The Return of Jafar (also known as Aladdin: The Return of Jafar) is a 1994 animated direct-to-video sequel to the 1992 film Aladdin, produced by The Walt Disney Company. The film was released on May 20, 1994 and serves as the origin of the Aladdin animated series. Another direct-to-video sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, followed in 1996.
The film centers on Jafar, the villain from the original film, trying to gain his revenge against Aladdin and his companions, Princess Jasmine, Genie, Abu, Carpet, Iago (now turned against Jafar), and the Sultan, and become the ruler of Agrabah.
It was the first Disney direct-to-video animated feature release, and is currently available on Special Edition DVD (with "Aladdin:" added to the title), with digitally restored picture and remastered sound. The Special Edition DVD along with the other two films in the series went back to the Disney Vault on January 31, 2008.[1] The trailer of the film was seen on the 1994 release of The Fox and the Hound.
This was the first and only Aladdin full-length production without the original voice of Genie, Robin Williams. He was replaced by Dan Castellaneta, who also voiced the Genie in the animated series as well as in Kingdom Hearts and is also best known for voicing Homer Simpson. Williams returned as the Genie in Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
This was also the first Aladdin full-length production without the original voice of Sultan, Douglas Seale. He was replaced by Val Bettin, who also voiced the Sultan in the animated series and in Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
Plot
The story opens with a band of robbers arriving in their hideout with their latest spoils. Just as their incompetent leader, Abis Mal (Jason Alexander), decides to keep most of the gold and treasures for himself, much to the anger of his men, Aladdin (Scott Weinger) and Abu (Frank Welker) steal the treasures back and distribute most of it among the poor of Agrabah - with the exception of a jewel flower, which Aladdin intends to give to Jasmine. Upon their arrival, Jasmine announces to Aladdin a surprise which the Sultan (Val Bettin) intends to reveal at this evening's dinner.
Meanwhile, in the desert, Iago (Gilbert Gottfried) manages to dig himself and Jafar's (Jonathan Freeman) genie lamp out of the sand, into which the Genie had fired them. Jafar orders Iago to release him at once, but Iago, tired of being treated badly, throws the lamp into a nearby well. He returns to Agrabah, hoping to convince Aladdin that Jafar had forced him into his service by hypnosis, but Aladdin is not fooled and tries to capture him. While chasing Iago, Aladdin has a run-in with Abis Mal and some of his men, but Iago, who is fed up with suffering from bad treatment yet again, interferes, saving Aladdin's life in the process. Now willing to give Iago a fair chance, Aladdin returns with him to the palace, where they are greeted by Genie (Dan Castellaneta), who has returned from seeing the world.
That night, the Sultan announces that he wants to make Aladdin his new grand vizier. Trying to draw on the good mood, Aladdin attempts to persuade the Sultan to forgive Iago, but Iago inadvertently ruins the dinner when Rajah chases him into the room. The Sultan and Jasmine are furious, and Jasmine leaves the room heartbroken that Aladdin did not trust even her about this. With Iago's help, though, Jasmine eventually reconciles with Aladdin.
Meanwhile, Jafar, by luck, is found by Abis Mal. As Jafar is a genie (technically an ifrit), he is bound by the rules of obedience to his master and thus handicapped by Abis Mal's habitual incompetence. Jafar desires to be free so that he can get revenge on Aladdin, but needs Mal's cooperation to do this. With the use of trickery, Jafar still asserts his power by tricking Abis Mal into wasting two of his wishes before making him return to Agrabah; Abis Mal willingly goes along with Jafar in order to get his own revenge on Aladdin. Once in the palace, Jafar reveals himself to Iago and forces him to play along with his plans. The next day, Aladdin and the Sultan depart to have a discussion at a place suggested by Iago. After they leave, Jafar confronts the Genie and Abu in the Palace gardens and shows his power, imprisoning the pair.
Meanwhile, Aladdin has a talk with the Sultan that earns his acceptance as the future grand vizier. When Aladdin thanks Iago, he is ambushed by Abis Mal and Jafar, the latter disguised as a squad of flying horsemen. The Sultan is kidnapped and Aladdin thrown into the raging river. Jafar, however, spares his life in order to exact his revenge in the most painful way possible: by splitting him away from all his loved ones. To this purpose, he leaves fake evidence and masks himself as Jasmine to implicate Aladdin with the alleged murder of the Sultan, and Aladdin is thrown into the dungeon, to be executed by beheading come morning.
In the dungeon, Jasmine and the others berate Iago for betraying them, but their anger is quickly forgotten when Iago chooses to attempt to free Genie so he can save Aladdin. Iago succeeds just in time, and the Genie frees the others. Once free, Aladdin decides to attempt to stop Jafar. Genie tells Aladdin that, in order to destroy Jafar, his lamp must be destroyed before Abis Mal wishes him free. Iago chooses not to face Jafar, and the others let him go without blame on account of their new freedom.
