The Thief of Bagdad

Watching the Thief of Bagdad was a bit of a shock. It had a lot of similarities to Disney’s Aladdin as well as many differences. For instance, most of the characters like Jasmine, Genie, and Jafar were there, even Abu: Except Aladdin’s name was different and Abu actually had a storyline instead of just being the cute side pet. I enjoyed this interpretation even if it had some weird little add-ons. Since this movie was made in the 1940s, there of course will be some production quality and storyline differences, but honestly, I think it added some funny little additions to the movie. For example, when Genie is flying in the movie, it doesn’t look realistic at all, he just does a little Superman pose on a green screen. Though to be honest, it is obvious that illustrating reality is not the goal of the movie, but rather to explore the relationship and hardships between Ahmad and Jasmine. One thing that stayed consistent in both movies was Jafar’s powers and malicious intent toward the protagonists as if Disney completely took Jafar’s character from the movie. Although not completely the same, the similarities in these movies really illuminate how Aladdin twisted the story to make it more discernable to young American eyes.