Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at Aladdin & The King of Thieves

Welcome back everyone. Today, Deep Dive Disney returns to Agrabah for our first look at one of the direct to video Disney sequels. Said sequels don’t exactly have a reputation for quality and I certainly don’t plan on covering all of them on account of the fact that I’m not a masochist, but I have added a few that I feel are worth talking about into the lineup for the retrospective. That brings us to today’s subject matter, Aladdin & The King of Thieves, a film I fondly remember from my childhood that I may very well have watched even more times than the original film. Is it anywhere near the level of quality of the original? No, not even close, but it is still a lot of fun. As you may or may not be aware, this is actually the third Aladdin film. The second film served as a pilot of sorts to the Aladdin TV series with this film acting as the grand finale. We will not be covering the second film, Return of Jafar since, well, it’s not very good. All you really need to know is that Iago joined Aladdin’s side and Jafar was finally defeated permanently instead of just imprisoned in a lamp. As for the animated series, I’d love to discuss that someday but for reasons that continue to baffle me, it is not available for streaming on Disney+. That brings us to today’s film. So, what’s the story that was deemed worthy to draw the Aladdin saga to a close? Well, the time has finally come for Aladdin and Jasmine to get hitched and there’s a huge celebration in Agrabah. However, with the wedding finally here, Aladdin has begun to have doubts about the future. See, his mother died when he was very young and he never knew his father, so he never really had anyone to show him how to be a good husband and father. These doubts will have to wait though as the wedding is besieged by a group of legendary bandits known as the Forty Thieves, led by their mysterious king. After Aladdin and the gang manage to fight off the bad guys, they learn that what the thieves were really after was a golden scepter containing an all-knowing oracle, which is essentially a portable, single use version of the Magic Mirror from Snow White. From the oracle, Aladdin learns that his father is alive and trapped in the world of the Forty Thieves. At Jasmine’s prompting, Aladdin sets out on a quest to find his father only to learn that his father, Cassim, is the King of Thieves himself. Aladdin and Cassim aren’t really sure what to make of one another despite both genuinely trying to make a connection. While Aladdin just wants to have his father attend his wedding, Cassim has grown obsessed with finding a legendary treasure called The Hand of Midas to the point where he’ll even betray his sons trust in order to accomplish his goal. Aladdin almost gives up on his father but when the Forty Thieves, lead by the villains Sa'luk, stage a mutiny against their king it’s up to Aladdin and the gang to save him and find the ultimate treasure in the process. While this movie is far from perfect, it is still a lot of fun and a nice bit of nostalgia for yours truly. Let’s take a look at Aladdin & The King of Thieves.

Main Character:

We discussed Aladdin at length in the first movie so I’ll try to keep this brief. Aladdin in this movie is an Aladdin who’s already had his arc come and go. He has already gone through the experience of the first movie and the rest of the series and has emerged a better man for it, which is why his father seems to be such a disappointment to him. He built his father up in his head so much that the real thing simply can’t compare. What’s worse, Cassim seems to be very much like Aladdin was in the first movie, believing that one needs riches and status to have worth. Aladdin clearly wants a relationship with his father and gives him more chances to change than he probably should but ultimately, he cannot reconcile his own values with his father’s lifestyle. As he says “I’m your son, but I won’t live your life.” I actually really like that Aladdin cares enough that he won’t let his father rot in the palace dungeon but still goes back to face the consequences for freeing him, something that the Aladdin from the beginning of the first movie never would have done. One of his earliest lines spoken by that Aladdin, who spent most of his days running from the guards, was “You’re Only In Trouble if you get Caught." Here, Aladdin won’t run away like his father even knowing it will cost him everything. It’s a great bit of character growth and I really appreciated it.

Villain:

If you’re looking for a villain on the same level as Jafar, you won’t find it in Sa’luk. Sa’luk is no all-powerful sorcerer, he’s just an opportunistic thug with a spiffy set of Wolverine claws. It may surprise you to learn that Sa’luk is voiced by Jerry Orbach, who also voiced Lumiere from Beauty & The Beast. I never realized Jerry had this kind of range because I’d never have known that if I hadn’t looked it up. It seems in the time that Cassim has been the leader of the Forty Thieves, he’s decreed that they are never to harm the innocent, something Sa’luk believes has made the group soft. As such, he schemes to usurp Cassim and take control of the group for himself. Sa’luk is a scumbag through and through, willingly selling out the Forty Thieves by telling the Palace Guards how to access their secret lair and later blaming it on Cassim to rally the thieves who managed to avoid capture to his side. Sa’luk is certainly a physical threat, being tough enough to wrestle a shark like some kind of Arabic Mike Haggar and nearly killing Aladdin in their first one on one fight, but there’s really not much else to him. He’s a pretty simple villain motivated by greed. Not the ideal final boss for the Aladdin saga, but by no means a bad villain.

Side Characters:

Most of the returning characters are pretty much unchanged from the first movie. I wish they had more for Jasmine to do in this movie but what are you going to do.

