Aladdin and the King of Thieves

Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Directed by	Tad Stones
Produced by	Jeannine Roussel Tad Stones
Written by	Mark McCorkle Robert Schooley
Starring	Scott Weinger Robin Williams John Rhys-Davies Gilbert Gottfried Linda Larkin Jerry Orbach Frank Welker
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Release date(s)	August 13, 1996 (VHS) January 18, 2005 (DVD re-release)
Running time	80 minutes
Language	English
Preceded by	The Return of Jafar

Aladdin and the King of Thieves is a 1996 direct-to-video animated film made by Disney, released on August 13, 1996. It is the second sequel to 1992's Aladdin, following 1994's The Return of Jafar. It marks the end of the 1992 film and the Aladdin animated series.

Robin Williams returned to voice the Genie after Disney apologized for the use of his likeness in the promotion of the original Aladdin film (Williams believed Disney had broken the terms of his contract). Dan Castellaneta had actually recorded all the dialogue of the Genie for this film, as he did with the previous sequel due to Disney's differences with Williams, but his recording session was not used when Robin Williams agreed to reprise his role.

This film grossed $186 million, making it the fourth highest grossing direct-to-video animated feature film of all time. In 2005, the film was re-released as a Special Edition DVD, with digitally restored picture and remastered sound. The DVD went back into the Disney Vault along with the other two films in the series in January 2008.^[1]

The film is inspired by the tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves from the 1001 Arabian Nights, replacing Ali Baba with Aladdin, and for the first time since the original Aladdin, the film has a completely new soundtrack instead of the rearranged music from the original film for The Return of Jafar and the TV series.

Plot

Aladdin (Scott Weinger) and Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin) prepare for their marriage. Aladdin returns once more to his old hideout to recover a dagger, his only memento of his lost father, who had abandoned his family when Aladdin had been a small child (it is implied that his mother has died). But during the ceremony they and the assembled guests find themselves the targets of a raid by the infamous Forty Thieves, led by a man named Cassim (John Rhys-Davies), who is after a particular piece of treasure: a staff which is the receptacle of a powerful oracle. Aladdin asks the oracle about his father; the oracle reveals that his father is with the Forty Thieves, "trapped within their world".

Believing him to be their prisoner, Aladdin, along with Abu, Iago and Carpet, tracks them down and stows away into their hideout, Mount Sesame. He is shocked to find that his father is not their prisoner at all, but their leader: Cassim, the King of Thieves. But, family or not, Aladdin has trespassed in their lair and Sa'luk (Jerry Orbach), Cassim's irate right-hand man, is eager to have him punished for it. Cassim, however, slyly suggests that Aladdin instead face "the Challenge" - an initiation ritual - where he must defeat another one of the Forty Thieves and take his place. Sa'luk fights Aladdin, but the latter just barely manages to prevail by throwing his opponent off a cliff into the sea. He is welcomed into the band, and Cassim reveals to Aladdin why he had left his wife and son: to find the Hand of Midas, a powerful artifact that can transform anything it touches into gold. Cassim believed that, with the Hand, he could return to his family and give them the life they deserved instead of one living out in the streets, and had instigated the raid so he could capture the oracle's staff so he might question the seer as to the precise whereabouts of the artifact.

Aladdin convinces Cassim to come back with him to the Palace as his guest and, for a while, Cassim is happy to spend quality time with his son. Cassim meets with Jasmine and the Sultan, and they immediately take a liking to Aladdin's father, not knowing (since Aladdin and the Genie choose not to reveal the fact) that he is actually the King of Thieves himself. Yet, despite the warm welcome, Cassim cannot resist the urge to recover the Hand, and he decides to carry on his original scheme, winning Iago as a new friend and accomplice.

Unknown to all, however, Sa'luk has managed to survive his fall and made his way to Agrabah. He reveals himself to Razoul and sells out his fellow thieves by telling Razoul the password to their hideout in exchange for immunity from prosecution. After thirty-one of the thieves are captured, a disgruntled Sa'luk (who got angry upon not seeing Cassim in the cells) tells them that Aladdin is one of the forty, and his father Cassim is the King himself.

While attempting to steal the Oracle from the palace treasure chamber, Cassim and Iago end up captured by the palace guards, who were ready for him, and Razoul reveals to the Sultan that Cassim is the King of Thieves. With no other choice, the Sultan has Razoul incarcerate Cassim and Iago in the dungeon for life. Aladdin is heartbroken, but decides not to leave his father to rot in the dungeons. He frees them both the very same night, but is discovered by Razoul. Now branded a fugitive himself, Aladdin still refuses to turn his back on all he has come to love and returns to the palace to take responsibility for his actions. The Sultan prepares to punish Aladdin, but Genie and Jasmine come to his defence, stating that all he wanted was to give his father a second chance. The Sultan accepts his apology, much to Razoul's dismay.

