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.
1. The original Aladdin was actually Chinese. While the true origins of the tale of Aladdin cannot be completely verified, the story is often attributed to French writer Antoine Galland, who claimed a Syrian told him about a boy and a genie in China.
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. All the characters in the tale are also Chinese apart from the wicked magician who is from North Africa.
Where is Jasmine from Aladdin supposed to be from?
Princess Jasmine is the deuteragonist of Disney's 1992 animated feature film, Aladdin. She is an independent, rebellious young princess from Agrabah, a Middle Eastern kingdom ruled by her father, the Sultan. As the future sultana, Jasmine has a strong sense of obligation to her country.
In the 1992 version of Aladdin, all of the 'bad guys' were portrayed with heavy, obnoxious Arabic accents, including, at times, the lead adversary 'Jafar', while the protagonists, Aladdin and princess Jasmine, both spoke with clear Americanised accents and had Western-looking features.
Princess Jasmine: Indian or Arabian? Disney's HUGE Cultural Inaccuracy! | Cartoon Analysis
Is Jasmine Indian or Arab?
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.
If Ritchie's film was based on the original story, the entire cast would be Chinese - apart from the sorcerer, who would be North African - but as it's said to be a faithful remake of Disney's animation, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine should really be Middle Eastern or South Asian, despite the film not being an authentic ...
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.
And he's no foreigner abroad either: he's a native Chinese boy, not an Arabian youth who's ended up in China. (Nor is he an orphan: in the earliest versions of the story, Aladdin is not an orphaned street urchin but a lazy boy living at home with his mother.) As Krystyn R.
Ironically, the Agrabah Sultan's palace also resembles the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, despite being supposedly based in an Arabian country. The original Arabic folk tale of Aladdin was originally set in China, specifically an Islamic city in China (most likely an Uyghur kingdom in the Xinjiang region).
On Oct. 15, Disney Plus introduced a new disclaimer that appears before older films like Dumbo (1941) and Aladdin (1992), warning viewers that the films include harmful stereotypes. The new message replaces the one that came with the original launch of Disney Plus late last year.
Mena Massoud (Aladdin) is Egyptian, Nasim Pedrad (Jasmine's handmaiden) and Navid Negahban (the Sultan) are Iranian and Marwan Kenzari (Jafar) is Tunisian. Interestingly though, Naomi Scott (Jasmine) is a British actress whose mom is Ugandan with Indian decent, neither of which are Middle Eastern.
Jafar reads aloud from the ancient scroll he so cleverly doctored, and proclaims that now he must become Jasmine's husband, and – most importantly – the next sultan! Jasmine and the Sultan try to stop Jafar, but to no avail, for Jafar now holds the power of the lamp.
Finally, as it been revealed that Aladdin is not a prince, he can't marry Jasmine because of the law. He could use the last wish, but he already promised to use the third to release the genie free.
However, as Jafar revels in his newfound phenomenal cosmic power, he finds out too late that Aladdin has tricked him into wasting his wish on becoming a genie, since genies are not free beings, and becomes trapped in a magic lamp of his own, which is sent into the Cave of Wonders by the Genie.
In the collection of tales recorded around the 15th century in Arabic, and which comprise "The Thousand and One Nights" or "Arabian Nights," Aladdin and Jasmine were actually residents of Baghdad, Iraq, a city widely considered a center for Arab culture and civilization.
Jasmine was only 15 years old when royal suitors fought for her hand in Aladdin. Knowing Jasmine's age puts a decidedly unsavory spin on her storyline in the original animated movie. At least the Disney princesses that came before her were falling in love on their own, not being pushed into relationships by her father.
She comes from the South Asian-inspired Kingdom of Sherabad, which Jafar wanted to conquer to expand Agrabah. She also is mentioned to have been the victim of murder, which caused her husband to keep their daughter inside the palace for protection.
3. Aladdin doesn't come from Agrabah. 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.
Cassim is the father of Aladdin. Long before the events of the first film, he left his wife and young son in order to find a better life for the poverty-stricken family. While he was gone, Aladdin's mother died, leaving Aladdin as a presumed orphan.
The animated 1992 Film most likely takes place after Islam had already started spreading as early as 700 CE but most likely it's meant to take place later than that.
Disney set to launch an Indian princess for the first time ever. Princess Ananya, has been confirmed by the team, but they have also added that it's quite in the early stages and the team isn't even close to launching her.
4. When Jafar tries to manipulate the Sultan into letting him marry Jasmine, the Sultan makes a remark that Jafar is "so old". Granted, he is most likely younger than the Sultan, but old enough for it to be considered wrong for him to marry a fifteen-year-old girl. Again, no actual age is ever given.
