The film takes place after the third season of the television series and is inspired by the tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves from One Thousand and One Nights, replacing Ali Baba with Aladdin. For the first time since the original Aladdin, the film has a completely new soundtrack instead of the rearranged music from the original film for The Return of Jafar and the series. This film also marks the return of Robin Williams, reprising his role as Genie (Dan Castellaneta voices him in the second film, the series and other media).
Although this film serves as the series finale of the television series, the characters also appear in a 1999 crossover episode of the animated series Hercules, titled "Hercules and the Arabian Night", as well as the segment More Than a Peacock Princess from the 2007 direct-to-video film Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams, both of which occur after this plot. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews, although it was deemed an improvement over The Return of Jafar.
Plot
At Agrabah, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine prepare to be married. During the ceremony, the legendary Forty Thieves appear, trying to steal a magical staff. After driving them off, Aladdin and his friends discover the Oracle, a woman within the staff who can answer a single question about absolutely anything to any individual. She hints to Aladdin that all of his questions can be answered by his father, who is still alive, much to everyone's surprise. According to her, Aladdin's father is with the Forty Thieves, "trapped within their world".
Aladdin, with Abu, Iago and Carpet, tracks the thieves and stows away into their hideout, Mount Sesame, where he discovers that his father Cassim is actually the King of Thieves, their leader. The two have a heartfelt reunion before Cassim's chief subordinate Sa'luk tries to punish Aladdin for infiltrating their hideout. Cassim, however, suggests that Aladdin instead face the initiation ritual known as "the Challenge": if he defeats another one of the Forty Thieves, he can take their place. Aladdin defeats Sa'luk and is welcomed into the band.
Cassim reveals that he left his family in search for the Hand of Midas, an artifact that can transform anything it touches to gold. Cassim believed that, with it, he could return to his family and rescue them from poverty. With the staff, he could question the Oracle for the precise whereabouts of the artifact. Aladdin convinces Cassim to return with him to Agrabah to live an honest life. Initially hesitant, Cassim agrees after realizing that the wedding can be his last chance to get the Oracle.
After spending quality time with Aladdin and his friends, Cassim decides to go forward with his original scheme, with Iago as his new henchman. Meanwhile, Sa'luk travels to Agrabah and sells out his fellow thieves by telling Razoul, the Captain of Agrabah's Royal Guard, the password to their hideout in exchange for immunity from prosecution. After all but seven of the thieves are captured, Razoul learns that Aladdin is one of the forty, and his father Cassim is the King himself. Cassim and Iago try to steal the Oracle but are captured and detained after the Sultan learns of Cassim's relationship with the Forty Thieves. Aladdin rescues Cassim and Iago but returns to the palace to take responsibility for his actions. As the Sultan is about to punish Aladdin, the Genie and Jasmine come to his defense, stating that all he wanted was to give his father a second chance. Understanding this, the Sultan accepts Aladdin's apology and resumes preparations for the wedding.
Returning to Mount Sesame, Cassim and Iago are captured by Sa'luk and the remaining seven thieves (Sa'luk deceived them into believing Cassim had betrayed them to Razoul), who force them to use the Oracle to locate the Hand of Midas. The Oracle directs them to the Vanishing Isle, a marble fortress built on the back of an enormous turtle that periodically dives to the bottom of the ocean, where the Hand is hidden. Iago escapes and goes to lead Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu and Carpet to Cassim.
Aladdin frees and reconciles with his father. Working together, they retrieve the Hand just as the turtle is starting to submerge. However, they are ambushed by Sa'luk, who takes Aladdin hostage, demanding that Cassim surrender the Hand. Cassim throws the Hand to Sa'luk, who grabs it by the wrong end and is transformed into a lifeless gold statue. Realizing that his obsession has brought only trouble and that his son is actually his ultimate treasure, Cassim throws the Hand into the ship with the remaining thieves aboard, turning it into gold and sinking it.
That night, Aladdin and Jasmine are married, with all their friends and family present. Cassim watches this from afar because he is still a wanted man, and Iago decides to join him on his travels. Aladdin and Cassim wave goodbye to each other as the former kisses Jasmine while the latter rides off into the moonlight with Iago.
The peddler who told the story ends the story saying "happy end to the tale and tomorrow's a sale so I better go home and rest" while offering a picture to Aladdin and Jasmine of them on a rug.
Following the success of The Return of Jafar, Disney announced in January 1995 that a third film was in production.[3][4] In June, it was scheduled for a home-video release in 1996.[5] In September 1995, it was confirmed that Robin Williams would reprise the role of the Genie reportedly for a $1 million salary, after he received an apology from Joe Roth for Disney breaching an agreement not to use his voice to merchandise products inspired by Aladdin.[6][7] With Williams on board, all recordings and animation footage of Dan Castellaneta as the Genie was scrapped, and all of the Genie's scenes were rewritten to fit Williams' comedic style.[8]
On its release, the film was accompanied by a marketing campaign at more than $70 million, with commercial tie-ins with McDonald's and General Mills.[10][11][12]
Home media
At the time of its release, The King of Thieves was reportedly outselling The Return of Jafar, but Disney declined to disclose actual sales figures for the release.[12] In 1996, the film sold 10.3 million units in the United States,[13] generating at least $130,000,000 (equivalent to $253,000,000 in 2023) in sales revenue.[14] It was the sixth-best-selling film video release in the United States during 1996.[15]
On January 18, 2005, the film was re-released as a special editionDVD and VHS (the same day as The Return of Jafar), with the DVD version receiving a digitally-restored picture, remastered sound, two interactive games, and a behind-the-scenes bonus feature. However, the film is matted into a 1.85:1 widescreen ratio (an aspect ratio that, at the time, Disney had seldom used for television animation).[16] The movie returned to the Disney Vault with the two other films in the series in January 2008.[17]Aladdin and the King of Thieves and The Return of Jafar were released in North America on a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD combo pack on January 5, 2016, as a Disney Movie Club exclusive (with both films matted into a 1.78:1 widescreen ratio).[18]
Reception
Based on 12 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has received a 33% approval rating, with an average score of 4.84/10.[19]
Caryn James of The New York Times praised the sequel as "far better than The Return of Jafar", and acknowledged that "the video has some other weak spots, but these hardly matter when Aladdin and the King of Thieves is so brimming with comic invention and adventure".[20]
The Washington Post stated that the "art of animation is strictly Saturday morning quality again (jobbed out to Disney's overseas JV team), and the score is a long step backward from the original, meaning the movie lacks the lingering resonance and memorable visual moments of Disney's big-budget affairs. Essentially, the movie is comparable to other reputable animated titles like The Swan Princess and Balto – pretty good, but not exactly Disney."[22]
^The Music Behind the Magic: The Musical Artistry of Alan Menken, Howard Ashman & Tim Rice: Disc 3: Aladdin (Compact discliner notes). Various Artists. Walt Disney Records. 1992. p. 4 Note: Track 28 on Disc 3 is called "Arabian Nights, Reprise (Unreleased Master)" that is later used in Aladdin and the King of Thieves. 60014-7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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