AdapNation: Live-Action Aladdin Remake

In which I make the case for film and TV adaptations, sequels and remakes.

When Disney first started their big push to remake their animated classics in live-action, I figured that I had a good long while to string along the inevitable ones: Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin.  But as the projects proved to be increasingly profitable, the potential window to talk about any one of them is rapidly shrinking.  They've not only announced Beauty and the Beast and Mulan already, but have even gone so far as Dumbo and Winnie the Pooh.  At this rate, all I'll be left to talk about is Oliver & Company.

If you ask anybody what their favorite Disney movie is, chances are that they'll name one of the "Big Four:" The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Aladdin.  There are exceptions, of course, but those have historically been the four to beat, and it's really no wonder why.

The Little Mermaid is every little girl's fantasy about proving her parents wrong, winning the love of her life and living happily ever after.  There are great musical numbers, a titanic villain and some of the best action scenes that Disney's ever animated.  The Lion King, which is essentially Disney-branded Hamlet, is easily the company's most riveting coming of age story.  Beauty and the Beast is that perfect combination of fantasy and romance that appeals equally to boys and girls.

Aladdin, however, more than any of them, has the potential to really shine in live-action.  It wouldn't be as all-consumingly computer generated as The Lion King would inevitably be, not even as much as The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast.  All that you'd have to worry about is a genie, a carpet, a monkey and a parrot (and the latter two are even up for debate).

Like Cinderella, there's a lot of historical context for a live-action movie to explore that would make it fundamentally different from the 1992 fairy tale.  The inherent class and wealth disparity of having protagonists from the slums and the palace is only the start of it.

While Cinderella's subplot of a kingdom in desperate need of an heir was a fairly dramatic reimagining of the animated king's desire to have grandchildren before he died, stately matters of succession were always at the forefront of Aladdin's narrative.  Jasmine is the sultan's only daughter, and thus unable to sit the throne herself.  The aging sultan is well aware that the kingdom will devolve into absolute chaos without a successor: thus his consuming need to marry off Jasmine.

Aladdin, though, could easily add a sexualized concern to the question of a royal wedding.  Whereas Cinderella's prince was unwilling to marry because of his romantic nature, Jasmine has far more practical concerns on her mind: unwilling to reduced to a marital prisoner "gloating at the opulence of her cage."  She wants love, yes, but more than that she wants freedom: freedom to choose who to be with and freedom from spousal tyranny.

Jafar's attempted coup of the sultanate is as potentially rife with political intrigue as A Game of Thrones' dispatchment of Robert Baratheon.  He's an ambitious, conniving snake in a position of profound political power within the kingdom.  He is a trusted official who not only commands the attention of the sultan, but directly controls the palace guards.

A live action Aladdin wouldn't even need to make use of his hypnotic staff.  He's charismatic and trusted enough to trick the sultan into policies that directly favor himself.  It wouldn't surprise me to find out that most, if not all, of the marital candidates put forward to the princess were young men who were firmly in his control.  And when the third-party Prince Ali actually does win her heart, he has influence enough over the king - and reasonable enough doubts of the unknown prince - to tarnish his nascent reputation without magic, and position enough within the palace to put himself forward as a viable candidate for her hand.

Aladdin has far greater cinematic potential than either Cinderella or Maleficent, and both of those movies were amazing.  It wouldn't surprise me if Disney announces plans to move forward with a live-action Aladdin long before we get out first glimpses of Beauty and the Beast.  It's going to happen sooner or later, and I can only hope that they take the same measured, differential approach to it that made Cinderella such a delight to watch.

So what direction do you want Disney to take with a live-action Aladdin remake?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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