Jafar and Abis Mal celebrate Aladdin's death, and Jafar asks Abis Mal to use his third wish to set him free, but Abis Mal hesitates, suspicious of Jafar's motives. During their argument, Aladdin and the others try to steal the lamp, but are eventually discovered, and Jafar blows them out of the throne room into the palace garden. Abis Mal is caught on a tree branch, and the lamp falls to the ground. Aladdin, Jasmine, the Genie, Abu and Carpet engage Jafar in combat, but even when bound by the rules of the Genie, he easily outmatches them, using his tremendous powers to stop them from getting the lamp. His indiscriminate use of power opens a fissure in the ground which is filled with magma. Thoroughly trapped, Aladdin, Jasmine and Abu face certain death when suddenly Iago reappears and grabs the lamp. Jafar blasts him, leaving him for dead, but Iago manages to recover for a moment and uses his last ounce of strength to kick the lamp into the magma. Thus Jafar meets his end by violently imploding into a cloud of dust.
To the joy of all, Iago recovers from his injuries, since it is among a Genie's set of laws that he can't use his powers to kill. Amidst the celebration, however, Aladdin announces to the Sultan that he is not yet ready to become a grand vizier, because first he wants to see the world. Jasmine declares that she will join him, but Iago objects to this and continues to rant as the film ends. After the credits roll, we see Abis Mal still hanging on a tree branch saying "Does this mean I don't get my third wish?"
Cast
- Scott Weinger as Aladdin - a former street rat who now lives in the palace, but who occasionally still dresses in his old street clothes and still longs for adventure. After recovering stolen treasure from Abis Mal, Jasmine tells him that the Sultan has an announcement regarding him- he wants Aladdin to be the new Royal Vizier. Unfortunately, circumstances are complicated after Iago saves Aladdin's life, prompting him to come to his defense, alienating Jasmine and causing the Sultan to question his decision. With Iago's help, Aladdin reconciles with Jasmine and tries to patch things up with the Sultan. However, their outing is interrupted by Abis Mal capturing the Sultan. When Aladdin returns to the palace, he is sentenced to death for murdering the leader. Jafar then reveals that he is responsible, and after being rescued by Genie, Aladdin and the others confront Jafar in his genie form. Iago sacrifices himself to destroy Jafar's lamp, but to Aladdin's joy, fully recovers.
- Jonathan Freeman as Jafar - an evil genie and the former Royal Vizier, who is bent on revenge on Aladdin for imprisoning him in his lamp. Jafar is once again the main antagonist. After Iago abandons him, he is released by Abis Mal, a clumsy thief who he tricks into using all but one of his wishes. Jafar uses Mal to get into the palace and convince Iago to deliver Aladdin and the Sultan to him. He does so, and on their outing, Jafar captures the Sultan, saving Aladdin only to sentence him to death (in disguise as Jasmine) for murdering the Sultan. The truth is he has captured all of Aladdin's friends and revealed Iago's part. After dealing with Aladdin, Jafar gives Abis Mal enormous amounts of treasure to convince him to use his final wish to free him. Jafar confronts Aladdin and his friends after discovering them still alive in his monstrous genie form, opening up a fissure in the ground filled with magma. He nearly destroys Aladdin, but Iago flies in at the last second and kicks the lamp into the magma, causing Jafar to violently implode and cease to exist.
- Gilbert Gottfried as Iago - Jafar's former parrot sidekick, he intends to convince Aladdin that he was mesmerized, but ends up saving his life, despite suspicion. This prompts Aladdin to defend Iago, and Iago in turn feels that he owes him. To repay his debt, he helps get Aladdin and Jasmine back together after they fight. However, Jafar appears and convinces Iago to take Aladdin and the Sultan to a place where he will deal with them. Feeling guilty at betraying Aladdin, Iago frees the captured Genie so he can rescue him; he then decides to not confront Jafar, and the others agree he's helped enough. However, Iago's conscience prompts him to help his friends, and he saves Aladdin by kicking Jafar's lamp into the magma, after being badly wounded. To the surprise and joy of all, he survives and lives with Aladdin in the palace.
- Dan Castellaneta as Genie - a genie who helped Aladdin defeat Jafar and was freed from his lamp in return. He returns from a world tour to join his friends in Agrabah. Genie describes himself as now having "semi-phenomenal nearly cosmic powers", which ultimately prove ineffective against Jafar when he confronts Genie and Abu. Fortunately, Iago releases him and he saves Aladdin just in time, helping defeat Jafar by disguising himself as Aladdin. Genie also plays a part in convincing Iago to help Aladdin and Jasmine, and that he does have a conscience and a place as his friend.
- Linda Larkin as Princess Jasmine - the princess of Agrabah and Aladdin's future wife. Jasmine first tells Aladdin of the Sultan's announcement, but the surprise is ruined after Iago appears. Angry at him for keeping more secrets, Jasmine doesn't speak to Aladdin until Iago convinces her (by calling her bluff) that she does still care about him. Jasmine convinces the Sultan to give Iago and Aladdin a chance to redeem themselves, and accepts Iago as a friend. She is later taken captive with the others, and forced to watch as Jafar goes to sentence Aladdin to death as herself. She is freed by Genie, and helps Aladdin defeat Jafar in his genie form.
