Aladdin

He's like a little rough around the edges, but he has a beautiful heart. Oh, some may say a diamond in the rough. A diamond in the rough. Hello, hello, hello. I need to start off by saying I'm so sorry to the listeners that I sound like this. I'm ill physically, emotionally, mentally, but especially physically right now. And I hope that it comes across as like a sexy rasp. I was just about to say that. Oh, no, I think it's kind of like sensual. Okay, I love that because I feel like I sound like I work somewhere where you can smoke indoors. i i promise i have heard people who definitely used to smoke indoors and you don't sound like that okay good but speaking of mentally ill should we talk about well yeah i don't know what we should talk about first like so much has occurred i know it's animated april yeah This is our second animated April film. And it wouldn't really be movies that raised us in the good year of 2026 if we didn't talk about heated rivalry. Yeah, we have to talk about it really quick. Because. The most. Okay, so like I'm going to let Christina tell the story, but I just want to set the scene. so ever since my trip i have had like a super fucked up sleep schedule i am falling asleep by odd hours like i'll come home and i'm exhausted and i have to sleep for three hours and like wake up in the middle of the night whatever i am on my bed one week ago from today as we are recording one week ago seven days ago so it doesn't even feel real um i'm in bed like she fully like over my head and out just down for the count. Right. My boyfriend's like, Oh, you know, do you want to order dinner? Like I can't even wake up to be like, Oh, I'd love to have XYZ. The next thing I know, he is like, your phone is ringing. Like, are you supposed to be recording tonight? Like Christina's calling you. And I was like, Oh my God, I think we were supposed to like talk about something or meet or whatever so i i take my phone and i'm like hello and she goes girl she's like guess where i'm going right now and i go and i literally rise from my bed like i am a zombie coming out of the tomb Mm-hmm. Yeah. So you may remember, like, last week on the pod, especially on, like, the Patreon, we were talking about it. So if you want, like, you know, more content, follow, or, you know, join the Patreon. We were talking about how Hudson Williams was going to be in Toronto filming a movie with Dylan O'Brien. Famously, I met Joe Jonas last year by simply, like, manifesting while I was on my way to the bar. I was like, I got to meet one of the Jonas brothers, like, while they're in town. While they're filming, yeah. Met him that night. Bam. So we've just been talking about it a couple days prior. I'm in the process of editing our K-pop Demon Hunters episode where we're continuing to talk about heated rivalry. And I was going to a bar with some friends. I receive word that he happens to be at that very bar. Oh, my God. So huge, huge. Um, yeah, I will not, I'm going to, I'm leaving a lot of details out because I do not want to give away this location. Of course. For, you know, Mr. Williams privacy in case he wants to go back there. And God willing, he will. Yeah. So I won't, I won't say where it is. It's in the city of Toronto and that's all you get. But yes, I was at the same bar as Hudson Williams last Tuesday. the way that your voice sounds because it sounds like i'm crying yeah it sounds like you're like gonna shed tears yeah no i'm just sick don't worry but yeah so yeah um he was smoking outside when i got there crazy walked right by him he was standing like one step to the left i would have had to ask him to move so i could open the door tall i would say okay like that's a big question like 5 11 probably not not quite six feet but like yeah 5 10 5 10 5 11 kind of vibe i don't know why but the way he stands in the show i always thought he was a shorter person but like i know connor's story is tall i see them standing next to each other yeah and they're like a couple inches off yeah i just always assume that actors are like shorter than they look because most of them lie right so i was expecting him to be like i don't know i guess i was expecting him to be like a little bit shorter but no he's like 5 11 i would say wow go on hair hair look beautiful it just it just falls like that it's crazy and i know and because again i'm sick um i know that he just got to toronto that day well that was all over yeah then like that was yeah i couldn't even open up social media if i'm on god's internet i'm seeing where hudson williams is at when there are photos available that was a crazy pull though because it was like in the toronto airport yeah like not i guess it's an international airport but like it's not super like lots of traffic yeah like i've never seen paparazzi photos of somebody from fucking Pearson airport in my life yeah so that was crazy and this man like this poor man who probably just got off the plane from I mean he lives in he's probably from Vancouver yeah yeah it's like six hour flight yeah in his little outfit just like pap snap and pics yeah and I can confirm he had the same bag that night that he had at the airport his same his man bag his man purse whatever you want to call it um balenciaga i believe so yeah he was there he was there with a friend um he was sitting at the bar i was sitting at a table with my friends i didn't want to go up and approach him because we're in the same industry yeah yeah well and also like i work in the service industry and like no of course you know i was like I he's having like a nice time nobody's going up to him nobody's talking to him I don't want to be the person that's like hey I'm here to bust in and ruin your night when you're just having like a chill hang with a friend but I am friends with a bartender so I pull him aside and I'm like hey what's Hudson Williams drinking and he's like who's Hudson Williams I was like the guy sitting over you're going to kill me I was like the guy sitting over there he's like who is that and I was like, I was like, one of the guys from Heated Rivalry. He was like, oh, okay. I was like, what's he drinking? I'll give, I'll tell you what he was drinking. He was drinking Hennessy French 75s. Classy. So is that, it's Hennessy elderflower liqueur? No, it's, um, it's usually a French 75 is with gin, but it is just gin, lemon, sugar, sparkling wine. Oh, but he had it with Hennessy. I can't even imagine that. I'm not a whiskey person. Very classy, very delicious. He then switched to Mezcalita's and I was like, okay, I want to send him like a shot or something. He was like, well, do you want me to like, like tell him that he can have this drink if he goes and talks to you? I was like, no, no, I don't want to talk to him. Okay. I was like, do not do that. I was like, just make him something and say hey this is from my friend over there she doesn't want to bother you she's just a big fan of the show yeah he was like okay i'll i'll figure something out i thought he was gonna make him like a shot or something like that i go back to my friends i low-key kind of like we kind of forget about it because we're just like talking amongst ourselves because we're not trying to like ogle this man and we're also just like hanging out so we're chatting amongst ourselves whatever whatever server comes over also a friend of mine we're chatting with him and i see in my peripheral vision hudson's like leaning over and i don't assume he's looking at me because the man is very animated when he talks he's doing a lot of gestures so i'm like whatever he's at one point he like got up to like do a couple steps and like you know demonstrate something with his friend so i don't assume anything continuing to talk to the server. He's a ham. I bet he's a fucking ham. Well, I mean, interview-wise, but also in his personal life, he seems like a total ham. Yeah. And then, so, you know, I'm continuing to talk to my friends, and I see him doing it again, so much so that even, like, our server notices, so we all go to look, and it's Hudson trying to get our attention. Aww. So he's, like, waving to us, and he, like, holds up the drink, and he's like, thank you, and we're like, yay, and we all hold up our drinks, and we do, like, a little cheers in the air. Aww. it was perfect um and yeah i just left it at that and that's all she wrote yeah for now because i'm sure we'll see him again yeah kept it very classy very nonchalant he wasn't bothered like right i felt very good about it um yeah he was there for like probably like 40 minutes to an hour after that he was smoking this like crazy long cigarette i've never fucking seen anything like it before at first i thought it was like he had like a cigarette holder maybe that's what it was i don't know i've never seen a cigarette like that funny it was crazy i could not figure out what it was but like somebody was outside and like needed a light and he like lit their cigarette with his like long ass cigarette his law comically long yeah it looks like something you would get at like a novelty shop i had no idea i tried like googling like extra long cigarette i couldn't find anything So I don't know what the fuck that was. I did overhear him saying when I was like walking up, he was saying that he doesn't like the taste of menthols. So that's some more insider info for you. No one does. Yeah. But that's pretty much it. I'm just really glad that he was able to have like a low key chill night where people were not harassing him. Yeah. Because one of my friends saw him at a restaurant like a week prior. And when he went outside to smoke, he got like swarmed. Hmm. So yeah, that's the story. Um, was he, I mean, was it like, was it like a Virginia Slim or was it longer than that? Yeah. Okay. Miss Holly Galately over here. Like it might've been a cigarette holder, but it just looked like one long ass cigarette. It was crazy. Yeah. But yeah. So that was my run in with Hudson Williams. Um, I can't believe it. crazy i bought that man a drink he drank every last drop even when he got up to leave he like after he stood up you know puts on his bag picks up the drink to like down the rest of the melted ice so yeah my my friend had made him a uh like mezcal manhattan sort of riff thing he liked it that sounds good yeah that's the story that's the story yeah very animated talker but also like because i you know i was stealing glances at him here and there um he also was like a very active listener like really locked in on the eye contact he was doing the kind of like like the yearning like hudson face that he does like while listening it was it was crazy to see irl um just like this is a fucking audio medium so you can't see me making the face but like the eyebrows kind of like up and like the direct eye contact yeah yeah yeah he also did uh this was very funny because obviously i am in the industry um i noticed that when he like went to he was going to the bathroom one of the servers is walking down the aisle like carrying a bunch of plates and he like stands out of the way with like his hand on his stomach which is like it's such like a server thing to do some people i usually do hand on like the chest to like let somebody like pass by um but it was just funny to see that because yeah a mere year ago he was uh also serving so you can take the boy out of the old spaghetti factory you can't take she can't take the old spaghetti factory out of the boy yeah incredible so that's the story pretty crazy i still i'm like can it happen to a girl like me yes it can it can i knew like in my heart i was like i'm going to see him while he's here i wasn't expecting it to be the day he landed that was crazy for real for absolutely nuts um hope i see him again i hope we'll see i don't know would love to see dylan o'brien while he's year too true i'm