Aladdin and the King of Thieves

Infobox Film
name = Aladdin and the King of Thieves


starring = Scott Weinger
Robin Williams
John Rhys-Davies
Gilbert Gottfried
Linda Larkin
Jerry Orbach
Frank Welker
writer = Mark McCorkle
Robert Schooley
director = Tad Stones
producer = Jeannine Roussel
Tad Stones
distributor = Walt Disney Home Video
released = August 13, 1996 (VHS)
January 18, 2005 (DVD re-release)
runtime = 80 min.
language = English
imdb_id = 0115491
budget = N/A
preceded_by = "Aladdin (TV series)" (1994-1996)

"Aladdin and the King of Thieves" is a 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 "Aladdin" films and the "Aladdin" animated series.

This movie 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 to the Disney Vault along with "Aladdin: The Return of Jafar" and Aladdin 2-Disc Platinum Edition on Jan. 2008.

The movie is inspired by the tale "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" from the "1001 Arabian Nights", replacing Ali Baba with Aladdin.

toryline

During their wedding ceremony, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine find themselves the targets of a raid by the infamous Forty Thieves, led by a man named Cassim. Although Aladdin, Jasmine and the rest of their gang successfully stop the raid and drive the thieves away, they are unable to prevent the wedding from being ruined. Determined to learn what the thieves were after, Aladdin finds an unusual staff (which The King of Thieves tries to steal) among the treasures given as wedding presents. The staff contains an oracle, able to see into the past or the future, but is only able to grant an answer to one question asked per person. Aladdin knows his future is being married to Jasmine but can't remember most of his past. But he remembers that his mother died when he was a kid and he never knew his father. The oracle reveals that his father is still alive.

Aladdin chooses his question and asks "Where is my father?". The oracle answers "Follow the trail of the Forty Thieves. Your father is trapped within their world." Believing him to be their prisoner, Aladdin tracks them down and stows away into their hideout (the leader opens the cave with the words "Open Sesame", the same words Ali Baba used). He is shocked to find that his father is not their prisoner at all, but their leader: Cassim, the King of Thieves, the very man he fought during his wedding's invasion. But, family or not, Aladdin has trespassed in their lair and the Forty Thieves are eager to have him punished for it. Cassim, however, suggest that Aladdin instead face "the Challenge" - an initiation ritual - where he must defeat another one of the Forty Thieves and take his place. Aladdin eventually defeats Cassim's right-hand man, Sa'luk, in battle, gaining him a place among the thieves. It is then that he learns the true motives behind the raid, and his father's leave of absence from his family: he had discovered evidence of the existence of the Hand of Midas, a powerful artifact that can transform anything it touches into solid 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 may 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, he is happy to spend quality time with his son. But the pull of his obsession with the Hand is too great, and he ends up stealing the Oracle's staff and getting captured by the guards of the palace. Aladdin helps his father escape, but is recognized by the Captain of the Guard, forcing him to flee the city with Cassim and Iago. Rather than abandon Jasmine (like his father had left him), Aladdin angrily confronts Cassim and returns to Agrabah to take responsibility for his actions. Meanwhile, Iago and Cassim return to the thieves' cave to find that Sa'luk is still alive and is now the leader of the remaining thieves (thirty-three thieves were captured so only seven remain). The remaining thieves are a fat and slightly stupid one, one capable in martial arts, one who specializes in swords and daggers, three that look alike and mostly talk at the same time and on who's skin resembles a snake (he was seen coming out of a pot the same way a cobra does) Sa'luk convinces the remaining thieves that Cassim sold them out to the palace guards and was to blame for the recent raid upon their hidden fortress (in actuality it was Sa'luk who told the guards so he could frame Cassim). Cassim, desperate to prove his loyalty, is forced to use the stolen oracle in order to find the location of the Hand, 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, taking the golden Hand with it.

Iago manages to escape from the group, and goes off to lead Aladdin and Jasmine to his imprisoned father. Aladdin and Cassim reconcile, and retrieve the Hand just as the turtle is beginning to submerge when they are attacked by Sa'luk. Then, after struggling to escape the flooding fortress, Cassim throws the Hand of Midas to Sa'luk, who doesn't know the legend of the Hand. Foolishly grabbing it by the gold hand (instead of the wood handle),Sa`luk turns into gold,destroying him for good,and tips over in to the water.Sa`luks gold body sinks to the bottom of the water,crashing sightly hard [does not break] on to the ground,giving Sa`luk a watery grave.Aladdin and Cassim manage to escape with the Hand but, finally realizing how much pain his obsession with the trinket had caused, Cassim decides to toss it into the sea. However, it does not hit the sea just instantly. It hits the thieves' ship instead, turning it gold, and it sinks. As the movie closes, Aladdin and Jasmine finally get married, and Cassim accepts Iago as a traveling companion as he goes 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, and the two kiss.

Characters

*Aladdin, voiced by Scott Weinger. Brad Kane provides his singing voice.
*The Genie, voiced by Robin Williams.
*Cassim, voiced by John Rhys-Davies.
*Iago, voiced by Gilbert Gottfried.
*Princess Jasmine, voiced by Linda Larkin. Liz Callaway provides her singing voice.
*Sa'luk, voiced by Jerry Orbach.
*Abu, voiced by Frank Welker.
*The Sultan, voiced by Val Bettin.
*The Oracle, voiced by CCH Pounder.
*Razoul, voiced by Jim Cummings.
*Rajah, voiced by Frank Welker.

ongs Featured

*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 childhhood 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 this song, the Forty Thieves make separate attempts to kill Sa'luk, each time he thwarts them.

*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.

Production

*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. In fact, this was Williams' only true reprise of the Genie.
*Earlier ideas for the film included Aladdin finding out that Mozenrath is actually his brother. They did not use this idea because the voice actor (Jonathan Brandis) did not agree to reprise his role, and also because the filmmakers felt they should draw attention away from the TV show, though Uncouthma and his family make cameos as Aladdin and Jasmine walk down the aisle.

Cultural references

*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.
*Various references included Pocahontas, Pumbaa from "The Lion King", Rocky, 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 what magic does.'"
*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 rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, Copernicus, Sagittarius, Castor and Pollux, Albert Einstein, the Godfather, Pluto the Dog, a fat farmer, a wrestler, Donald Duck, Baloo the Bear and Ozzie Nelson.

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.

External links

*bcdb title|id=7274|title=Aladdin And The King Of Thieves
*imdb title|id=0115491|title=Aladdin and the King of Thieves
*rotten-tomatoes|id=aladdin_and_the_king_of_thieves|title=Aladdin and the King of Thieves