream a Little Harder" think that Ja'far sucks, but he isn't actually a villain at all.
  • Villainous Lament: Subverted by "Twisted", where all the characters lament having been cast as villains. Except Cruella, who still is a villain.
  • Waxing Lyrical: Ja'far's meeting with Sherezzade quotes from the uncensored version of "Arabian Nights":
    Sherezzade: Someone cut off my ear! Because they didn't like my face.
    Ja'far: But that's barbaric!
    Sherezzade: Hey, it's home.
    • When the Princess confronts Achmed and his army, she tries to build up Aladdin with a quote from "Prince Ali":
      Princess: It is said that he faced the Galloping Hordes!
      (long beat; Achmed gives an "Am I supposed to know what that means?" shrug)
      Princess: That's like a hundred bad guys with swords.
      (Achmed looks mildly impressed; one of his soldiers mouths "Holy shit!")
  • Wham Line: Aladdin reveals his Split Personality and that the man who killed his parents is in "[his] reflection"...
    "I loved my parents. But that didn't stop me from doing what needed to be done."
  • Wham Shot: Realizing that if he tries to abide by the law that innocents will die, including the Princess, Ja'far rubs the lamp at the end of "Twisted," deciding that no one will see him as a hero, but he's satisfied knowing that they will be safe.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?:
    • The bird disappears halfway through the first act, though he does have a spot in the final song.
    • After the climax, Achmed wonders what happened to Ja'far, but the next scene jumps right to him.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Ja'far's first onscreen interaction with the Princess is telling her off for setting her tiger on a political ally. As he tells it, he has to clean up her mess since Achmed is threatening war.
  • What You Are in the Dark: After he makes off with the lamp, Ja'far ponders that he just committed treason against his sultan and committed theft for the first time. He wonders if he should turn himself in, hide, or use the lamp's power to save the Kingdom and appear truly evil to the people he's trying to protect. After the other classic Disney villains give him a Pep-Talk Song, he commits to using the djinn's magic to save the kingdom and the Princess.
  • Womanchild: The Princess, which initially makes her and Aladdin seem like a good match. She gets better and he gets a lot worse.
  • Writing Around Trademarks: The mouse has many of the names in the show trademarked, but StarKid works around this. Somewhat odd, as they've done parodies before and never bothered to change the character names then.
    • Aladdin's name existed prior to the Disney movie, so the Team could get away with this one.
    • According to the credits, Jafar's name is actually Ja'far. Which actually is the correct spelling of the Arabic name.
    • Jasmine is only called "The Princess."
    • The Genie is called "The Djinn."
    • Abu and Iago are only called "Monkey" and "Bird" respectively.
    • The Cave of Wonders is called "The Tiger-Head Cave".
      • Though this doesn't stop Aladdin from declaring "I'll be the one who plunders her cave of wonders."
    • The credits call Ursula "The Sea-Witch."
  • Written by the Winners: Revealed to be the case with almost every Disney villain. Except Cruella De Vil, who the others are disgusted to learn really did want to skin a bunch of puppies.

Alternative Title(s): Twisted

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"It's not like he's singing!"

The Princess believes she found herself a perfect husband in the form of Aladdin, even reassuring herself that he isn't singing (she was told that it's a means of seduction)... Cue a musical where Aladdin starts singing.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (8 votes)

Example of:

Main / TemptingFate

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