gonna be in toronto in may and september so yeah i'm like yeah boys gentlemen and in september both of them will be here because they'll be filming fuck because they start they start filming in august i gotta start you know getting prepared now yeah well i'm also like now i can't have an ugly day i have to be like ready to go i have to be on my a game christina you've never had an ugly day i have to shower every single day i need to make sure my clothes are like clean and steamed at all times so at the drop of a hat i can be where i need to be oh my gosh i also can't wear my shane hollander shirt for the next six weeks you can't that's true and people are like no it would be so funny if you met him while you're wearing it i'm like no it wouldn't no it won't no the only thing though if i was wearing it and i saw him i know exactly what i would say to kind of like break the tension i'd be like why aren't you wearing a shirt with my face on it and that would be my joke to yeah yeah be like oh that's so weird i thought we were matching where is your shirt with my face on it like hello but yeah that's the scoop crazy stuff um yeah how are you any updates nothing like that nothing like that uh my parents got a dog and so i met very exciting yeah not hudson williams but the dog was really cute right right yeah so yeah yeah and um now we're now we're doing animated april yeah getting back into it back into it uh we did receive a comment though on our k-pop demon hunters episode on spotify saying please don't stop relating everything back to heated rivalry so we're giving the people what they want hey if it comes up again it was requested so you can't blame us exactly and with that being said i guess should we talk about today's film let's freaking do it it wouldn't be animated april if we didn't have a disney like classic film included and we decided to do the 1992 quite Quite controversial. Yes. Disney Renaissance Classique, Aladdin. This was one that I really loved growing up. Like, I loved Jasmine. I thought she was just, like, the coolest ever. Obviously, you know, as a grown-up with a fully formed brain, I see this movie a little differently than when I was a kid. Yeah. But we'll get into all of the nitty-gritty of that. So the budget for this film was $28 million, and it made $504.1 million in the box office. Huge. So, yeah, gigantic. It was the 14th movie to gross more than $200 million domestically, and the first animated one to do so. Which is crazy. And the film is based on 1001 Nights, which I read, like, originally that story focuses more on, like, using the wishes to get what you want and, like, achieving the success through the wishes. And then it gets all taken away. And then you get it back. And, like, that's the happy ending. And they were like, we're going to do something a little more meaningful. Yeah. So they changed the plot to focus more on the fact that, like, getting the wishes isn't going to make you happy. Yeah. The original story also, like, it wasn't included in, like, the original Thousand and One Nights, apparently. It was, like, added in, like, a later translation. And also the original story is set in China because that was supposed to be, like, quote-unquote exotic for the locals. So, yeah. The film version, though, this version, was originally set in Baghdad. but the gulf war was happening so they instead changed it to the quote-unquote fictional land of agrabah a nondescript arabian town yeah just sort of mishmash of like many different cultures and then they're like oh and we're gonna model the palace after the taj mahal which is in india completely different. Just like grasping at straws like a little pinch of this a little shake of that. Aladdin is wearing like Turkish pants and then he's like wearing a fez which wasn't popular this was like way different time period like oh yeah it's a whole fucking smorgasbord of cultural appropriation all done by like white people who have never even been to Baghdad so yeah yeah Yeah. It was interesting kind of like looking into the sort of like way that they went about making this movie compared to even just like a few years later when they made Lilo and Stitch. And there was like so much emphasis on like cultural sensitivity. They went to like Hawaii. They did so much research. And for this, they were just like, whatever. Yeah, I mean, I think it's easy to talk about, I don't know, like cultural sensitivity in like a really broad sense. And I think a lot of people don't really understand what that means. But when you see a movie that's so popular, like Aladdin, and then watch it as like a fully formed adult and realize that there isn't any like, yeah, any research done, any kind of clarity on like the culture or geographic location. It's not just about like some sort of like feigned cultural sensitivity, but actually just like being accurate and like putting thought into the thing that you're making in a meaningful way. Totally. And it's like not only is it just like a shitty thing to do, just like when you look at the greater implications, especially for a children's movie, like you're showing this to people whose minds are like very, very like malleable and formative. But it also is such a disservice to your own film by not having specificity in your world building. Yeah. Definitely. And also like the kids watching this who might be of like, I don't know, like the cultural landscape that you're trying to emulate. Yeah. It's like, OK, well, this doesn't show my culture at all. No. Yeah. Yeah. But that being said, it is the second Disney animated feature to use fully rendered and textured 3D CGI. They had moving backgrounds in combination with the traditionally animated character animation. So despite its lacking in cultural attention, it is, I guess, pretty revolutionary in the way that they animated films back then. Yeah, we had talked about this in like our Beauty and the Beast episode as well, because that was one of their first kind of like forays into that style of animation. Yeah. And speaking of the visuals of the film, the production designers actually devised like a very specific color scheme for the movie. So the three main colors were blue, red and yellow. Blue representing water, which stood for good. That's why we see like Jasmine in blue. Red for the heat stands for evil. so Jafar's whole outfit and then yellow representing the sand is neutral this is so Robin Williams um obviously the role of the genie was portrayed by Robin Williams incredible comedic force improvisational wonder and over the course of filming they had so much material. They had almost 16 hours of material because of the amount of improv that he did. And due to the sheer amount of improv, the film was rejected for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination. That is pretty crazy. They're like, I know you didn't write this. Right, right, right, right. I couldn't even go like there is not one singular sentence that the genie has that isn't interrupted by a pun or a joke. Yeah, that was what was most striking to me, was just how quick and just how much the animators were able to keep up with what Robin Williams was doing. Yeah, totally. Speaking of casting, apparently, Karol Jafar was supposed to go to Sir Patrick Stewart, but he had to turn it down because of some scheduling conflicts with Star Trek. And he says it is one of his biggest regrets. And the incredible animation in this film, a lot of it was inspired by characters from Al Hirschfield, the caricaturist, and the production designer Richard Vanderwind also thought it was like really appropriate for the film. There are similarities in the flowing and swooping lines that are also found in Arabic calligraphy. And I also saw that, you know, each character shape, each like animated character was based off of a specific shape. So, like, obviously, like, the genie is, like, really big at the top and then tiny at the bottom. And, like, Jafar is, like, very slender and tall. Like, yeah. As we mentioned, this film, not only at the time, but especially, like, in retrospect, has had a lot of criticism because of its orientalist stereotypes that depict Arab societies as exotic and foreign. the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has pointed out that the characters in the movie that the viewer is supposed to identify and sympathize with are generally presented with more white features, particularly like Aladdin, Jasmine. They also speak with like American accents, whereas the characters were supposed to view as bad, evil, are presented with more Arab features and have different accents. Other people have also pointed out that the movie is, like we said, super inaccurate with its depictions of Arab societies. Like we mentioned, the main palace is inspired by Indian architecture. A lot of the clothes are Turkish in origin. The outside environment is closer to that of the Arabian desert. Also, like a major city, like quote unquote Agrabah, would not be in the middle of the desert. It would be on the coast. you would see a lot of like palm trees and stuff like that. But in this movie, it's just like, oh, yeah, there's just this random city that's in the middle of the desert. So, yeah, there's just like so much that can be said about like just like really shitty racist stereotypes in this film, like even the sexualization of Jasmine and everything. They're certainly not subtle with it. Right. We did, of course, stop over at Roger Ebert Corner, and he also called out the racist stereotypes in this film, calling it distracting, saying that most of the Arab characters have exaggerated facial characteristics, hooked noses, glowing brows, thick lips, but Aladdin and the princess look like white American teenagers. Wouldn't it be reasonable that if all the characters in this movie came from the same genetic stock, they should resemble each other? Yeah, that would be reasonable. but that being said he did give the film three out of four stars but i think all three of those stars were for the genie because roger ebert fucking loved the genie yeah like yeah he did there are multiple paragraphs in this uh review that start with like robin williams in animation were born for one another the genie is the best thing in this movie All the film's best moments come from the genie. So, yeah, he just really, really was tickled by Robin Williams' performance. I love that. Well, with that being said, should we hop on that magic carpet and fly right into it? so we open up to this gentleman i don't know if he has a name but he is the narrator of the moment yeah and he sings the first song of the film arabian nights one of the most controversial there was a particular lyric in the original about like where if you look at a man wrong he'll cut out your eye yeah it's like if they they'll cut off your ear if they don't like your face or something right right right i don't know how i paraphrase that um but yeah they did change it to something about like the desert heat yeah because they were like i think we went a little too far And, yeah, the really blanket statements about, you know, Arabia. Yeah, they refer to it as barbaric. He talks about the camels, the heat, the endless amounts of sand. And then he welcomes us to the town of Agrabah. And then he shows a magical lamp. and he's like this lamp although it might look dull once changed the course of a young man's life a diamond in the rough just keep that in your mind a diamond in the rough checkoff's diamond in the rough if you were right right and he begins the story on a dark night where a dark man is waiting with a dark purpose so in this desert in the middle of the night we meet Gazim, one of Jafar's servants. He gives him half of a gold scarab beetle that he's been searching for. Jafar puts it together with the other