Aladdin (1992 Disney film)

Aladdin
A hand holds an oil lamp and another rubs it, and glowing dust starts coming off the lamp's nozzle. The text "Walt Disney Pictures presents: Aladdin" is atop the image, with the tagline "Imagine if you had three wishes, three hopes, three dreams and they all could come true." scrawling underneath it.
Theatrical release poster by John Alvin
Directed by
Screenplay by
Story by
Based on"Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" from One Thousand and One Nights[a]
Produced by
  • John Musker
  • Ron Clements
Starring
Edited byH. Lee Peterson
Music byAlan Menken
Production
company
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution[c]
Release date
  • November 11, 1992 (1992-11-11)[4]
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$28 million[5]
Box office$504.1 million[5]

Aladdin is a 1992 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution under Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the Arabic folktale "Aladdin" from One Thousand and One Nights. The film was produced and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements from a screenplay they co-wrote with the writing team of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Featuring the voices of Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried and Douglas Seale, the film follows the titular Aladdin, an Arabian street urchin who finds a magic lamp containing a genie. With the genie's help, Aladdin disguises as a wealthy prince and tries to impress the Sultan of Agrabah to win the heart of his free-spirited daughter, Princess Jasmine, as the Sultan's evil vizier, Jafar, plots to steal the magic lamp.

Lyricist Howard Ashman pitched the idea, and the screenplay went through three drafts before Disney Studios president, Jeffrey Katzenberg, agreed to its production. The animators based their designs on the work of caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, and computers were used for both finishing the artwork and creating some animated elements. The musical score was composed by Alan Menken, and features six songs with lyrics written by both Ashman and Tim Rice, the latter of whom took over following Ashman's death.

Aladdin was released on November 11, 1992. It received positive reviews from critics (particularly for Williams's performance). It was a commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1992, with an earning of over $504 million in worldwide box-office revenue. On release, it became the first animated feature to reach the half-billion-dollar mark, and was the highest-grossing animated film of all time until it was surpassed by The Lion King.

Aladdin garnered two Academy Awards, as well as other accolades for its soundtrack, which had the first number from a Disney feature to earn a Grammy Award for Song of the Year, for the film's "A Whole New World", sung by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle. The film's home VHS release set a sales record, grossing approximately $500 million in the United States. Aladdin's success led to various derived works and other material inspired by the film, including two direct-to-video sequels, The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves, an animated television series, and a Broadway adaptation. A live-action film adaptation directed by Guy Ritchie was released May 24, 2019.

  1. ^ Arafat A. Razzaque, 'Who "wrote" Aladdin? The Forgotten Syrian Storyteller' Archived May 25, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Ajam Media Collective (14 September 2017).
  2. ^ Horta, Paulo Lemos (2018). Aladdin: A New Translation. Liveright Publishing. pp. 8–10. ISBN 9781631495175. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  3. ^ Nun, Katalin; Stewart, Dr Jon (2014). Volume 16, Tome I: Kierkegaard's Literary Figures and Motifs: Agamemnon to Guadalquivir. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 31.
  4. ^ "Aladdin (1992)". The Numbers. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Aladdin (1992)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2009.


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