FROM ALADDIN
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!
It's funny that my next favorite villain after Gaston would
be Jafar, and why you may ask? Well because Jafar was literally the next
animated Disney villain during the Renascence to appear after Gaston, which I
assure you is a complete coincidence and something that I just realized when I
created this list. Sure Jafar is a much more traditional Disney villain when compared
to Gaston, but there's just so much that I enjoy about him compared to Disney's
previous villain, that I had to put him a bit higher on the list.
For starters when I saw this film for the first time during
my pre-elementary school years, I was scared by Jafar's introduction so much
that I couldn't even get to the hilarious musical number of Aladdin out running
the Royal Guards. The image of Jafar standing in the shadows with a cold stare
at first kept me unease, until we see the thief who doesn't look too friendly
either (not to mention that we discover that he slid a few throats to get what
Jafar was after). Jafar soon reveals that the item that the thief stole and
killed for, is part of a Golden Scarab Beetle that flies off, and reveals the
Cave of Wonders. And for something as enchanting as a magical Cave, and a bright
golden beetle sounds, it's still treated just as dark as the atmosphere for the
scene. The way Jafar puts both pieces of the beetle together to then chasing
after it is intense, considering the fact that he has a
"dark purpose" as the narrator described. And once the cave is
revealed, it doesn't at all look whimsical, it's a spirit in the form of a
giant tiger head with glowing white eyes, and the voice of Dr. Claw from
"Inspector Gadget" (THE CARTOON of course). Furthermore, the Cave
eats the thief when he enters since he's not the one person that is allowed to enter, and
dies! After witnessing all that, and not really getting the chance to watch Jafar's
parrot sidekick Iago express is comedic side after the thief's death, I was
done with the movie, and didn't watch it again until the 2nd grade when the
game "Kingdom Hearts" came out and made me want to give it another chance. It also doesn't help either that I began to have a nightmare or two of this scene. I
can still remember going from a cutesy dream, to suddenly being trapped in a
cave with red hot fires and smoke (similar to the fires in the opening credits)
of Jafar and the thief staring at me in the darkness. Looking back at the scene again,
it doesn't scare me as much as it did when I was younger, but it's still one of
the very few dark scenes in the movie, that perfectly introduces our main
villain.
Jafar's design is one of thee best designs that Disney has
ever come up with, that I found to be scary as a very little kid, and cool for
how evil he looks when I started giving the film another try. Yes it looks like
a rip-off of the villain Zigzag the Grand Vizier from "The Thief and
The Cobbler", and the wizard from "The Care Bears Adventure in
Wonderland", but I still don't care for how awesome and scary he looks,
with that tall pointy turban and red feather held by a ruby, twisted goatee, long face, evil sunken eyes, and having a tall and thin body as he wears a villainous
outfit drenched with red, black, and a little bit of yellow, complete with him
wearing a long cape, and carrying a golden ruby eyed snake staff. God is that design so cool! It's been
said that Jafar's design was based on Maleficent, and yeah I can totally see that. It's almost as if Maleficent took Zigzag and the wizard and blended
their designs together, and added a bit of her own looks to create Jafar. And
in many respects Jafar is kind of a male version of Maleficent if she was Middle
Eastern, since they both perform spells, can change their appearance into giant
monsters, and having a faithful pet by their side; but I'm getting ahead of
myself. Adding to Jafar's sinister presence is the voice that Jonathan Freeman
provides for him, that sounds eerie and very "snake-like". It's just
a cool and yet chilling voice that helps make him come across as a frightening and
sophisticated villain. And yet as menacing as he sounds, he still is given
scenes for him to be as colorful as the other characters are, and provide a few
funny lines (which I'll point out later).
When we first met Jafar, we knew that he's seeking a lamp to
help make him powerful, but we don't know if he's a sorcerer or a bandit, and
when we see him again, we meet him at the most unlikely location for a villain
of his type, and that's in the palace. And no he isn't the ruler of the city of
Agrabah, or lives in a dark palace surrounded by henchmen who want to see him
rise to power like other villains before him. No, he’s a royal vizier for the
Sultan, who he has served "loyally" for years. And just like how we met him in
the shadows, here, he casts a shadow over the Sultan, and stands there smiling
villainously in a dimly lit environment that's consumed by the color red.