half, and the beetle comes to life and flies off, and he chases this beetle on horseback. We see this mysterious, magical cave erupt from the And it is the Cave of Wonders that Jafar has been trying very hard to find for a very long time. And Jafar tells Gazim all he needs now is the lamp. If he can bring it to him, then all the other treasure he finds is his. Jafar just wants the lamp. So Gazim tries to enter the cave, but the cave wakes up. It's alive. and he runs out of there and he's like only one may enter one whose worth lies far within a diamond in the rough a diamond in the rough and Jafar's like yeah whatever try again so he tries again man is swallowed killed dead never to be seen again yeah he's dead he gets start this film off with a murder a killing there is a lot of violence here the killer is in the cave um there's a lot of violence in this film actually it was quite shocking yeah as the cave of wonders is sinking back into the sand it reminds Jafar that he needs to find the diamond in the rough because only the diamond in the rough can enter the cave of wonders you have to be pure of heart to go into the cave of wonders okay so iago jafar's little bird sidekick named after iago from othello yeah tells jafar that they're never getting that lamp but jafar tells him to have patience because he just wasn worthy enough and iago sarcastically is like oh i gonna have a heart attack from that surprise I love Gilbert Gottfried as Iago So good So good Now that I have this raspy voice I could probably really do it Yeah. Jaffa! What's another thing that he says? What's a good Iago line? Oh, he's like the soldier keeps feeding me those moldy crackers. If he shoves one more moldy cracker in my mouth, I'm going to shove a cracker down his mouth next. something like that. Anyways, he's like, we gotta find the diamond in the rough. So, if you want to get Blackout, take a shot every time they mention this goddamn diamond in the rough. Literally. We get our next number, okay? One Trump ahead, which one of my favorite little bobs, like, I love, like, a little bouncy number. It's very, like, Beauty and the Beast. Bonjour, bonjour, bonjour, bonjour, bonjour, bonjour. hey so we cut to aladdin he is caught stealing a loaf of bread getting chased by several big men and they almost grab him when his monkey sidekick abu pulls this guy's hat over his eyes and like it's like a wub wub wub wub wub like aladdin starts singing he's like i have to stay one jump ahead of my ops because I am so poor I have to steal to eat and survive yeah there's actually a really good line um Aladdin's not trying to like steal for malicious reasons he is literally just like malnourished yes he's impoverished and he's trying to stay alive he says quote gotta eat to live gotta steal to eat tell you all about it when I got the time it's honestly like I'm gonna listen to this tomorrow morning as I'm commuting a bop yeah and Aladdin is like he's like a cheeky oh yeah charismatic like um heart of ham heart of gold but like you know got a little like pep in his step like kind of a bad boy but not really like he's like a little rough around the edges but he has a beautiful heart oh some may say a diamond in the rough a diamond in the rough frog frog frog so he sings this song but next thing we know he's hiding like in a brothel i guess yeah and the women are joking that he's finally hit rock bottom and another one is like i would blame his parents but he hasn't got any damn way to kick the orphan while he's down jesus and i know as aladdin runs past we see like different street performers there's someone laying on spikes someone walking on hot coals someone swallowing swords again like a lot of eastern mysticism yeah oh it's so exotic and crazy yeah aladdin eventually gets cornered by these men but he manages to jump out of a window with a scarf as a parachute yeah and the men end up landing in manure but aladdin is unscathed he can finally enjoy his bread as he is about to take a big refreshing bite of bread he sees these two little street urchins just mere children's street urchins searching for food they hold up like the classic fish carcass fishbone carcass and of course he decides to give them his loaf of bread and we even see like Abu take like a big bite of his tiny piece and he's like but then he he does give the kids his loaf as well so we're already setting up Aladdin as yes he like technically is question like morally questionable because he stole but we're showing that he is like somebody with a lot of empathy a lot of compassion who is only doing crime out of necessity and is like extremely selfless. So like we are immediately endeared to him. Of course. Oh, my gosh. So charming. Yeah. Back on the street, we see a very fancy rich man, bejeweled outfit on riding his horse to the palace to go see the princess. And the kids accidentally get in the horse's way. The man is about to whip this child. Yeah. When Aladdin steps in right in front of them and he tells him if he were as rich as him, he could afford some manners. So they go back and forth and the man eventually calls him a worthless street rot who will only be mourned by his fleas. Obviously, huge blow. Yeah. And Aladdin is so infuriated that he runs to attack him, but the palace gates like close behind him. So that night, Aladdin and Abu go to their home, which is essentially like the attic of this abandoned building. And Aladdin sings probably one of it's insane. This is like one of my favorite musical moments in the movie because it is so short. But just like the vocal performance on this little reprise is so beautiful and charming. And I just love it so much where he sings. I wish I could. I wish I didn't sound like this and I could actually sing it. But alas, I will recite the lyrics. He says, riffraff, street rat. I don't buy that. If only they'd look closer. Would they see a poor boy? No siree. They'd find out there's so much more to me. It's so good. It's so good. Because like he is somebody who like on the outside, he is like, yeah, I'm not like what people say. There is more to me. Like, I know that I have worth and I have value, but you can tell that on the inside, he does have like this level of self-loathing, of insecurity. And we'll see that creep up, especially once he tries to pursue a relationship with Jasmine. I love the like phrasing of like, he's pursuing a relationship. Like, will he get the rose? Yeah. I would really like to continue to pursue this connection. connection with you. So Aladdin looks out at the palace and he tells Abu that someday their luck will change. They'll be rich, live in a palace and never have any problems at all. So that morning, Prince Ahmed storms out of the palace. He has this gaping hole in his pants after a meeting with Princess Jasmine. And the Sultan, Jasmine's father, like the ruler, goes out to see her and is met with angry Raja. Raja is her pet tiger. Yeah. And Raja just has a mouthful of torn pants. So Jasmine says Raja was just playing with him, but the sultan begs her to stop rejecting every suitor because there's a law that says she must be married to a prince by her birthday which is in three days classic law that says you have to marry by your 16th birthday to a prince i hate it when that happens it happens more often than thing it's like damn it again so jasmine says she hates being forced into this she doesn't want to marry someone out of convenience like she wants to marry for love and i'm like can i get an amen yeah i hate being forced to marry for convenience i hate it right i want a compilation cut of woman being like i wanted to be for love bridgerton aladdin uh princess diaries yeah uh little woman no no little woman yeah well well he's like you should marry for love and she's like but i'm not a poet you don't have that option i'm a woman i'm just a woman yeah um i meant to say pride and prejudice yeah but i'm 27 years old and the sultan tells her it's not just the law he's not going to be around forever so he wants to make sure she's taken care of and provided for and jasmine says she's never done anything on her own made her own friends or even been outside of the palace walls so we got that like yearning for something new she's clearly like a very independent-minded person but she's been kept in a bubble her whole life. And she says that maybe she doesn't even want to be princess anymore. And her dad storms off. And Jasmine lets all of her doves fly free because she can't. She's like a bird in a cage! They are real heavy-handed with that caged bird metaphor. So much so that it's not a metaphor. They just literally show it. So, inside the palace, the Sultan is approached by his most trusted advisor, Jafar, who we've already seen doing some shady dealings and, you know, getting people killed in the desert. The song is a bit of a, like... Idiot? Yeah. Yeah. I was going to be, like, eccentric or, like, not very sharp. But, yeah, he's a bit of an idiot. Yeah. I mean, he is being like, what's the word? Hypnotized? Yeah. I guess. But not always. Not all the time. Yeah. He's silly. Open your eyes, maybe. But he's like, oh, I'm at my wits end about Jasmine not choosing a husband. And Iago mimics him. and like the sultan calls him poly and just like shoves a cracker in his mouth which iago loves clearly and jafar is like okay i have a solution but it would require the use of your mystic blue diamond ring but don't worry everything will be fine and he uses his fake staff to hypnotize perform mind control on the sultan and his eyes are like they have like the red spirals in them he's like oh yes of course and he hands over this mysterious magic blue diamond ring crazy that he did that but he was hypnotized so what are you gonna do damn it damn it again um jafar goes to his secret lair with iago and he's like this is the the gilbert godfrey if i gotta choke down one more of those nasty moldy crackers and jafar assures him that soon he will be sultan and then iago will be able to step the crackers down his throat. The villains are really wasting no time in this film. Oh yeah. Honestly, this film has a really great pace. Like, it's like, boom, boom, plop, plop, plop. No, it moves for sure. So that night, Jasmine has decided enough is enough. She is running away. She is sneaking out. She is breaking curfew and evading the guards. She's trying to climb the palace walls in the of the night when Raja tries to stop her. She's like, I can't stay here and have my life lived for me. I'll miss you. I love you. But like, I gotta go. So he does help her climb over the wall and escape the palace. In the market, in the morning, Aladdin and Abu run this little scam to steal watermelons from a local seller. Meanwhile, Jasmine walks through the market for the first time when she's spotted by aladdin and it's like love at first sight baby so jasmine sees this like small hungry child i think i i can't remember is the child reaching for an apple from the cart i think the child is like reaching for an apple yeah and then jasmine's like oh here you go i'm like money you have to pay for that yeah one thing that this movie doesn't really like acknowledge is jasmine is probably extremely stunted like socially oh yeah because she's never left the palace grounds yeah i mean that's one of the big things that i feel was missing from the movie it's just getting to know more about jasmine and her whole journey but um yeah she has no concept of money or paying for something so like she just gives the kid an apple because the kid is hungry and the guy is like uh i hope you can pay for that and she says pay hey huh money what's that oh oh thanks so much like opens purse dust flies out i'm just a baby i don't have any money and she's like oh i can uh i can go to the palace and get money from the sultan and he's like you know what