With the oracle in hand, Cassim and Iago return to Mount Sesame, only to be captured by Sa'luk and the remaining Thieves, whom Sa'luk has swayed to his side. Cassim is forced to use the stolen oracle in order to find the location of the Hand of Midas and then lead his men there. The Oracle directs them to The Vanishing Isle, a great marble fortress built on the back of a gigantic undersea turtle that periodically dives to the bottom of the ocean, where the golden Hand is hidden. Iago manages to escape from the group, and goes off to lead Aladdin and Jasmine, Abu and Carpet to his imprisoned father.

Aladdin manages to free and reconciles with his father. Working together, they retrieve the Hand just as the turtle is beginning to submerge, when they are attacked by Sa'luk. Then, after struggling to escape the flood, Sa'luk takes Aladdin hostage, demanding that Cassim surrenders the Hand, and Cassim throws the Hand of Midas to Sa'luk. Foolishly grabbing it by the gold hand, Sa'luk turns into a gold statue. Aladdin and Cassim manage to escape with the Hand, but, finally realizing how much pain his obsession with the item had caused, Cassim decides to toss it into the sea, realizing that his ultimate treasure is actually Aladdin, and seeing the great man his son has become.

Aladdin and Jasmine finally get married, with Cassim attending in the shadows, as he is still wanted for his crimes. Also among the guests are several cameos from characters from the TV series. Iago decides to join Cassim as a traveling companion, and they both go off once again to see the world. A reprise of Arabian Nights is then sung; the Peddler makes an appearance at the end of this film to mark the end of the legend of Aladdin (originally planned for the end of the first film) as Aladdin and Jasmine fly past him and wave good-bye to Cassim and Iago.

Cast

• Scott Weinger as Aladdin (Brad Kane singing) - the protagonist of the film, about to be married to Princess Jasmine, who finds himself in a dilemma: his father, Cassim, is revealed to be the King of Thieves. Aladdin disapproves of his father's past, and tries to convince him to give up his ways, all the while realizing that his father cannot live the life of a "family man" without adventure, much like himself. Aladdin in this film has to come to terms with Cassim's past and teaches his father the importance of family. Another problem is Sa'luk, his father's main competitor, who constantly antagonizes the two.
• Robin Williams as Genie - a freed genie who helps Aladdin and Cassim bond as father and son, and later goes with them to the Vanishing Isle. His powers, though nowhere near the nigh omnipotent they were in the original film, have improved seemingly, as he has no trouble with any magic. He also serves as a sense of comic relief throughout the film, with many more parodies by Williams; this would be the final time Williams voiced the character.
• John Rhys-Davies as Cassim - Aladdin's long-lost father, and the King of Thieves. He feels that he doesn't fit into Aladdin's world, and must accept that his life no longer centers around the world of the Forty Thieves, but also around his son. He longs to be with his son, but also desperately wants the treasure of the Vanishing Isle, which he and his son seek out together. Throughout the film, we see Cassim's struggles to choose family or treasure, though ultimately he gives up his life with the Thieves, as well as Sa'luk, the main villain, constantly challenging his position as King of Thieves.
• Linda Larkin as Princess Jasmine (Liz Callaway singing) - Aladdin's fiancée, who urges Aladdin to seek out his father, saying that their wedding can wait. However, she is still involved in the plot, receptive of Cassim and willing to give him a second chance, and goes with Aladdin to save him.
• Gilbert Gottfried as Iago - Aladdin's loudmouthed parrot sidekick, who is shown to like Cassim. He helps Cassim steal the Oracle and goes with him back to the Thieves' lair, escaping to warn Aladdin when they are taken captive by the remaining Thieves. At the end of the film, he becomes a traveling partner for Cassim.
• Jerry Orbach as Sa'luk - the main antagonist of the film, and Cassim's constant rival. He turns the Thieves over to Razoul after Aladdin defeats him in battle, and later reveals that Cassim is the King of Thieves so he will be captured. His ultimate plot is to trick Cassim into revealing the location of the Vanishing Isle after Cassim learns of it from the Oracle, and he goes into the Isle after Aladdin and his father. He is turned to gold after touching the Hand of Midas.
• Frank Welker as Abu and Rajah - Aladdin's kleptomaniac pet monkey and Jasmine's pet tiger, respectively. Abu goes with Aladdin to find his father and later to the Vanishing Isle, while Rajah attends the wedding in the end of the film.
• Val Bettin as Sultan - the pompous but kind-hearted ruler of Agrabah, Jasmine's father. He accepts both Cassim and Aladdin into his family graciously by the end of the film, although he declares Cassim an unwanted man after hearing about his life of the King of Thieves.
• CCH Pounder as The Oracle - an entity bound to a staff, who answers one question per person (these include the treasure the Forty Thieves seek, and the location of Cassim).
• Jim Cummings as Razoul - The Captain of Agrabah's guards, who bears a grudge on Aladdin because of his past life. He also bears a grudge against Genie because of his antics and Cassim because of his life as the King of Thieves (as well as a bad influence to Aladdin).
• Robin Williams as The Narrator - the mysterious merchant who appears at the beginning of the first film, returns for the end of the film. In doing so, the film suggests that the story of Aladdin, spanning three films and a TV series, were told by him, and gives the feeling of things coming full circle. Aladdin and Jasmine, with Carpet, pass and wave at him. His singing voice is supplied by the late Bruce Adler.