Though having a design that screams out for you to beware because he's the bad
guy, the Sultan being the kind but naive doofus that he is doesn't see that since Jafar is always seen to be kissing up to him to maintain his trust so he
won't suspect him to be stabbed in the back, which you can tell that Jafar
hates, especially when being threatened by Princess Jasmine when all he can do
is laugh at her threats, than fight back. But that doesn't stop him from
insulting them, or getting them to bust in subtle ways for him to still
maintain his position in royalty. When he does interact with the Sultan, he
does find ways to talk down to him and push him around as if he were a child
(though in all fairness, he almost is) without him realizing it. And when
Jasmine demands Aladdin to be free after Jafar imprisons him, he lies to her by telling her that he's dead so that she won't interfere with his plan, and to enjoy her cry in a
pool of tears. But words aren't the only thing Jafar uses against the Sultan
and Jasmine. Jafar is seeking power, but he does carry a few tricks since he
practices sorcery in a hidden room in the palace. He has a machine that can
create lightning to show him what he wants to see inside of a giant hour glass
(instead of a crystal ball). And uses his golden snake staff to hypnotize the
Sultan to do his bidding's.
However, Jafar doesn't always need to manipulate, or
hypnotize the Sultan to get what he wants, because he's assisted by his cynical
talking pet parrot Iago. There were many different ideas and interesting
casting choices for this angry sidekick. They were going to make him a classy
but yet snobby character with a British accent; were considering Danny DeVito to
voice him; and even getting the actor voicing Jafar to voice his sidekick as
well. But eventually Disney decided to
hire comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who I swear was destined to voice this
character. He fits this role so perfectly and naturally that it's hard for me to
picture any of the original casting choices for the character because of that
parrot like voice that Gottfried is known for, whether you love it or downright
despise it. With Robin Williams as the Genie being the number 1 funniest
character in the movie, Iago for my money is the second funniest character. He
gets almost the same amount of laugh out lines as Williams does, mainly
revolving around his sarcastic comments (his reaction towards the thief not
being the one to enter the cave; and the Sultan's good judge of character). His
struggles of pretending to act like an ordinary parrot (especially when the
Sultan stuffs moldy crackers down his throat) are delivered and animated
hysterically. The amount of abuse that he suffers from all the characters in
the film (including his master) never fail to bring a laugh, for how sudden,
painful, and exaggerated they are. The chemistry that he shares with his master
is always fun to watch for how different their personalities are, and the funny reactions and dialogue that they share together (my favorite being their
reaction to a possible beheading). And just like the visual gags that the Genie
poofs-up, as well as Williams' ad-libbing, he too provides a some of those comedic
aspects occasionally, most notably in the scene when Iago is getting ready to
pack light by throwing all the weapons that he has out of his cage (that could not
possibly fit), and wondering if he should keep a picture of him standing on
Jafar's shoulder because of the face he’s making (an ad-libbed line that couldn’t
make Robin Williams stop laughing). Needless to say Iago is as hilarious as a
Disney villain's sidekick can get, but with that said, there is more to the
character than just being someone who just praises his master, and constantly
suffers his abuse. But I'll dive more into that later.
And just when you think carrying some magical powers,
blindly pushing around the Sultan, and having a talking a parrot isn't enough
to help Jafar with his goals to seek the lamp to reach his position to power,
the Royal Guards that patrol the streets of Agrabah take direct orders from
him. We barely see Jafar interact with them in the film, mainly since they
spend most of their screen-time trying to catch Aladdin for the food and items
that he stole. But they are still loyal to Jafar, and have no problems carrying
out his orders, no matter how unethical they are (especially the Captain). The
guards have their share of funny moments in terms of slapstick, but the biggest
laughs for me come from the scene when their dancing as Aladdin as a Prince
arrives; and when their Captain reminds them they all got swords, after when
the others freaked over Aladdin's pet monkey Abu having one.
With powers and minions aside, Jafar also is a master of
disguise. When he has the guards imprison Aladdin, he disguises himself as an
old prisoner to persuade Aladdin to come with him to the Cave of Wonders. There
are few things that stand out to me as pure awesome villainy during his scenes
as the old prisoner. The first one being his design. It's the classic crazy
old man in rags and long beard with a wooden cane design, that gives him a
hunchback, a wild eye, hideous rotten teeth with a golden tooth, and an
eccentric personality and voice that comes-off just as chilling as Jafar's
regular speaking voice, with the same amount of dark imagery that Jafar's first
seen had. It's just as cool as Jafar's regular design. The scene is also the
only time when Jafar persuades one of his foes to do what he asks at their own
free will, without using force of any kind. He successfully manages get Aladdin to
enter the cave to fetch him the lamp by showing (with his own jewels
undoubtedly) and telling him about the untold riches that the cave has that
will make him rich and win the heart of the Princess, and helping him escape
the dungeon by showing him a secret way out. He doesn't threaten him, or push
him to get what he wants, he just uses his dreams and desires as a means to
lure him to the cave. But as persuasive as Jafar is, he's not a man of his
word. Right when Aladdin is dangling as the cave is collapsing, Jafar demands him
to give him the lamp, instead of helping him first. And when he notices Abu
rescuing him with his cane after cheering for his victory of finally possessing
the lamp, he stops the monkey, and tries to kill Aladdin with a crooked dagger
as his reward. One can only guess if Jafar was planning on doing the same thing
to the thief at the beginning, not to mention that his death meant absolutely
nothing to him. And to top off his design, successful use of persuasion, and
being a careless violent backstabber, he gets his funniest moment in the film,
which is when he discovers that the lamp is missing after taking off his mask.
