Why Aladdin is a REAL Disney Princess

Gigi Shum (11)

Guest writer at Buddy!, Gigi is— as she puts it— a “suffering rising Junior 🆘”.

In her Buddy! debut, Gigi takes on a surprisingly mathematical method of movie theory. She is sure to amaze audiences with the logical soundness of her proof.

P.S. You can also find art she submitted for this issue here.

Okay, I get it, when you flip through Buddy!, you would most likely be looking for actually interestingtopics. Perhaps an enlightening artwork, an intriguing article about the universe, or even a rant on Donald Trump. But what do I offer you today? ----Disney. 

As a result of audiences’ meticulous deciphering and analysis, Disney has been revolved by abundant criticism, namely controversial topics such as racial stereotypes and sexism. But don’t worry! Today, I am going to discuss none of that. Rather, I will be proving to you why Aladdin is a REAL Disney princess. I can hear your complaints: “What is she even talking about? Isn’t Jasmine the princess in the movie?” Though my assertion may seem bizarre, the conclusion would be apparent after a simple LHS=RHS proof. (Skip the following passages and go straight down to the illustrated chart if you hate mathematical proofs or just…words in general.)

Before I start, we have to agree upon what makes a Disney princess; what are their defining characteristics? Is it their affectionate nature, royal status, or those disproportionally wide eyes? (I mean just look at Jasmine! Her eyes are the same width as her waist!) 

(From Disney Studios)

Luckily, Disney itself provides the answer to this confusion. The guide lies in another Disney movie, Wreck-It Ralph 2, in which Disney took an attempt to poke fun at its own princess stereotypes through Vanellope von Schweetz’s (aka the candy car racer kid) conversations with the gathered princesses.

Disney: A bulleted guide for aspiring princesses

• Has magic hair or magic hands

• Speaks with animals

• Poisoned, cursed, kidnapped, or enslaved

• Daddy issues and *sadly* absence of a mother

• “People assume all your problems got solved because a big, strong man showed up” (Rapunzel)

Now we have gotten our rules (LHS of the proof) set up, we will go through each point to see how Aladdin holds up as a Disney princess. Starting with the first point: has magic hair or magic hands. These traits belong to the princesses Rapunzel and Elsa for obvious reasons, and although Aladdin lacks the power to *magically bring back his mother’s youth by singing to a strand of his hair*, he does have the “magic hands.” After all, his magic hands are what beckoned the Genie out of the lamp. Alright----point one solved.

Next, we have the “do animals talk to you” Disney cliché, and this is probably the most straightforward one. All Disney princesses seem to have a cute animal sidekick, whether it is a chameleon, a mouse, a bird, or a fish. Aladdin, being the rEaL pRiNceSs, of course also has his own small companion----Abu. Abu is Aladdin's loyal monkey pal, helping him in crime *cough* with its nimbleness. 

Moving on, we have “poisoned, cursed, kidnapped, or enslaved.” Not surprisingly, Aladdin matches again, as he was kidnapped by Jafar (the villain of the story) not once but twice. For the first time, Jafar abducts him to the dungeon for Aladdin to obtain the magic lamp. For the second, Jafar attempts to murder Aladdin to secure his place as the sultan. Kidnapped twice, almost drowned to death, and still managed to kill a megalomaniac and marry a sultan? Prince Charming could never.

(Media from Disney Studios)

After that, we have a very tricky one: “daddy issues and the absence of a mother.” Referring back to the scene in Wreck-It Ralph 2, a whopping eight princesses have lost their mothers, so the exclusion of parental figures is certainly a common trait for Disney princesses. Returning to Aladdin, the story takes place on the streets of Agrabah and in Jasmine’s castle, so the audience gets inadequate backstory of Aladdin and his family. Although, the 1996 animated film Aladdin and the King of Thieves did introduce Aladdin’s father Cassim. He leaves Aladdin at a very small age and becomes the leader of the Forty Thieves, leaving young Aladdin thinking he was deceased. Their first reunion takes place when Cassim interrupts and destroys Aladdin and Jasmine’s wedding ceremony. On the other hand, Aladdin’s father is entirely absent in both the 1992 animation and the 2019 live action film. Either way, Aladdin totally fits in the criteria of “having daddy issues.” Moreover, to make him suit this stereotype even more perfectly, in the 1992 and 2019 films where Cassim completely abandons his family for good, Aladdin’s mother dies shortly after his departure, leaving him as an orphan. If I were to rewrite the scene in Wreck-It Ralph where the princesses respond, “neither do we” to Vanellope’s “I don’t even have a mom,” I would make sure to include Aladdin in the group.

(Media from Disney Studios)

Last but not least, we have the “million-dollar question” (quoting Rapunzel) ---- “do people assume all your problems got solved because a big, strong man showed up?” In the Wreck-It Ralph scenario, the princesses are referring to a prince, because what man suits the description of a big strong man better than a prince? Now, what about Aladdin? I don’t even consider that a question, because obviously----THE GENIE. Once again, what man better suits the description of a big strong man than a genie? Than someone who literally has magical powers to resolve any sort of problems? May it be transforming you into a prince, helping you learn b-boy in one minute, and rescuing you from the ocean when you are at the verge of drowning to death. 

Voila. And now we have it. Aladdin possesses every single characteristic of a Disney princess. We can clearly conclude LHS(Aladdin) = RHS(Disney princess).

P.S. have you ever wondered why they named the movie Aladdin instead of Jasmine? It is, of course, obviously, because ALADDIN IS THE PRINCESS.