Disney is planning on releasing a slew of live-action movies based on their classics. After the success of Beauty and the Beast I wouldn’t be surprised if they tapped into their entire library and just went one after another in order. As of right now there are already a few in development. Jon Favreau will be directing The Lion King. Tim Burton is set to take on Dumbo. The Little Mermaid‘s in development, and Guy Ritchie will be tasked with Aladdin. It’s Aladdin that I wanted to talk about today.
Disney has been known to dabble in folk tales and stories from other cultures to create their own stories. Some people claim plagiarism in movies such as Jungle Book and Pocahontas, whereas in other movies it seems some ideas were taken and embellished from here and there, but no major plagiarism claims. But one thing that surprised me is the story of Aladdin.
Turns out that it’s Chinese in origin and dates all the way back to the 700s. You read that correctly. The story itself was first published in 1710 in a compilation of stories called 1001 Arabian Nights, a series of folktales translated into French by Antoine Galland but the origins of said stories goes back way further than that.
Check out the video below for the full story. It’s pretty fascinating.
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