Just his look of excitement turning into utter disappoint that causes him to
shout “NOOOOOO” just kills me every time. I just wonder what Iago was doing
after he took off his disguise since he was underneath the rags all this time
in pain.
Failing to get the lamp for him to rule, he decides to marry
the Princess instead, and then kill her and her Father after he's wed and has
power over Agrabah as Sultan. Since Jasmine turned down all her suitors, he
goes to the Sultan and takes out a scroll about the law of who the Princess is
allowed to marry, until he pauses and makes up that she has to marry the Royal
Vizier instead (which I love how he smiles and pretends to look shocked by it).
He prevents the Sultan from reading the scroll to see if what he's saying is
true, by taking it away and hypnotizing him to marry his daughter, which almost
works, if not only for two things. The first being the Sultan resisting the
power when he realizes how old Jafar is, which pisses Jafar off and forces him to start the
process again, that has me roaring with laughter. And the second is the arrival
of Aladdin disguised as a Prince. I love that all throughout the scene of
Aladdin posing himself as a Prince, Jafar is desperately trying to find ways to
keep the Sultan away from him, by keeping the palace doors closed to only have
him crushed (an image that had me scared as a kid, instead of laughing);
pushing all of Aladdin's singing and dancing servants out; and pins the magic
carpet down to keep the Sultan from riding it. What ticks Jafar off the most
isn't just the fact that there's another suitor that stands in his way, and that
he can't convince the Sultan otherwise, but suspects something fishy about him,
since he's never heard of him, asks him questions that he seems uncomfortable
with answering, and looks familiar, all as he's insulting him by mispronouncing
his last name Ababwa, with Abooboo.
Since the Sultan and eventually Jasmine take a liking to him,
Jafar has the guards tie up the magic carpet to a tree, capture Abu (in his
elephant form) in a net, and orders Aladdin to be killed and never be found.
And the guards figure what better place to do it, then by going to the ends of
the land, and dropping him off a cliff into the ocean, as he's tied to a ball
and chain for him to drown to death. OK, seriously, how do these guards still
have their job?! I know I'm not counting the sequels as I placed Jafar as my 8th
favorite Disney villain, but REALLY, say if we were, HOW DO THESE GUYS STILL
WORK AT THE PALACE!? Jafar didn't hypnotize them (their eyes clearly aren't
red), and I doubt that they would believe that a Prince with so many servants
and gold is a phony (he is, but Jafar doesn't have the evidence to prove it, yet).
And on top of it, their victim is alive and knows that they helped aid Jafar to
his supposed doom. Sure we never see them again
after when they commit this crime, where it seems likely that they are being
banished, or beheaded at this point. But yet in the continuity of the sequels
they weren't. The Sultan is not the brightest, but by god, he can't be this
stupid, nor would Aladdin let them get away with what they did to him. But
since I'm not counting the sequels, it doesn't really matter, but man does my brain
hurt just thinking about it. After when Aladdin is saved by the Genie, and as
Jafar is nearly about to marry Jasmine with the use of his snake staff on his
Father, Aladdin destroys the staff, tells the Sultan what he's been doing, but
Jafar being the smart villain that he is (though for some reason can't see
Aladdin under those fancy clothes, when his face is clearly exposed) has a
bottle that can make him disappear, and tells him that he's not through with
him yet, after discovering the lamp in Aladdin's turban.
OK, now remember when I said that I will later dive into
what makes Iago such an important henchmen who isn't just there to be Jafar's
comical sidekick, well Jafar's plan of marrying the Princess was all his idea.
Even downright to what he should do with "papa in law, and the little
lady" once he gains power, and how he should kill them! He presents the
idea in a comedic fashion (as well as hurting himself when acting out their
death), but it's still a logical and diabolic idea for Jafar's next plan of
seizing absolute power, which Jafar happily comments on his idea, rather than
stealing credit from him (unlike most villains). But so what, he helps Jafar
come out with a scheme that doesn't work, which is probably the only important
thing that he does. NOPE! Iago is given the important task to steal the lamp by
perfectly mimicking Jasmine's voice as he's disguised as a Flamingo (that
attracts another one, by the way) to lure him away, that gives him so much joy
for accomplishing this task that he impersonates his master thinking of what he'll say
when he gives him the lamp. So keep in mind, Jafar's success of gaining powers is
all because of Iago. And that's not the first time Iago has stolen something
important, the first thing he ever does in the film is steal part of the golden
beetle from the thief to help Jafar find the Cave of Wonders.
