Mena Massoud, who plays Aladdin, was born in Cairo, Naomi Scott (Jasmine) is of Anglo-Indian descent, Numan Acar (Hakim) is Turkish, and Nasim Pedrad (Dalia) and Navid Negahban (The Sultan) are Iranian.
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.
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 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.
After Aladdin tells Jasmine the story of the Star of Persia, they decide to find the jewel. Princess Jasmine discovers that she is wise, kind, fair, and special—just like the queen who once owned the precious jewel.
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.
Jasmine debuted in Aladdin (1992) as the Princess of Agrabah, daughter of the Sultan. Frustrated with constantly having decisions made for her and being pressured into marrying a prince by law, Jasmine disguises herself as a peasant and escapes the palace.
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.
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.
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.
“Jasmine is called a “Muslim Princess” by some sources though the movie draws heavily from multiple cultures, including a lot of Indian influences (her father wears a turban which is usually a Sikh tradition, though some Muslim men do wear turbans so it doesn't necessarily indicate a specific belief or origin?).
So it may come as a surprise to many to learn that Aladdin and his princess might actually be Chinese. In the original story, Aladdin is born to a poor tailor in “the capital of one of China's vast and wealthy kingdoms”.
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.
The reason we think of the story as one of the true-born Arabian Nights is that many of the characters in the tale of Aladdin are Arabian Muslims with Arabic names. But Aladdin is Chinese … at least, he is if you go back to the known origins of the story.
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.
Agrabah is a fictional sultanate that serves as the setting for the Aladdin franchise. Aladdin was initially intended to be set in the Iraqi city of Baghdad, but after the Gulf War happened, the name Agrabah was chosen as an approximate anagram of the name of the city of Baghdad.
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.
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.
In Disney's nearly 100-year history, there has been only one Black Disney princess — Princess Tiana in “The Princess and the Frog,” a 2009 animated feature starring Anika Noni Rose. The singer Brandy starred in a 1997 made-for-TV film version of “Cinderella,” a remake of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.
Amneris is a character from Disney Theatrical Productions adaptation of Aida. She is the Princess, later Pharaoh, of Egypt, daughter of the Pharaoh and fiancé of Radames.
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.