- Jason Alexander as Abis Mal - a clumsy thief who accidentally frees Jafar from his lamp. His men have gradually grown angry at him and plan to kill him when he releases Jafar. Abis Mal, knowing genies can't kill, asks for his wishes, and Jafar tricks him into using all but the third. He later forms a partnership with Jafar to kill Aladdin, involving tricking Iago and using flying horsemen. Mal knocks Aladdin down a waterfall, but Jafar saves him, reminding Mal of the plan. Abis Mal later grows suspicious of Jafar's motives after he demands the third wish be his freedom and gives him great treasure. He is eventually stuck on a branch, and realizes in an after-credits scene that he will not get his third wish. Abis Mal is terrified of Jafar, despite knowing that Jafar depends on him to travel.
- Frank Welker as Abu and Rajah - Aladdin's kleptomaniac pet monkey and Jasmine's pet tiger, respectively. They are both initially skeptical of Iago's reform, but eventually warm up to him.
- Val Bettin as Sultan - The pompous but kind ruler of Agrabah. The Sultan grows suspicious of Aladdin after he defends Iago, who used to work for Jafar, and commands him to watch the bird. He later becomes a target of the vengeful Jafar, who uses his turban to frame Aladdin for his murder.
- Jim Cummings as Razoul - The Sultan's chief guard. He still harbors a great dislike for Aladdin due to his past life, and would love an excuse to kill him and get away with it. The film reveals that, given his love for killing, he is also the executioner.
Reception
The film received a 22% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes [2]. It also received 52% from the RT community.
David Nusair of reelfilm.com summed up most of the negative feelings that contributed to this rating:
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Notable as the first direct-to-video Disney sequel, The Return of Jafar follows Aladdin (Scott Weinger) as he attempts to once again foil Jafar's (Jonathan Freeman) villainous plot to take over Agrabah. And despite the fact that he was freed from his lamp at the end of the first film, the genie (now voiced by Dan Castellaneta) is back and wackier than ever. It's clear right from the outset that Disney put very little effort into the production of The Return of Jafar, particularly in the realm of animation. The film has all the style and fluidity of a Saturday morning cartoon, while various songs are bland and forgettable. The repetitive storyline doesn't do the movie any favors, and even at a running time of 69-minutes, doldrums set in almost immediately. Castellaneta does the best he can with the material, but generally comes up short (particularly when compared with Robin Williams's manic performance from the original). The Return of Jafar is a thoroughly needless sequel that may keep small children engaged, but is bound to come off as nothing less than a huge disappointment for fans of the original.[3] |
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Despite the mostly negative reception, the film received a "two thumbs up" from Siskel & Ebert.[4]
Adaptations
Comic
When Disney was publishing their own comics in the mid-90s, they produced a two issue Aladdin comic presenting an alternate version of The Return of Jafar. It was titled The Return of Aladdin. The comic is introduced by the Merchant from the first movie.
The story starts off showing that Aladdin has been particularly bored of palace life. Meanwhile, Jafar has escaped the Cave of Wonders. Iago is given the task of finding the right master for Jafar to manipulate. Their search seems hopeless as some people are able to enjoy all three wishes or messing up.
They find someone to use the lamp, who is known as Isabella, a master magician. Isabella is similar in appearance to Jafar (except his clothing is green). His first wish is to return to Agrabah Palace (as he performed entertainment to the sultan in #1). His second wish is for an army of soldiers to pursue Aladdin and Jasmine when they catch on to Jafar's presence. He is persuaded to use his third wish to trap Jafar and Iago in the lamp again, sending them back to the cave.
Due to persuasion by the Genie, the Sultan hires Isabella to a permanent entertainment job at the palace. The end of the story shows the merchant having a black lamp similar to Jafar's, but he claims it to be worthless.
Video game
The plot of this film is loosely used in Agrabah, one of the worlds in Kingdom Hearts II, only with Abis Mal being replaced by the Peddler from the first film. It is worth noting that this is one of two Disney sequels to have its plot adapted into a level in the Kingdom Hearts series, the other being The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, since in the original Kingdom Hearts, Ariel is manipulated by Ursula into stealing the Trident for her, the same trick Morgana, Ursula's sister, played on Melody, Ariel's daughter, in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea.
Furthermore, there is a mild allusion to the Agrabah boss battle in Kingdom Hearts, Sora must fight Jafar in Genie form surrounded by a lava pit with raising and lowering levels, while Iago flies above with Jafar's lamp. However, only striking the lamp will have any effect on Jafar's health. This fight also takes place in the second game, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and its PlayStation 2 remake. In both versions of CoM it the boss fight is due to the majority of the game being illusions created from Sora's memories. A second playable character, Riku, also fights the boss in his mode.
References
External links
