Aladdin 1992 vs Aladdin 2019
In the past five years, Walt Disney Studios has focused on making live actions of their past hit movies. A common trend in these live actions is having the same plot as the original with an addition or removal as a result of cultural or societal changes. This is seen in the addition of a gay character in Beauty and the Beast and the removal of songs from Mulan.
The live-action of Aladdin wasn’t any different as we are introduced to a Feminist Jasmine which is absent from the original. Although, third-wave Feminism existed and was quite popular in the 90s its main focus in the media was more of marriage rights and equality in the home rather than a political power movement. This is seen in the idea that Jasmine is giving the choice to marry who she wants but is not seen to have an interest in pursuing any sort of political office. In the 90s people would overlook little bits of misogyny in movies as it was a “less sensitive” time.
However, the 2019 Jasmine has an interest in ruling the kingdom and wants her opinion to be heard as we see clearly in her song “Speechless”. This change in the character between the two movies is Paradigmatic as the directors altered Jasmine to fit a woman in 2019 who most likely has an interest in politics and can pursue it. The fact that she also becomes the Sultan at the end in contrast to Aladdin becoming the Sultan also helps to shift from the Disney Princess idea of just waiting around and falling in love. A Syntagmatic difference is a song Speechless and the whole performance which is absent in the original movie.
I love how you brought up the song, I thought it didn't fit the movie at all. The feminist side of her was brought up so late in the movie and it didn't feel like an Aladdin song, it felt more like a Naomi Scott song. I love going over the differences of feminism between the two films since the cartoon version of Jasmine was one of the more independent Disney princesses.
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