Avis a magical flying carpet, can be performed expressionistically as a dancer who can articulate storytelling through both facial expressions and movement.
The Sultan (voiced by Douglas Seale in the first film, Val Bettin in the sequels and the TV series, Jeff Bennett in Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams; portrayed by Navid Negahban in the live-action film) is Princess Jasmine's father and the pompous but kind ruler of Agrabah.
Jafar serves as Grand Vizier of Agrabah (so he's sort of like a prime minister) and chief advisor to the Sultan. He is also secretly plotting to overthrow the beloved ruler and take his place on the throne. Acquiring the lamp — and Genie — is part of his scheme, but Aladdin stands in his way.
The original Aladdin story was actually set in China. Aladdin is one of the stories compiled in The Thousand and One Nights — a collection of Middle Eastern and Indian folk tales, however, it did not appear in the original Arabic text.
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.
In the original story, Aladdin is born to a poor tailor in “the capital of one of China's vast and wealthy kingdoms”. The Chinese setting of the story, however, has in most recent iterations, notably the Disney animated film of 1992, been almost entirely rewritten.
Background. 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.
In a flashback sequence, Jafar was shown proposing marriage to Jasmine while she awaited a selection of suitors, knowing she'd do anything to save Agrabah. The engagement was all business of course, as Jafar's true intention was to obtain the ring of Agrabah from her and use it to trap Agrabah "beyond human reach".
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.
Mozenrath was designed by Paul Felix, art director at Disney features. He is speculated to be either Aladdin's brother, but due to the lack of resemblance, he is also hinted to be the illegitimate son of Jafar as they are both powerful sorcerers and have similar mannerisms.
Jafar has no morals at all. He's willing, even eager, to kill Aladdin. He wants to become Sultan because he's a complete megalomaniac who can never be satisfied. He wants his revenge on the present Sultan - under whom he has risen to the role of Grand Vizier, because he was born into the position.
Nasira is the main antagonist of the 2001 Disney videogame Aladdin: Nasira's Revenge. She is Jafar's fraternal twin sister who tried to resurrect him in the game, and bears many similarities to the fairy witch Maleficent.
In the Underworld, Jafar battled both Aladdin and Hercules, but the heroes defeated him once more, and Jafar met his final demise when Hercules broke his staff, turning him into a spirit once more and sealing him in the River Styx forever.
Like some villain characters from other franchises, Jafar is attracted to a beautiful girl or woman that is a protagonist. He was attracted to Princess Jasmine, but primarily for her good looking body, and not for Jasmine herself as a person.
She also is mentioned to have been the victim of murder, which caused her husband to keep their daughter inside the palace for protection. It is hinted that Jafar may be responsible for her death, for he was very keen on taking over Sherabad.
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.
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.
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.