we don't have people here we chop their hands off for stealing crazy that that's in this movie i know for a children's movie yeah i bet they were like this is going to teach kids not to steal they're like let's put this like awful stereotype that wasn't even true um in this film just for just for mistakes you know just to spice things up a little bit So luckily, Aladdin is there to step in and he tells Jasmine just to play along and then turns to the seller. And he's like, this is my mentally ill sister. She thinks my monkey is the Sultan. And then we like cut to Jasmine, who's on her knees and she's like bowing down to Abu like, yes, Sultan, whatever you say. And then, of course, they're almost away. They're just nearly out of arm's reach when Abu's vest pops open, revealing all of the stolen shit, the apples, people's gold, like shit that he's pickpocketed. And they're like, rut row and run away. Got a blast. meanwhile in jafar's lair he is using the sultan's magic ring to activate the sands of time in an hourglass to reveal who is this mysterious diamond in the rough i'll give you one guess it's aladdin oh my god and he tells iago to have the guards extend him an invitation to the palace, aka let's kidnap this man off the streets. Meanwhile, Aladdin is bringing Jasmine to his crib, his spot. And as like they climb onto the roof, she ends up falling into his arms. They both blush. Oh my God. She thanks him for saving her. And he's like, oh, so like, was it your first time in the marketplace. She's like, oh, how do you know? And he's like, we kind of stand out. He like brings her to his view of the palace. They look out at it and he wonders what it would be like to live there. She's like, oh, you know, people tell you where to go, how to dress. He's like, yeah, well, that's better than scraping for food and ducking the guards. Yeah, Jasmine, it is. And I think that's a wake up call that you probably really need to hear. yeah like yeah it does suck having no autonomy that is terrible but at least you are clothed and fed and alive safety a shelter yeah and also something that is not addressed by this movie i'm like sultan why are so many people in your under your domain so impoverished and unable to live and feed themselves yeah great question and if i was jasmine i'd be taking a little look at regime that my dad is running. But alas, they both basically bond over feeling trapped in different ways. That would send me. So he asked where she's from. And she's like, Oh, it doesn't matter. I'm never going back there. My dad is forcing me to get married. And he's like, Oh, that's not fair. And she's really like, touched by him, I guess, like caring about her and like wanting her to again have autonomy be able to make her own decisions yeah and things end up getting like a little bit flirty between the two of them and they're about to kiss oh my god i know that was quick but then the guards busted ah damn it again so both of them think that the guards are after them because yeah aladdin known thief jasmine princess in hiding so aladdin asks jasmine if she trusts him and she says yes and she grabs his hand and they jump out the window to the bottom but they are immediately apprehended by the guards aladdin is grabbed he's being dragged off jasmine tries to like fight this massive guard being like unhand him he shoves her to the ground and she's like unhand him by the order of the princess and she takes off her shawl and now that they see her hair they recognize who she is yeah because men no object permanence you put one hat on a man's like where'd she go like just like a baby yeah so they're like oh my god jasmine like what are you doing outside the palace that's crazy that you're here and she is like release this man the guards like this order came from jafar like you gotta take it up with him so we get back to the palace and jasmine confronts jafar but he's like aladdin was a war criminal who came after the princess and she's like i ran away you motherfucker yeah and he's like omg oh dang like oh if i had known i already killed him he's like oh his sentence has already been carried out oh no worries like what's the sentence bad i did i cut his head off yeah my bad whoopsies so obviously jasmine is devastated not only because she had like feelings for this guy but she simply was the cause for a man to be killed yeah like how could you not feel guilty after that right absolutely so jafar is just being a creepy motherfucker he is like caressing her shoulders and um she runs away in tears and she sobs at this fountain and her pet tiger tries to comfort her and she just says it's all her fault she didn't even know his name yeah but fret not viewer yes because aladdin is still alive it's too early in the film it's all a ruse yeah he is alive he's chained up in the dungeon and you know despite him being chained up in a dungeon he's just like damn i sounded like such a fucking idiot in front of the princess i love it i actually hate men but i love when men are like the big picture problem happening huge huge problem happening big picture and men are like oh man i got a little salsa on my shirt i'm like i wish i could have the brain of a dog or i could just distract myself with a little salsa on my shirt yeah i saw a tiktok yesterday of um bridesmaids being like called to like an emergency at a wedding then like running in the bridesmaid another bridesmaid the bride her wedding dress covered in a huge red wine spill oh my god all over this all over this white dress and the caption it was like and the groom had the audacity to say good thing it didn't spill on me because my suit's rented i filed for a divorce and then it became a murder scene yeah yeah i mean like there was a homicide oh good thing there's no wine spill on you there's about to be blood splatter all over the fucking walls okay the thing that sends me the most is when i i'm gonna say i don't know how many people disagree with me i don't think i'm a big complainer like i'm not really the type to be like uh like we've been walking for a while my feet hurt oh i don't want to go to this restaurant like i'm really like i'll do whatever like sometimes i have an opinion about stuff but i'm not usually like a complainer yeah if i'm like venting i don't want fucking advice i want to be told man that sucks you're right that shit yeah you're you go queen like don't worry you got this i don't want to hear oh you're uh the post you've been working on for 20 minutes uh the page refreshed and now you have to redo your caption and your carousel maybe you should save all your captions in a notes app first. Gone. Jail. Done. Gone. Gone. Yeah. I'd be like, did I ask for an opinion? I didn't ask for help. No. I just want to be told, damn, that sucks. Damn, that sucks. And that's it. That's all. It's so easy. Everyone here, take out your motherfucking notebook. Yeah. All three men that listen to this podcast. Okay. But all this to say um i do love how immediately down bad aladdin is he's he's given us some real yearning oh yeah this film which i really i really appreciate it i really enjoyed that so as he's like damn i made a fool of myself abu sneaks into the dungeon he's pissed off at aladdin for getting involved with jasmine and like winding up down here but aladdin's like ah she was worth it arms chained to a dungeon wall and that's the kind of guy we need yeah that's what i like to see okay men all three of you yeah a man will never get chained to his death in the dungeon just to have a little tat yeah not even not even a kiss not even anything worth it just to lay eyes yeah on the love of his life so abu's like okay whatever he picks the lock frees aladdin and aladdin's like oh i'm just like a fool for thinking i think i have shot with the princess and this is where we start to see like aladdin's whole like insecurity self-worth thing as it relates to status because when he thought that jasmine was just like a regular degular gal at the marketplace he's like yeah she she's a baddie like i'm into her we can maybe get something going it's all good but now he knows she's a princess nothing else about her has changed other than her status and he's like i'm a fucking idiot for thinking she would ever look at me because he is seeing himself from the eyes of people who deem him worthless and he is now internalized that so in the darkness we then hear a crickety crackety voice that sounds just like mine it's an old man saying you're a fool if you give up and this old man aka spoiler alert shafar in disguise comes creaking out of the corner and he tells aladdin that in the cave of wonders there is treasure enough to impress the princess. And Aladdin's like, okay, but like, why would you share that treasure with me? And he's like, well, I need a young pair of legs and a strong back to go and get it. And he reveals an escape hatch. And Aladdin agrees to this deal with this mysterious old man. He is, Jafar gets so elaborate with his schemes. Yeah, he loves a disguise he loves like a a ruse a little costume change he is called call me charlotte ruse yeah he has a lot of flair i will say like a flair for the dramatic um he's quite like flamboyant he's yeah yeah there's something really loves a little fit yeah a little accessory yeah um so he is going the two great lengths in order to get him into the cave of wonder yeah so they head over to the cave of wonders and aladdin is allowed to go in right but he is told do not touch anything but the lamp and the old man reminds aladdin to first fetch him the lamp and then he can have the rest of the treasure for himself and he's like you know what what the fuck do i have to lose so aladdin and abu go into the cave i don't know why abu is allowed in the cave he shouldn't be yes he also diamond in the rough like yeah like uh service dogs only yeah please yeah he's like this is my emotional support animal and he therefore is extended diamond in the rough privileges okay apparently but they go in it is gold as far as the eye can see um this adorable magic carpet starts following them he's like a little shy little coy he reminds me of one of my favorite men shane hollander yeah and maybe first time shane hollander has been compared to the magic carpet in aladdin ever i don't know if anyone's ever said that sentence before you may have made history. I may have cracked open something. Yeah. If only my ancestors could see me. First person in your bloodline to compare Shane Hollander to the magic carpet. That's like a tweet. We should send that out. Yeah. So Aladdin enlists the help of the carpet to help them find the lamp and they go further and further into the cave and eventually do find it on top of this massive stack of rocks he has to like go up this insane uh rocky staircase and as he is moments away from fetching the lamp abu but like total glassy eyes he sees this giant ruby and the carpet tries to hold him back but he just can't help himself from grabbing it. That's when the cave has a meltdown. Yeah. This is also a really good example of that color palette that they were talking about because the surrounding area where the magic lamp is, it's all blue. Good. Yeah. The ruby red. Bad. Bad. Bad. So subtle. So subtle. So the cave is like you will never again see the light of day and everything starts collapsing The sand turns to lava and they fly on the magic carpet through the cave, dodging all of the fire and the rocks. And they do make it to the opening, but they crash. So Aladdin is hanging on for dear life. The carpet falls below and the old man is like standing at the edge of the cave. And he's like, I'll help you, but, like, you have to give me the lamp first. And Aladdin gives him the lamp, but instead of helping him, the man is about to stab him. So Abu bites his arm, and he lets Aladdin fall, and Abu