Semiotic Data: Aladdin 1992 vs. Aladdin 2019

 

Disney's Aladdin (the animated version) was first released in 1992. In the past decade, Disney has been going through their animated movies and remaking them into live-action films, and Aladdin was one of those produced and released recently in 2019. The two movies showcase the feminism of the different social eras, with the 1992 version taking place during the third-wave of feminism and the 2019 version taking place during the more current fourth-wave feminism.

Adaptations of the character:

1992: In the 1992 version of the film, Jasmine is portrayed as a very headstrong, feminist Disney princess who wants to marry for love and not an arranged marriage just because of the law. I remember watching this movie as a child and thinking that Jasmine was such a powerful woman who fought for what she wants and wanted to be like her. While this was making great strides in feminism for the 90s, the character had no urge to become the leader herself or even mentioned it as an idea, which plays along with the stereotypical Disney sexism we tend to overlook.

2019: In the 2019 version of the film, Jasmine is not only portrayed as a very headstrong, feminist Disney princess who wants to marry for love, but also wants to change the law so that she can become the Sultan herself instead of whoever she marries becoming Sultan. Naomi Scott, the actress who played Jasmine, talked about it in an interview how she wanted to portray Jasmine as a political leader to show that women can also be excellent political leaders.

Adaptation of a scene:

1992: In the 1992 version of the film, there is a scene where Jafar uses the magic of the Genie to have Jasmine change into the red bikini we see her in in the top left photo. Jasmine then tries to seduce Jafar as a part of a scheme to distract him. This sort of scene would not necessarily be considered appropriate for a children's movie, and it is vastly different in the remake.

2019: In the 2019 version, this scene almost does not exist. Not only does she wear a beautiful dress that isn't objectifying her and her body, but she doesn't try to seduce Jafar and instead sings a song called Speechless that's all about how she is tired of the idea of women being seen and not heard. She then assertively reminds the guards who the real Sultan is and demonstrates beautiful leadership skills. This is significantly different than the 1992 version.

Social History:

1992 film: This film was created during a big part of third-wave feminism in the 90s that focused on women in marriage and so this film was good at the time because Jasmine was standing up for herself and wanting to marry for love and who she wanted and not because of a law. While this was progressive for the time, Jasmine expresses no interest in changing the law so that she can be Sultan. 

2019 film: In the 2019 film, Jasmine not only wants to marry for love but now wants to have the job of the Sultan because she believes she is knowledgeable enough to have the job and do it well. This change illustrates the feminism in our society now, especially in the workforce and women getting the jobs that they want and are skilled for instead of giving them to the man who hasn’t worked for them. 

Genre:

1992: The genre of the 1992 version of the film was classified as an animated musical fantasy comedy made for children, focusing more on the romantic storyline of Aladdin and Jasmine.

2019: The genre of the 2019 version of the film was classified as a musical fantasy live-action film, with the target audience still being children. The movie focuses on the romantic aspect, but in a more humanized way than the animated version and also adds in the elements of feminism in political positions. The humanization of this film is not the first we have seen; Disney has started to make the live-action remakes more empathetic and with more relatable moments for the audience than the animated versions.

Semiotics:

Syntagmatic relationship: In both films, it is made clear to the audience that there is a clear line of the protagonists versus the antagonists. Aladdin and Jasmine are very clearly made the protagonists and Jafar is the ultimate antagonist. This does not change between the 1992 version and the 2019 version.

Paradigmatic relationship: The adaptation of the film allows us to see more of a paradigmatic relationship. When looking at a paradigmatic relationship, we can look at the movie from several different lenses. Looking at this movie from an average movie-goer perspective, the adaptation seems somewhat different, but on average it is pretty similar to the first movie. When looking at it from the perspective of different cultures or genders, one might notice things that the average movie-goer might not, such as the feminist movements or the hidden racism and orientalism in the first one and where it does and doesn't carry over to the remake.