If you’re not in the know, Robin Williams reprising his role as the Genie is actually a bigger deal than you might think since in the time between the first film and this one, Williams had a falling out with Disney, the role of the Genie being filled by Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellaneta, in the interim. Now, Dan Castellaneta is an exceptionally talented individual but he doesn’t quite have the same energy level that Williams was able to bring to the Genie in the first movie so it is nice to have the original back. Williams does a great job and gets a lot of laughs, even if he does go a little overboard with all the references and fourth wall breaks.

But, we may as well talk about Cassim. For those of you who followed my Gargoyles retrospective, you’ll recognize Cassim’s voice as John Rhys Davies, legendary actor from such films as Indiana Jones and Lord of The Rings who also just so happened to be the voice of MacBeth from Gargoyles. Truth be told, Cassim is a hard character to figure out. You get a sense that he’s genuinely happy to have Aladdin back in his life but he also doesn’t want to give up his search for the ultimate treasure. He claims he left his family and climbed the ranks of the Forty Thieves in order to provide for them, but once he thought they were lost to him, he kept searching for the treasure because he felt that was all he had left. When he learns that Aladdin is still alive, you’d think that that’d be more important to him right? Well… no, he still ends up pursuing the Oracle that can lead him to the hand of Midas. He obviously has no idea how to be a father, having had so little practice at it so his priorities are clearly askew. His love for his son is genuine, but his pride will not allow him to give up on his quest. No matter what happens, he has to see it through to the end, even if that means he must go where Aladdin cannot follow. However, I do appreciate that once he’s found his treasure, he willingly gives it up, realizing what it cost him. While is can get a bit muddled by confusing shifts in motivation, I do like how his arc is learning that his son is what’s really important. I also really appreciated Cassim’s relationship with Iago who at times acts as the literal devil on his shoulder in order to push him towards finding the Hand of Midas. I think it’s rather fitting that Iago goes with Cassim on his adventures at the end, a nice ending for both characters.

Songs:

Most the songs in this film are pretty forgettable, save for one. Out of Thin Air is a lovely duet between Aladdin and Jasmine where she encourages Aladdin to find his father and the answers about that his past that he’s sought for so long. It’s nowhere near A Whole New World, but it’s a pretty song all the same.

I also appreciate that the film ends with Arabian Nights, the song that opened the first movie and served as the theme song for the TV series. It gives the whole thing a nice sense of finality.

Memorable Scenes:

If I don’t mention it, someone will. There’s a scene in this movie where the Genie dresses up like Mrs. Doubtfire. It’s weird and meta but also pretty hilarious.

The fight between Aladdin and Sa’luk in the lair of the Forty Thieves is all kinds of awesome. Ordinarily, the code of the Forty Thieves would dictate that Aladdin must die for his intrusion but Cassim instead declares that Aladdin will fight Sa’luk to the death for membership. This way, if Aladdin wins, he gets his son back in his life and eliminates the biggest threat to his authority at the same time. The fight is surprisingly brutal and has some great use of lighting and color. The battle is epic as they battle in a ring of fire as lighting flashes in the background. Eventually, they fight their way to the side of a cliff where Sa’luk loses his balance and falls to his presumed death. It’s such an epic and fun clash and in my opinion, the closest the film comes to rivaling the original.

Finally, there’s the final treasure hunt where Aladdin and Cassim finally find the Hand of Midas. It’s not so much the scene that’s cool here but the setting. The Vanishing Isle, the fabled location of the Hand of Midas that is on the back of a giant turtle and never in the same place twice is really cool and creative and the animation and art design are breathtaking. You can really tell the animators went all out in making this place as cool as possible and they succeeded.

Story:

I find it rather fitting that the artifact that Cassim searches for is called The Hand of Midas since his story has much in common with that of the mythological king. Like Midas, Cassim thought that riches were all that mattered and, in the end, that lust for gold ended up costing him his daughter. Likewise, Cassim’s obsession with finding the hand nearly cost him what really mattered, the respect and love of his son. Like Cassim says, “You son are my Ultimate Treasure, I’m sorry it took me so long to realize it.” It’s not the strongest of metaphors but it still works. The movie is about a father and son finding one another and learning to understand one another. While it’s nowhere near the best example of a Father/Son story (check out A Goofy Movie for that), it still accomplishes what it sets out to do and ends the saga on a fun note.

The Dark Disney Factor:

The dark stuff is kept to a minimum in this one, but Sa’luk, despite being a fairly standard and forgettable villain ends up getting a pretty gruesome death. See, the Hand of Midas isn’t just a trinket. It has the power to transmute whatever it touches into solid gold, including human beings. Sa’luk doesn’t realize this and ends up transforming into a golden statue, screaming in agony as he does. It’s a pretty brutal death for a direct to video sequel. I wonder if Sa’luk is really dead or if he’s still conscious, doomed to an eternity in silent aguish at the bottom of the ocean.

Final Thoughts: This movie is far from perfect but I appreciate it as nostalgic fun and definitely one of the better Disney sequels out there. It brings the Aladdin saga and all the characters we've come to love to a natural end and it works in that regard. Next time, it's back to the Disney Renaissance as we look at a huge fan favorite film, Hercules!