jumps in after him. Thankfully, the carpet manages to save Aladdin from falling to his death, and Jafar checks his pocket. To realize he doesn't have the lamp anymore. You got played. No. Played yourself, actually. Yeah. Player. Meet game. Wait. That's not the saying, is it? I don't know what saying you're saying. I might have made that up. Game, set, match is all that's coming to mind. Game, meet, match. Player, meet, match. You've met your match? No. Let's just keep going. Yeah, it'll come up eventually. It'll come to me. So Aladdin and Abu are now trapped in this cave forever. Crazy. There are no other diamonds in the rough. There was just one. And he failed. Not by his own fault. Again, Abu shouldn't have been allowed in the cave, but that's a whole other story. However at least Abu managed to pickpocket that lamp back from Jafar So he didn get what he wanted and they looking at this lamp that he wanted so badly And Aladdin like trying to read the inscription so he rubbing the dirt away And we all know what happens when you rub a magic lamp. A genie is going to come out of it. Avi, the one and only genie voiced by the incredible Robin Williams, comes shooting out of that lamp. And he's like, oh, 10,000 years. Really give you a crick in the neck. and aladdin is like i think i have a concussion i think i'm hallucinating what is happening and genie tells aladdin that he's a lot smaller than his last master and aladdin's like what your master what the fuck are you talking about who are you and he says what would you wish of me the ever impressive the long contained often imitated but never duplicated genie of the lamp and he tells Aladdin that he gets three wishes and no wishing for more wishes, no substitutions, exchanges, or refunds. You ain't never had a friend like me. Ugh, such a good sequence. Robin Williams, top of his game, absolutely cannot not be funny. Yeah. So we get the iconic song, Ain't Never Had a Friend Like Me, and the genie's just singing about his power uh the power that allotin has now that he is in possession of the lamp and his own personal genie at his service very fantastical lots of dynamic animation jazzy musical theater yeah because this is this is alan menken right yeah yeah yeah Classic. I mean, I just highly recommend, even if you're not going to watch the full movie, look up the song. Yeah, because again, every frame we're going to like a new situation, a new bit, like a new thing. It's so visually dynamic. Important to highlight, he does confirm after the song that Aladdin gets three wishes, wish for whatever he wants. but he cannot kill anybody he can't make anyone fall in love and he can't bring people back from the dead but you know other than that good to go babes and aladdin's like wow you have limitations some all-powerful genie you are i bet you couldn't even get us out of this cave and the genie just falls for the bait like a mouse to cheese and with the snap of his fingers he gets them to dry land. Again, Aladdin, he's just so sharp and witty and like... He's a little street rat. Some may say he's a little so-and-so. A little so-and-so award, 2026. I definitely think he will get a lovable scoundrel nomination. oh yeah he's the like one of the original lovable scoundrels yeah i had such a crush on aladdin as a kid like i was just like oh my god he's so like cool and funny and charming and handsome and yeah it is funny i didn't realize that he was voiced by steve from full house and i was like damn when we were watching it josh was like even when like you can't see the person on the screen they still get a white guy to do the role. I was like, damn, that's so true. I think that the majority of the cast is white people. Leah Salonga. Well, she does the singing voice, but not the speaking voice. Oh, okay. Yeah, I believe it's Linda Larkin. Yeah, Linda Larkin who does Jasmine's speaking voice. But, I mean, sorry, not but, but, like, I do think his, he has, like, a very boyish animated voice, which I do think lends to Aladdin's personality. Yeah. Someone else could have done it for sure. Like, don't get me wrong. But I do, I think he did a good job. Yeah. With what he decided to take on as a role. Yes. So back at the palace, the sultan summons Jafar and tells him that from now on, he is to discuss the sentencing of prisoners with him first before they are beheaded. And he's like, how about Jasmine, Jafar? We just put this whole mess behind us. This mess being the wrongful death of one of his citizens. so Jafar apologizes to Jasmine and she's like well at least the one good thing that will come of me getting married is that I'll be queen and I'll have the power to get rid of you Jafar pissed Iago very annoyed that they'll have to keep kissing up to these chumps for the rest of their lives but Jafar is like no not the rest of our lives only until she finds herself a chump husband then we'll be banished or even beheaded ourselves so iago is then like well why don't you just marry jasmine then you'll become sultan and then we'll dump papa-in-law and the little woman off a cliff why don't you marry the 16 year old child that you have probably known since birth i hate it i hate it ah yeah the the jafar being into jasmine through line is so disgusting that i don't even want to talk about it but it's disgusting because like yeah we see later on it's it's it's not just like oh i'm gonna marry her for the power like we see later on he is like genuinely attracted to her this child and it's gross it is gross back in the desert the genie aladdin abu magic carpet back to safety the genie's like hey wait a minute did you just trick me Mm hmm. You scroungy little motherfucker. And he's like, OK, I see what you did there. But no more credit where credit is due. But yeah, no more previews. So Aladdin actually takes some time to consider what he wants to wish for and ask the genie, like, what would you wish for? and the genie's like um freedom because i have to live in this lamp and serve a master and i will never like get free until someone wishes that i'm set free so that would be my personally and elon's like okay sure like i'll use my third wish to set you free and he's like what now selfless compassionate all great traits so yeah how can you fault him yeah and also like again now every character all three of our kind of like main protagonists being aladdin jasmine and genie they all wish for the same thing which is freedom and autonomy yeah yeah so they refocus on aladdin's wishes and he brings up jasmine and genie's like hey remember i can't make anyone fall in love with you but aladdin just like waxes poetic about how incredible she is and he thinks about how he could possibly win her over and decides to ask genie to make him a prince so they're like babes i'm not even gonna just make you a prince i'm gonna give you a makeover so he gives aladdin a makeover he turns abu into a couple different animals but lands on an elephant and the genie's like hold on to your turban i'm gonna make you a star kid oh so good meanwhile back at the palace jafar is back on his bullshit back on his evil plan making and he comes in to talk to the sultan he's like oh you know i was looking over the the law book and i've just discovered this new rule that apparently there's some loophole that you don't need to see the text i'll just read it to you take my word for it um if a suitor that's a prince that cannot be found for the princess. She has to marry the, wait, the royal vizier. Oh my God, that's me. That's so crazy. And the Sultan is like, surely that's not true. I don't believe you. But Jafar uses his magic scepter to hypnotize the Sultan. And he agrees to let him marry Jasmine. And I think that it would have been far more interesting if there was not this like hypnotization thing and it was just like we see Jafar manipulating the sultan to get him to do what he wants but again then we would again we would have to like really suspend our disbelief and be like wow the sultan is just like soda a fucking idiot yeah I think that they did that because they wanted to like morally save the sultan yeah like they don't they don't want the sultan portrayed as a villain so they were like we have to endear him to the audience a little more like make the audience think he's being hypnotized and yeah but i could easily see him just being like oh look at the rule that i just found so his prince name is so racist yeah it is literally ali ababwa i mean i don't is that i please someone correct me if i'm wrong but it does sound very caricature like the beat to this song bop yeah the like really great time like someone i i get it like djs have their own vibes if i was a dj i'd be mixing some fucking aladdin with like sky ferrera like someone like get freaky in the club i don't know yeah but nobody's sampling aladdin these days and it's an untapped market exactly there's so much rife songs ready to be sampled and it just feels like everyone's sampling the same five fucking songs yeah everyone's sampling promiscuous girl and nobody is sampling prince ali so um yeah he comes marching up to the palace on his elephant there is a whole parade surrounding him the genie plants the seed that ali ababwa has superhuman strength he is an excellent fighter he's rich he's handsome and we see like aladdin asli throwing gold coins into the crowd everyone loves him and aladdin flies into the hall on his magic carpet i guess it's okay that everyone knows the carpet is magic yeah um that's fine i think sure yeah i just love the the scenes of like the genie planting himself amongst the crowd to like spread all these rumors and the one that's like it's almost like a vocal stem for me is when he goes a hundred bad guys with swords that's my favorite i think he's like as a little child being like a hundred bad guys with swords yeah he has the um the like baby jane doe yeah kind of accent for a second so yeah everyone loves him he flies on in on his magic carpet carpet and he tells the sultan that he traveled from very far away to meet the princess and jafar tries to like skirt in there but the sultan is like you know i actually really like this guy because he gets a little ride on his magic carpet and he's like that was really fun yeah um i kind of like this guy it seems like i think i'm starting this guy and he's like i think you're just here for the magic carpet ride yeah um salton it kind of feels like you're just here for the magic carpet what what if i go home something really bad is gonna happen to me so um he tells jafar if they're lucky he won't have to marry jasmine at all like hey hey brother you're off the hook buddy yeah t god am i right so aladdin assures jafar and the sultan that if he could just meet jasmine like he knows he could win her over and jasmine overhears this she's like i'm not a prize to be won or lost like i'm a fucking autonomous human being with the brain yep so not getting off to a great start yeah so that night aladdin is like stupid stupid stupid like i made a fool of myself once again and and i at this point i don't think it occurs to him yet that like she actually does like him for his personality he's just like i put my foot in my mouth like a prince would never say that because he doesn't think he's good enough on his own and he is there's nothing i like more than a man that doesn't know his worth okay because when a man knows his worth he sucks yeah no he has to be a little bit insecure yeah i'm not saying you have to be like on your hands and using it but a little humble goes a long way a man can't think he's the prize that's bad that's bad for everybody nobody wins oh man so yeah he's like oh what do i do what do i do genie you got to help me out and genie is like why don't you tell her the truth just be honest but aladdin thinks that if she knew the truth she would just