Greed, Love, and Wishes

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Recommended: Movie analysis of Aladdin

“Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp,” one of the many stories included in Aladdin and Other Favorite Arabian Nights Stories, inspired Walt Disney Feature Animation’s 1992 classic Aladdin. Because both of these works are geared towards children, they were adapted from Scheherazade’s original version in A Thousand and One Nights. Even though Disney’s Aladdin and “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp” tell their own version of Scheherazade’s story, they still hold true to her story and CONVEY the same morals and themes. An analysis of the various character’s actions in Disney’s Aladdin and Dover Children’s Thrift Classics’ Aladdin and Other Favorite Arabian Nights Stories reveals that both works portray themes that show greed corrupting individuals, love conquering all obstacles, and be cautious when making a wish.
Throughout Disney films, almost all of them incorporate a moral, or lesson, which can also serve as the theme of the movie. An overarching theme present in Disney’s Aladdin is that too much greed can corrupt an individual. Only preoccupied with wanting more power, Jafar, the amicable sultan’s vizier, eventually destroys/ruins/ himself because of his obsession with wanting to be the most powerful sorcerer on earth. Jafar obsesses over wanting to be supreme ruler from the very beginning. The movie begins with Jafar unsuccessfully attempting to retrieve a lamp with a genie trapped inside. Once Jafar realizes that Aladdin did indeed retrieve the lamp from the Cave of Wonders, he devises a plan to steal the lamp from Aladdin with his sidekick Iago, a talking parrot. Towards the end of the film, Jafar captures Jasmine and forces her to be his slave, and bounds her father, the sultan, in chains. Aladdin swoops in to rescue Jasmine and her...

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...wished for such a lavish palace and great fortune, the magician from Africa would not have kidnapped his bride and stolen his palace. Hence, if Aladdin had wished for an impressive palace, but not as exquisite as the one he did wish for, maybe his misfortune could have been avoided.
TRANSITION WORD Disney’s Aladdin and “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp” from Aladdin and Other Favorite Arabian Nights Stories whisks their audience on a magical journey that demonstrates the power of greed, love, and wishes. Aladdin and Princess Jasmine overcome the adversity they face through the power of love. However, Jafar and the magician ensure their own devastation by letting greed consume them. Overall, Disney’s Aladdin and “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp” exemplify that too much greed can destroy a person, love is stronger than the law, and to always think before making a wish.

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