Reception

Like The Return of Jafar, the film received a mostly mixed response, only slightly higher this time. While Top Critics gave it a 22% "Rotten" rating, the User Community gave the movie a mainly positive 59% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[2]

Soundtrack

• There's a Party Here in Agrabah: Sung by mostly Genie, partly by Iago, some of the Forty Thieves, Aladdin, and Jasmine. There was a brief pause in the song which showed Aladdin taking out his father's dagger. It tells about what Genie does during the beginning of the wedding.

• Out of Thin Air: Sung by Aladdin and Jasmine. Aladdin reminisces about his childhood and Jasmine urges him to find his father, saying their wedding can wait until he returns.

• Welcome to the Forty Thieves: Sung by the Forty Thieves after the defeat of Sa'luk and Aladdin's acceptance into the team.

• Father and Son: Sung mostly by Genie after Cassim arrived at the palace in Agrabah and Genie says how Aladdin and Cassim are together again.

• Are You In Or Out?: Sung by Sa'luk and those who remained of the Forty Thieves, where Sa'luk turned them against Cassim. During the song, the Forty Thieves make several attempts to kill Sa'luk, but he easily defeats them even when they gang up on him in groups.

• Arabian Nights Reprise: Sung by the peddler seen in the beginning of the Aladdin (which was originally meant for the first movie) which was created to give the feeling of the tale coming full circle.

Adaptation

Two comic adaptations of the movie were on sale September 1996.

• The first was in Marvel Comics Disney Comic Hits #12.
• The second was in Disney Adventures Volume 6 #12.

Genie's Guises

Genie transformed into Pocahontas

• Williams' many impersonations included a live-action character he portrayed: The title character of the 1993 comedy film Mrs. Doubtfire.
• At the very end of the credits, the Genie appears in front of the black screen and says, "Game Over, man! Game Over!" This is a spoof of an identical line by the character Private William Hudson in the movie Aliens.
• The "security system" set up by the Genie has the classic Cylon "sweep eye" found in Battlestar Galactica.
• During the first song, the Genie turns into Rocky.
• Ali Baba and the forty thieves are mentioned at the beginning of the song Friend Like Me from the first Aladdin movie.
• During the song "Father and Son", Genie references The Jetsons.
• Various references included Pocahontas, Pumbaa from The Lion King, Rocky Balboa, ED-209 from RoboCop, and Mickey Mouse from Steamboat Willie, all of which Genie turned into or made with magic.
• Genie transforms into a parody of Forrest Gump during the wedding fight scene and says "Mama always said, 'Magic is magic does.'"^{[citation needed]}
• Genie also turns into various things in the film: a ninja, an old man, a baby, Tinker Bell, a construction worker, Rainman, Elvis Presley, the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, Copernicus, Sagittarius,^{[disambiguation needed]} Castor and Pollux, Walter Cronkite, Albert Einstein, the Godfather, Shaquille O'Neal, Mickey Mouse's dog Pluto, a fat farmer, a wrestler, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Donald Duck, Baloo the Bear, Ozzie Nelson, Woody Allen, and simultaneously, the Marx Brothers Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.
• There's a scene where he turns Jasmine's wedding dresses into that of Cinderella's and Snow White's. He also contemplates what she would look like as Ariel, Minnie Mouse, and Jessica Rabbit. During these scenes, Bambi and Roger Rabbit make brief appearances.

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Aladdin and the King of Thieves

• Aladdin and the King of Thieves at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Aladdin and the King of Thieves at the Internet Movie Database
• Aladdin and the King of Thieves at Rotten Tomatoes