laugh in his face and i'm like aladdin remember when you were being your normal charming self on that rooftop and she was about to kiss you bro and what's she doing now that you're putting on this fake prince act she's storming out put two and two together yeah but he has all that internalized you know insecurity so he decides to keep up the ruse and he's like genie how do i look and she's just like you look like a prince and so he flies up to her balcony on the magic carpet he asked for a second chance raja ready to maul and attack this stranger but then when jasmine sees him without his turban on she's like wait a second how do we meet in the marketplace like you look so familiar but he's like me in the marketplace never even whenever what's a market i've never even been to one of those my servants go and i actually have servants that go for my servants so like you're mistaken lady and she's disappointed because she wanted it to be the cutie that she met in the market and so the genie tries to like step in help her help him out help coach him on what to say and he's like why don't you compliment her and he thinks that he's doing a really good job at like playing this prince part but she calls him a stuffed shirt swaggering peacock like all the other men so aladdin finally takes the genie's advice and apologizes to jasmine and appeals to her in like a genuine way and he's she tells him to like jump off the balcony he's like i guess i'll I'll do just that. And he, like, steps off. And she's like, wait. And he's like, what? What? And he pops back up because he's got his magic carpet. And she's like, oh, my God, what is that? And he's like, oh, it's this. This little thing. It's just my magic carpet. You didn't want to, like, go for a ride, would you? And she's like, is it safe? And he's like, yeah, sure. Why not? And then he holds out his hand and says, do you trust me? my favorite line so good and she immediately a compilation of do you trust me oh be still my beating heart yeah yeah so good i'm like the serotonin that i feel for like a touch of romance now yeah after watching heated rivalry oh we're starved starved yeah i rewatched it i rewatched it again after my run-in with hudson the next day i rewatched it i had to i rewatched it last weekend i felt so good yeah i felt amazing yeah i think that the next um little serotonin boost i actually i considered on the flight home i read the long game yeah i considered reading it again yeah um renewing that ebook i got from the library but the next dose i think of serotonin will be when the cast is finally announced for the second season yeah because i'm already like jack in and in who's being very cheeky very secretive rumors are swirling the girlies are talking because like we we all remember amir probably like two months ago when he went on his instagram stories and tagged jacob tierney and said jacob tierney i am available for that second season yeah i played hockey at u of t intramural champions 2019 i play center i'm from ontario i'm southern ontario boy i'm available that's a pretty big like and then jacob tierney followed him oh and then i went like this yes i know people people are talking about him either being troy or wyatt wyatt are those the names yeah yeah i could see it's so bad i get them confused there so there are two character types one is a retired hockey player yeah who is like out and um he is he's one of the characters from a different book yeah um and he he works over the summer at the arena uh foundation of course and then troy is a newcomer to the ottawa centaurs so he would have to be troy he's too young to be a retired player he retired early because because like something no he was he was uh suffering from anxiety and like stressed about being gay and playing hockey oh because he gets mentioned in season one when they're like oh yeah this guy kind of like keeps to himself or whatever is that who they're talking about i i know they mentioned someone in season one but i can't remember if they mention troy or wyatt right somebody is mentioned as like a little easter egg but yeah yeah they do i'll have to i'll have to watch it oh no i guess i'll have to watch it again is that the tuna yeah it's right before the tuna meltdown it's episode four yeah i we're devolving quickly but i will say one more thing i have started reading fan fiction that's how much i need these boys back on my screen oh my god what are what are you reading i haven't read any heated rivalry i can't say it's too dirty is it is it like set in the world is it an au like what's the vibe oh okay okay wait what does au mean alternate universe Yes. Okay. So one I read was an episode for alternate universe where Hudson actually goes home with the bartender, but it doesn't end up well. And he calls Ilya and Ilya takes care of him. And I literally was just like perusing and open another one that was like filthy. so i don't know if i'll end up reading it or not but i just need like that i need the characters like i i am so invested in these characters i could read like 70 more books and that's what fan fiction is for yeah to fill that void and some of these i'm like you guys are pretty good writers like yeah it's not like i'm reading garbagio yeah no there's there's good stuff in there yeah yeah wow i'm so excited kudos to an archive of our own shout out ao3 we love you yes i'll have to read just to like because i'm so i've heard so much about it i need to read at least one where shane gets pregnant like i just have to see what it's all about you know just to see what it's all about yeah oh man no every once in a while i'll be like scrolling on twitter and people are like posting yeah like excerpts from fan fiction being like this fucking wrecked me well and i'm like and then i read like the most devastating thing i've ever seen yeah um one that like sticks with me i don't know what fan fiction is from probably somebody listening does so feel free to drop it in the comments but um there's like a it's about like when shane is like coming out to his team and they're being like real shitty about it and he says that there's not a version They don't know a version of him that was never in love with Ilya Rosanoff. Okay, but they have to put that in the show. Because is that not the most devastating thing you've ever heard? Well, when... Because when he joins the Metros, or I guess, you know, the Voyagers in the original text, he's already involved with Ilya. So they don't know a version of him that didn't love Ilya Rosanoff. Right. What upsets me the most, I mean, real life, but also, like, in film, TV, whatever. But mostly real life is what I'm thinking, honestly. It's just, like, when someone comes out to you or when you find out that someone isn't, like, straight. Even if, like, obviously Shane, like, comes out later on in the series. Like, he doesn't always know he's gay. But there was never a version of him that wasn't going to be gay. Yeah. Or like that deep down wasn't gay. So the thought of like someone coming out to you and you being like either repulsed or like feeling like they lied to you or whatever, like you always knew that. Yeah. Like you always knew that. They are the person they've always been, you know? Exactly. Exactly. And that is why I will always like cry to coming out to me. Yeah. Yeah. It's not like I was watching YouTube videos of women coming out when I was 16. Right, right. I wasn't. Yeah. I remember, what are the big ones? The big YouTube coming out videos I remember. Troye Sivan, obviously. I actually haven't seen his. Oh, my God. Yeah, because I used to watch Troye Sivan videos back in the day. That was a big one. I'm thinking of Ingrid Nielsen. Yeah, Ingrid Nielsen. That was a big one. Who I met at Brooklyn Pride last year. Nice. And I feel so awkward. I'm going to have to, like, if she's there again this year, I will have to, like, redeem myself. Because I thought I could, like, hold myself together and go up to her and be like, your story was so inspiring. Like, you inspired me so much and blah, blah, blah. And I literally pretty much just went up to her and was, like, holding back to her. Just like, you changed my life. Like, way too intense. Yeah. But that probably happens to her all the time. Probably. yeah and i'm like can i buy 16 candles because she has a candle company yeah man those were the days uh what are we talking about who cares i guess this straight couple we'll talk about them yeah the like romantic moment of the film right we're about to get to a whole new world and we're like yeah let's talk about heated rivalry yeah okay so after we get that insanely romantic Do You Trust Me? Mm-hmm. Grammy Award winning A Whole New World. Yep. I know we've all heard many theater kids sing this song. Jasmine goes on a magic carpet ride with Aladdin, who offers to show her A Whole New World. Lest we forget, she has been trapped in this palace, practically behind bars. Mm-hmm. We go around the world not timeline accurate, okay? We see, like, Rome, like ancient Rome. Yep. And, like, China. Yep. And we do see Jasmine falling for Aladdin. They look into each other's eyes. They hold hands. And they're kind of just, like, actually getting to know each other in a very real way. Which I am assuming none of her suitors took the time to do before this. And because he knows the one thing that she wants is like freedom and to be able to experience the world. So, yeah. So they go and sit on a rooftop, presumably in China. I think they are. They're watching the fireworks. And Jasmine tells Aladdin, it's a shame Abu had to miss this. And he's like, oh, yeah, I know. And he's like, wait a minute. Ruh-roh. Ruh-roh. and jasmine pulls off his turban and she's like aha i knew it was you you're the boy from the marketplace like why did you lie to me and instead of being honest he decides to lie about how he dresses like a commoner sometimes because he just wants to escape the pressures of palace life you motherfucker should have just come clean right then and there when you had the opportunity he's had so many opportunities to be honest yep and she's like why didn't you tell me and he just makes a joke about how like going out like a commoner sounds a little strange and jason's like it's not that strange because she did it herself and she leans on his shoulder meanwhile the carpet is upset that he didn't say the truth yeah and later on that evening when aladdin drops jasmine off back at the palace they kiss i was shocked frankly that they kiss like in the middle of the movie like it's not at the end it's not like we have to wait till the end for the big kiss like we're not at the end but we do we're like i want to say two-thirds of the way through yeah but like usually it's like the big kiss at the very end of the right you know um so i was kind of surprised pretty bold pretty bold after the kiss aladdin is ecstatic he's like on cloud nine so after the date aladdin is like goo goo ga ga i'm so happy i am so in love things are really turning around for me yes again immediately apprehended by jafar's men and tossed where into the ocean they said you're dead you are done right in there drown bitch not only do they throw him in the ocean but they also um put a ball and chain around his ankle so that he sinks to the bottom of the sea, starts drowning, goes unconscious. But in his turban, his hat that he's wearing, the lamp is in there. It falls into his hand. Genie pops out. He's like, come on, Aladdin, you got to say the words for me to save you. You got to make the wish. And Aladdin, unconscious, and Genie's like, well, that's good enough for me. Like, so he uses Aladdin's second wish to bring him up to the surface, save his life. And Jeannie's like, man, like, don't scare me like that again. I'm kind of growing fond of you. So Jeannie has a friend for the first time in who knows how long. He cares. So back at the palace, the Sultan comes to Jasmine's room and she's about to tell him about her amazing date. when he announces that he has chosen her husband, Jafar. What? Yep. And Jasmine's like, no, I want to marry Prince Ali. But Jafar comes in. He's like, oh, he left. This sneaky motherfucker. Yep. He said, no, I didn't. He is in the corner of the room. Okay. Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me. Yeah he still here and Jafar tried to have him killed All right And that is when the jig kind of becomes up Okay Because Jafar is still hypnotizing the Sultan and to agreeing with him. And then Aladdin notices it's because of the scepter. So he smashes it to bits and then tells the Sultan that Jafar has been controlling him. And the Sultan is like, guards. they apprehend him but he does little trickaroo and smashes some like red powder and escapes and everyone's kind of like okay whatever he's gone yeah everyone's like uh we gotta go search for him but like that's not the focus yeah but before trafar escaped he did see the lamp in aladdin's bag or in his hat yeah so yeah the sultan calls all the guards to search for him And he's like, oh, my God, I can't believe Jafar has been tricking me the entire time. And I'm like, that's crazy because I can't. You can't believe it? I can believe it. Open your eyes, brother. But then he totally like a dog gets distracted again once he realizes Jasmine has picked her suitor. He is thrilled she's going to get married and announces that they will be wed at once. and aladdin will be sultan which is like crazy complete outsider you now will have control over this whole domain crazy how that works just because you're a man um it was also like interesting to me while the sultan is like oh my god i can't believe he's been training the whole time in the background jasmine and aladdin are like actively trying to make out with each other like they're like leaning in for a kiss and it's only when like the sultan turns around that they don't i was like you're just gonna make out in front of her dad yeah before marriage that's kind of crazy but meanwhile iago starts packing up his things because like you know they're donezo around here but jafar is just laughing hysterically and he explains that aladdin has the magic lamp and he's nothing but a street urchin and i'm gonna go steal that shit from him so things are heating up things are getting real juicy aladdin is coming to the realization that like marrying princess jasmine comes with more strings than maybe he realized um like the fact that he is going to have to be sultan he's kind of moping about it tbh yeah when the genie appears and reminds him like, hey, so amazing. You got the girl. This is so exciting. Now, remember when you said that for your third wish you were going to free me? Let's get that ball rolling. Let's get moving on that. But Aladdin is like, but they want to make Prince Ali sultan. And without you, I'm just Aladdin. I don't think I can keep up this charade without you. and genie's like what the fuck like we had a deal like what what the hell and he even like makes a comment being like i think he says like well i guess you're already lying to everyone else and i guess i was starting to feel left out because aladdin is compromising his morals he's really like betraying his true self because he is trying to like put up this ruse of like the whole prince al-e thing yeah he's losing his main like good characteristics which is him being selfless him being compassionate like him wanting to help others because he's not being himself it becomes like easier for him to like abandon those morals too yeah of course so genie goes back into his lamp aladdin really catches an attitude he also yells at abu and then he finally like thinks about it for a second and realizes like the person that he's become which is so far from his true self and realizes that he needs to tell jasmine the truth so that's when he hears jasmine's voice calling to him from the gardens and he goes to meet her but it's not jasmine's voice it was iago imitating her voice come on man takes this opportunity to sneak inside and steal the lamp so we're taking a turn and meanwhile the sultan is having uh an announcement moment Kind of reminds me of in Red, White and Royal Blue. Yeah. When all the people are standing outside and they're like, yeah, yeah. He announces to the people of Agrabah that his daughter has finally chosen a suitor. And instead of telling her the truth, Aladdin has walked up to the tower or whatever. And instead of like being like, hey, we really have to talk. Jasmine is like, OK, let's go. and brings him on stage. He is announced as her suitor. She's also wearing this gorgeous purple outfit, which I kind of forgot about because I'm so, like, in my head, I think of her in, like, the blue teal outfit and then, like, the red one. Totally forgot this purple one. Gorgeous. Loved it. Gorge. Gorge. So Jafar, meanwhile, gets a hold of this lamp and wishes to rule a sultan. the magic takes over and the sultan's clothes are transferred to jafar and the genie like places the palace on a mountain because he's like i want to rule from high as the sultan the sultan and jasmine refuse to bow to him they're like this is fucked yeah we're not standing for it. So Jafar is like, actually, I wish to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world. And the genie, unfortunately, has to grant that wish as well. Then he traps her in a magic shield. And Aladdin tries to stop him, but he traps him too. Then Jafar reveals that Ali is really Aladdin. we get a little Prince Ali reprise or reprise. Yeah. Reprise. And Jafar shoots Aladdin to the ends of the earth, which is like Russia, I'm assuming. Yeah. It's like a snowy cliffside. Yeah. So Aladdin ends up in this frozen tundra with Abu, who gets buried in snow on the brink of death. And he apologizes for making a mess of everything. and says that he has to go back and set things right. Love me a king who does the bare minimum and takes accountability for his actions. Rare, a diamond in the rough, some may say. So he starts walking. He's like, I'm going to walk myself back to Agrabah. But thankfully, the magic carpet stowed away with them in the tower. It is unfortunately trapped under that tower but he and abu start digging the tower falls off the cliff releasing the carpet and they fly themselves back to agriba yes just when you thought you got him down you can't you can't keep a man down you can't keep a good bitch down incredible so we go back to the palace and iago gets his wish he's stuffing the salt in space those moldy nasty little crackers and jasmine meanwhile is forced to feed jafar fruit and like damn i hope you spit in that yeah so he tells her that he should be with the most powerful man in the world which is him and asks her to marry him and she like throws wine in his face and she's like i would never i did love the detail of the the alcohol burning his eyes yeah because like you know usually when you see like a drink splash in the face in a cartoon or whatever they're just like oh and they wipe it off but he's like ah my eyes because it's red wine in the eye yeah that would sting yeah totally yeah so jafar tells the genie that his final wish is for jasmine to fall desperately in love with him and the genie has to be like er he actually is very like coy about it because he doesn't want to be killed and he's like um I can't really do that he's like so I have limitations too he's like he's like king king I love what you're thinking I love where your head's at but rap with me really quick yeah but let's maybe redirect that energy yeah into something more powerful yeah i love like redirect that energy yeah that's like that's like a good one to be like you're fucking bonkers and you cannot do that like let's uh let's workshop this one a little bit let's uh let's do brainstorming let's mind are we taking notes are we taking notes right now no okay maybe we should be pen paper anybody so we haven't gotten to previews yet yeah yeah still there's still time there's still time we're in the studio yeah um this fucking train is gonna drive me crazy i'm like trying to record i get a text from my mom what does it cost to live in nyc new mom donnie report delivers stark findings i'm like i get it you want me to move back i understand yeah yes so he's like so sorry can't do that and Jafar commands him so like Jasmine similar to their first meeting in the marketplace plays along and she's like oh my sultan I love you and Aladdin arrives thank god Yeah. The genie is so excited to see him, but he's like, I can't help you because now I'm Jafar's servant. So Aladdin is like, hey, I'm a I'm a fucking street rat. I'll improvise. and jasmine keeps talking up jafar to distract him aladdin inches closer towards the lamp but he ends up knocking over a fruit bowl and so jasmine has to like think fast distract jafar he she kisses him which disgusts everyone like abu is disgusted aladdin is disgusted jafar or not jafar g iago is disgusted it's just gross all around totally but he sees aladdin in the reflection of jasmine's crown and so aladdin has to like make a dash for the lamp but he gets zapped by jafar and then him and jafar spar but jafar zaps jasmine into an hourglass she's getting she's about to be fucking suffocated by sand and he turns abu into a monkey toy he unravels this the magic carpet into thread and aladdin like reaches for the lamp but jafar surrounds him in a ring of fire so things are heating up aladdin calls jafar a snake and jafar is like oh you want to see a snake bitch fucking and transforms into a cobra i thought that was a bit much but i'll take it yeah i was like the drama okay um aladdin is fighting jafar and he manages to and he manages to stab him but it doesn't kill him and jafar like wraps himself around aladdin he's like without the genie you're nothing and aladdin because he's got street smarts he's got a little fucking brain in his noggin. He gets the idea. And he tells Jafar, oh, genie gave you your power. So he'll have more power than you ever will. And Jafar is like, okay, bet genie for my last wish, make me into an all powerful genie. And genie's like, are you fucking kidding me, Aladdin? Like, What have you done? So he does it because he has to. He turns Jafar into a genie. Aladdin smashes the hourglass that Jasmine is trapped in. And then a lamp appears because you can't have a genie without a lamp. And Aladdin is like, well, you got your wish. You're a genie. And that means everything that comes with it. Phenomenal cosmic powers. He sucks. that genie up into that lamp. Itty bitty living space. He played him at his own game. And it's because Aladdin realized that he had the power to outsmart him all along. He didn't need all the extra stuff. He didn't need the help from the genie. And yeah, he's bested him. Jafar is trapped in there with Iago for presumably the rest of time or till the sequel, I believe, which I've not actually seen. But yeah, the Sultan, Abu, the carpet, they all return to normal. The palace reappears in the city. The genie throws Jafar's lamp into the Cave of Wonders. And Aladdin apologizes to Jasmine for lying. He's like, well, I guess this is goodbye. And Jasmine is just so devastated about this law that prevents them from marrying. And genie reminds Aladdin like, hey, you're my master again. And like, you still have a wish. You can wish to be a prince again. And Aladdin tells Jasmine that he loves her, but he has to stop pretending to be someone he's not. And so he decides to use his final wish to set genie free. I love it. A lovable scoundrel. I love him. So the genie is ecstatic. I wouldn't believe it either. He's like, someone actually kept their