Critically analyzing Disney films isn’t something I care to do on a regular basis but the fact is that there are a lot of unanswered questions in a lot of the full-length features that Disney provides. We’re made to believe that these questions aren’t important since they never get brought up or covered in any way other than the articles that are created later as a means of understanding the motivations behind the cartoon. Does that sound silly to anyone else? It sounds so to me largely because placing adult-level thinking into a cartoon is what makes it less of an enjoyable occasion and more of an over-analytic discussion. But even I can’t deny that there are some very glaring discrepancies in Disney movies.
So let’s take a look at Aladdin for a moment.
5. How did Jafar not realize what he was asking for?
When he was at the top of his game Jafar held as much power, if not more, than the genie. True, Genie gave him his power, but Genie also had well-defined limits on what he could do, and was a far more upright character than Jafar. The film could have easily been over had Jafar thought the matter through, decided that he didn’t wish to be limited as Genie was, and simply finished Aladdin and Jasmine right then and there. It’s a depressing look at things, but given Jafar’s intelligence it’s much more realistic.
4. How do Jasmine and Aladdin travel the world in a single night?
There are thousands of miles between the many locations that they visited in that one night, and even for a modern-day flight it would take a substantial amount of time. Aladdin and Jasmine accomplished this on the flying carpet without any ear or eye protection and not a single sign of windburn or other trauma that would be evident from traveling at the necessary speeds for such a feat.
3. Why couldn’t Aladdin get a job?
He had a few marketable skills after all. While he might have made a good con man or huckster, given his propensity for talking his way into and out of things, he still could have made a good businessman as well. So what it looks like we’re led to believe is that Aladdin actually preferred to sleep on the streets and steal what he needed to exist. Being lazy, sneaky, and ultimately too ignorant to get a job seems to be his preferred life.
2. How did Jafar know where Aladdin was?
When Jafar was seeking out the diamond in the rough he saw Aladdin and Jasmine in the crystal globe but nothing else. There was no identifying landmark or anything that could have given him a hint on where to find Aladdin. So how in the world was he able to send the guards after Aladdin without having any idea just where to send them?
1. Why was Jafar wait so long to depose the sultan?
He had the sultan under his power for so long you have to wonder just why he was still waiting. Jasmine wasn’t much of an impediment to his designs and if he’d struck quicker Aladdin wouldn’t have even been in the picture. Bad guys always seemed designed to take themselves down through one ill-advised act or another.
To a kid these inconsistencies don’t matter. That’s what makes them great films still.
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