As Disney releases its live-action remake of a universally popular character, it is worth remembering that the story of Aladdin has been a crucial part of India's cultural history, especially its cinema.
In fact, records show that the folktale on which Disney's Aladdin is based is originally set in China, and later mixed with a story set in Persia as told by a Syrian woman, then translated and added to 1001 Arabian Nights by a French man, adding to the layers of cultural conflation and Orientalism at play.
Aladin Chatterjee (Riteish Deshmukh) lives in the city of Khwaish, an orphan who has been bullied since childhood by Kasim and his gang. His life changes when Jasmine (Jacqueline Fernandez) gives him a magic lamp because it lets loose the genie Genius (Amitabh Bachchan).
While some claim Jasmine is Arab because the movie opens with a song called Arabian Nights, others believe that the architecture in Agrabah is clearly based on the Taj Mahal, making Jasmine Indian. It's a debate that has fueled speculation that in Hollywood, Indians and Arabs are interchangeable.
Aladdin, the main character in the Disney movie, is portrayed as being of Middle Eastern descent. The setting of the movie is the fictional city of Agrabah, which is said to be located in the Middle East.
Princess Jasmine: Indian or Arabian? Disney's HUGE Cultural Inaccuracy! | Cartoon Analysis
Was Aladdin popular in India?
As Disney releases its live-action remake of a universally popular character, it is worth remembering that the story of Aladdin has been a crucial part of India's cultural history, especially its cinema.
If you mean American Indian, then that would be Pocahontas. The only other Disney character I know of close to India's Indian would be the Jasmine character but I believe she considered to be more a Middle eastern character. There is also Jungle Book which takes place in India, but there isn't really a princess in it.
Galland's tale isn't even set in the Middle East - it's actually set in a Chinese city, and Aladdin is not an orphan but a poor Chinese boy living with his mother, with the only other location mentioned in the story being Maghreb, North Africa, where the sorcerer is from.
Moana as she appears in Moana (2016). Inspired by Polynesian mythology, Moana is depicted as the strong-willed daughter of a chief of a Polynesian village, who is chosen by the ocean itself to reunite a mystical relic with the goddess Te Fiti.
Naomi Scott is a multi-talented actor, singer, and songwriter. She stars as "Jasmine" in Disney's blockbuster live-action remake Aladdin (2019), alongside Mena Massoud and Will Smith, directed by Guy Ritchie.
In the both Galland's text and Richard Burton's popular 1885 English translation, Aladdin lives “in a city of the cities in China.” Illustrations of the tales from the Victorian era depict the story and its characters as Chinese.
The original story of 'Aladdin' is, maybe surprisingly, set in China. In the earliest versions of the story, Aladdin is Chinese. He's also not an orphaned street urchin but a lazy boy living at home with his mother.
Princess Jasmine, a fictional character from Disney's animated film "Aladdin," is not explicitly identified as Indian in the movie. Instead, she is depicted as a resident of the fictional city of Agrabah, which is often seen as a blend of Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures and influences.
Surprisingly, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine speak in excellent American English while the rest of the characters in the film speak in heavy Arab accents.
Although Moana is from the fictional island Motunui some 3,000 years ago, the story and culture of Moana is based on the very real heritage and history of Polynesian islands such as Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, and Tahiti.
Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; Hawaiian: kānaka, kānaka ʻōiwi, Kānaka Maoli, and Hawaiʻi maoli) are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
The racial makeup of the county was 33.01% Asian, 28.90% White, 22.24% from two or more races, 10.72% Pacific Islander, 1.40% Black or African American, 0.37% Native American and 1.36% from other races. 7.8% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
2. While the movie is set in a city based on Baghdad, Iraq, Aladdin contains aspects of multiple Middle Eastern and Asian cultures. The sultan's palace in Aladdin, left, and the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.
Universally accepted, the character's status as Disney's first Arabic princess "won over hearts" upon the film's 1992 release, according to Andre Tartar of Vulture.com.
Aladdin. The magnificent Sultan's Palace in Aladdin was inspired by the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. The famous Taj Mahal is actually a splendid tomb that Emperor Shah Jahan has built in the year 1632 for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
Maharani Gayatri Devi: Ranked as the “Most Beautiful Woman in the World” in the 60's, by Vogue Magazine. Late Rajmata Gayatri Devi was the Maharani of Jaipur from 1939 to 1970.
Mulan is a fictional folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century AD) of Chinese history. According to the legend, Mulan takes her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as a man.
The mother-daughter program, now called Indian Maidens, was established in South Bend, IN, in 1951. Three years later father-daughter groups, which are called Y-Indian Princesses, originated in the Fresno, CA, YMCA.