word. And he starts celebrating. and then he looks at Aladdin and he tells him that he's going to miss him. And Genie says he'll always be a prince to him. And the Sultan says that he's proven himself to him. There's just that damn law. But guess what? I'm the Sultan, so I can just abolish the law, I guess. So you could have just done that all along? So, yeah. Yeah, he could have done that all along. And yeah, so he just changes the law to allow the princess to marry whoever she wants. And of course, she picks Aladdin. And then Jasmine and Aladdin kiss on the magic carpet while fireworks go off in the background. Wow. The end. Yeah. So what are your thoughts on this Aladdin rewatch? Yes. So obviously there are some like major flaws in the film. Yeah. Right. Cultural insensitivities, a lack of basic research on the area and culture. yep um but i do think that the story is really tight it's very succinct we touch on like there's rags to riches uh love story i love the convention of like the genie um we also kind of get like i forget what it's called like the hero's cycle yeah the hero's journey there's journey where we have like the hero and the sidekick and this thing he has to do and then he like dies when he goes underwater but he comes back to life like they get a lot done in 90 minutes um and i think it was really fun and funny and i loved the love story yeah i think that this time watching it uh a lot of my focus was just on aladdin's character and his journey um because they do i think in order to keep it short they take out a lot of like the picture of him deciding to do different things and kind of just like like choices are made like he constantly is making choices um which keeps it really interesting and you also get to see like a big his character is very dynamic so there's like a lot of change that happens in the story um i think it's like a very very well written character in regard to him being dynamic and like changing yeah i i think that like we said, the racist stereotypes, the cultural insensitivities, like, you know, those really cannot be ignored. It is really, like, hard to watch, especially, like, when you are, like, a full-grown adult and you actually, like, notice these things, whereas when you're a kid, you don't know as much. But looking beyond that, the other, like, major failing for this movie for me it's just like the the development of jasmine's character i feel like as a kid like i loved her so much that i would kind of like project a lot onto her because i just thought she was such a cool character but like watching it this time around i'm like oh they really don't develop her very much at all she's very two-dimensional and it's especially noticeable because this i think is the only disney princess who is not the protagonist of her film yeah that's a good point because it is like Aladdin's story and she is more of a secondary character to him. So it is kind of interesting that she is still in like the Disney princess lineup, despite not being like the main character of her own film. So that was like disappointing to me, but I like you was really focusing on kind of like Aladdin's emotional arc, this watch through. And yeah, it was just like, I think a really like simple, simple but interesting story about somebody who is very kind and compassionate and selfless, but in getting wrapped up in his own like warped perception of his own self-worth, like loses sight of those attributes and ends up like hurting the people around him by not being true to himself. And it's only once going back to the core of who he is that he is able to like continue to be kind to others and others recognize and see his worth for what it actually is so i think that that's like a really cool story to follow um i just think that like the genie like robin williams performance is fucking incredible he the genie is so dynamic such a scene stealer i cannot imagine how difficult it was to animate this character yeah with how quickly Robin Williams moves from bit to bit, from joke to joke, even just like editing down the mountains of material that they gave him, um, must've been quite the feat. So I think that that deserves like huge props. Yeah. Those were kind of like my major takeaways on this watch through. And one thing about me, I'm going to eat up an Alan Menken song. You know, I just, I love that his style is so like old school musical theater yeah and i feel like that's what's really missing in a lot of the modern disney films they've gotten a lot more like contemporary musical theater but i'm like no get back to like this old school style of storytelling because it's so effective and like that's that's why people are so drawn to musicals because you get to feel such a large spectrum of emotions while watching them um so i'm like we gotta get back to back to basic get back to the roots yeah i'm i am curious to see you know what direction disney goes in it's always like what are they going to do next i think that they've decided to try out a lot of like the social cultural avenues that they haven't done before like coco and canto um a soul yeah but i do think that they could try doing like a new modern princess again yeah i feel like the last time they did that was it like frozen um the most recent disney princess is it raya oh i feel like that was totally eclipsed like i honestly don't remember that being a big important movie um no raya is the most recent one okay and that's 2021 yeah so five years ago yeah i i i guess i don't know the answer i think it's a little difficult because on the one hand like traditional musical theater in structure yeah i would be interested in but also like traditional musical theater means like a very and you know american i guess not necessarily american but very white way of yeah making music so i don't want to necessarily see like the diverse genres that they forayed into go entirely but i am curious to see like a blending of things and i think that they have a really difficult time finding um a cohesive way to like do a typical fairy tale without making it like a caricature version like i think tiana was done a disservice because they didn't make it as grounded as other princesses storytelling stories or movies um and i think because of that like they didn't i don't know it just felt like they didn't put as much thought into her character yeah and they i feel like disney often will like over correct based on right backlash um like there was the sort of 2010s era sentiment of like, oh, all of the princess movies are about her falling in love with the prince. It's always about falling in love with the prince. So then they were like, okay, we're going to take romance out. And they just kind of like completely eliminated romance from all of their princess movies going forward. Because after Tangled, there's Merida, yeah there's Moana and there's Raya and there's no romance in those movies whatsoever and it's not that you need to completely strip all of your movies of any romantic content it's that you have to just get you know make the the princess three-dimensional and give her other things and fill out the story but like I think that Tangled was a really beautiful example of like how it can be balanced you can still be your own person and like there is still this like romantic element so yeah yeah i don't i don't know what their plans are right now they're just so focused on like rebooting old ip and like doing these live actions and hate it i don't know i'm so i don't know who who likes them like i don't know anyone who's like i haven't met a person who was like i really like the live action aladdin no the only one that came close for me was um hallie yeah the little mermaid live action the little yeah little mermaid live action but i didn't fuck with the the way that like flounder and sebastian were portrayed they looked fucking scary but hallie's performance was really great it was incredible loved her in that, like, looking forward to her in Under the Tuscan Sun. No. Is that her new movie? That is a movie that came out in, like, the 2000s. Great movie. I love it. You, Me, and Tuscany. You, Me, and Tuscany. Yeah, I will be seated for that, a thousand percent. Oh. Yeah. Oh, yeah. With my man, Rajajin Page. Yeah, Mr. Simon Bassett himself. Yeah, it's a big time at the movies right now. There's a lot coming out. There's a lot that I want to see. I just saw the drama last night. I was going to ask you how that was. It was good. I liked it. I'm glad that I've now seen it so I can now, like, see, you know, all the mountains of discourse about it online. Because people got lots to say. And I've had to scroll past all of it because I didn't want to be spoiled. I did spoil it for myself because I needed to know what the bad thing was. And I looked it up and I read it. I was like, I mean, I find out in the first, like, 20 minutes of the movie. So it's not like you're waiting super long for the reveal. Yeah, it was definitely, like, very thought-provoking. So, yeah, I really liked it. I thought it was great. I thought Zendaya and Mr. Robbie P did a really good job. He's a phenomenal actor. He brings a lot of genes. There's that. I want to see Forbidden Fruits. Got to see Yumi in Tuscany. What else is coming out? I'm really excited to see Riz Ahmed in Hamlet. Oh, yeah. I did see that at TIFF. I didn't like it. Oh, no. I just saw his series, and so I was really excited to see the movie. Yeah. Oh, yeah, the new Devil Wears Prada that's coming out very soon. Yeah. Yeah. Lots going on. Big year for cinema. Lots at the box office. Yeah. Anyways, I guess, should we rate this film? We should. I'm going to have to rate it a seven. Yeah. because there's so much fucked up shit yeah gotta dock some points but if we if there if it wasn't fucked up shit i'd be like 8.5 yeah it's it's good storytelling it really moves it's well paced it's enjoyable like the the music is great um yeah gotta dock dock some points because dear fucking god um so yeah i'll put it at a seven nice yeah and of course if you would like to revisit aladdin it is available on disney plus sure is and if you'd like to you know be part of the mtru family you can always follow us on twitter at mtru underscore pod you can follow us on instagram at movies that raised us you can follow us on tiktok at movies that raised us pod You can send us a good old-fashioned email at moviesthatraisedus at gmail.com. And, of course, you can join our Patreon, Movies That Raised Us. Yes. For only $5 a month, you can get an extra episode. And sometimes that episode is literally two and a half hours long. So think about it. Even longer. Sometimes even longer. I don't do a lot of editing. Yeah. So it's really raw. You get as many tangents as you could possibly desire. I only cut out the ums. Mm-hmm. the moments of pause and any bathroom breaks we take. Yeah. So there you go. Raw, unfiltered movies that rate us. Raw. Raw, uncut, X-rated. Yeah. Come to Patreon for the X-rated content. Yeah. It's just like longer tangents about heated rivalry. I know. Yeah. It's actually more embarrassing. Yeah. Because we're like, only the true fans will listen to this one. Literally. Yeah. Someone did DM us on, or DM us, I don't know, message us on Patreon that was like, I just want you to know how much this podcast means to me, like, makes my week every week. And I was like, I love you. I could cry. This made my whole day. Oh, my God. No, you guys are the sweetest. We love you guys so much. Thank you for listening. And thank you especially for making it through this episode with the way that I fucking sound right now. You're a trooper. thank you. You're a real one. Thank you. I hope it was sexy and not annoying. All right. Well, with that being said, I'm Mo and I'm Christina and our theme song is by Garrett Schmidt. Bye. Thank you.