Iago maybe funny in terms of personality, and in many ways gets abused like any
other henchmen, but he's one of the few who can be funny and still do so many
important tasks for a villain. And before Disney would just market Iago as a likable
jerk in the franchise, he originally was a sadistic little monster that loved seeing
the good fall, and watching others suffer through pain or death that gives this
comical character the same kind of edge as minions like the Hyenas, Pain and
Panic, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel have.
Now with the lamp in his possession he can now make wishes
to help him rule the land. When the Genie sees his new master and comically
calls him "a tall, dark and sinister ugly man" (best way to describe
Jafar's appearance), Jafar not taking any of his comedy crap, nor showing any signs
of fear of the Genie's powers, throws
him to the ground, stomps his foot over his face, and makes his first wish.
Alright now before I talk about his first his wish, let me point this out
again. Jafar who is nowhere near as powerful as the Genie, abuses him the same
way that he would abuse Iago, with no fear or intimidation of him what-so-ever!
That takes major guts! The Genie could easily squish him like a bug if he
really wants too, or turn him into something hideous, but since Jafar knows
that he serves him now, he doesn't feel the need to treat him with respect, or
not violently force him to obey his commands or shut him up if he feels likes it.
And doesn't care what the Genie will do to him once he uses all his three
wishes, since he's so confident that he's going to make the right wishes. So
whether having no powers, or powers that aren't up to par with the Genie's,
he'll still show no hesitation of treating the Genie so cruelly, which is part
of what make him such an awesome baddie from Disney!
The first wish he makes is to rule high up on the mountains
above Agrabah as Sultan. The result of his wish gives him the power to rule
Agrabah, with a reluctant Genie looking god-like to move the palace up to the
top of the mountains as he spreads fear to the citizens of the city, and Jafar
wearing the Sultan's clothes (that I guess the Genie's powers somehow made the
clothes adjust to Jafar's size since the Sultan was so small and plump). Iago
himself even gets a royal turban for him to wear, while showing joy for Jafar's
rise to power as he finally reveals himself to the others who they thought was
just a harmless parrot. Jafar finally gaining what he's always wanted acts more
cocky and flamboyant than he's ever behaved earlier in the film (my favorite is
when he taunts Aladdin with the phrase "finders, keepers" when he
realizes his careless mistake), that's over the top enough to make it fun, but
still keeping true to his evil nature that makes him threatening for how mad he is with power, that just grows and grows every time he seeks for more. Fun
fact about this wish he makes by the way. In the original draft everything you
see here happened, but one thing the writers completely left out was that Jafar
was going to alter history by having him being the Sultan all along, where Aladdin,
Abu, and the Magic Carpet would somehow be immune to this alteration in time, but was
cut for being too confusing. It would make his wish to be Sultan not feel that
wasted of a wish when he could have easily claimed that right to power in the
next form that he takes, but yeah I don't see this plot fitting within the
context of the film.
After discovering that Jasmine won't bow to him, and that he
could be over-thrown as Sultan with no physical power, he makes his second wish
to become "the most powerful sorcerer IN THE WORLD", so that he can
use his power to control others and spread fear. Jafar's sorcerer form does
look similar to his regular form, but there are indeed a few alterations. His
turban is now in the form of horns as the ruby in the center remain, but the
feather attached to it is completely absent. And his new snake staff has its
mouth opened instead of being closed, that looks as vicious as Jafar is with
his new power, which I believe it to symbolize him finally striking his true
colors on the Sultan and the city, as his old staff symbolizes him being
intimidating but silent, since the snake's mouth was shut. As sorcerer Jafar
becomes more powerful, threatening, ruthless, and cooler of a villain than he
has ever been in the last two acts now that he is completely mad with power, he
can forcefully control people with his beam; make objects and weapons
(like swords and fire) appear in a snap; can instantly turn his enemies into
either life-less objects, make them less dangerous, or flat out killing them
(as he makes one pun after another); and is practically invincible. The best
part about him becoming a sorcerer is that he finally gets a song to sing as he
changes Aladdin back to a street-rat and sends him off to his supposed doom, and as
short as it is, and is probably nowhere near Disney's top five best when it comes
to villain songs, it's still fully enjoyable. The song is about Jafar simply
taunting Aladdin for what he truly is in front of Jasmine, and Freeman seems to
be having a good time singing this song, and selling every second of it with
his vocals and personality that he gives to the character. But just when you
think Jafar seems demented enough with the powers that now he possesses, just as the
song is ending, he out of nowhere turns into this...
Oh god did this image scare me when I was a kid! His laugh
was already scary for how mischievous it was (aside from the time when he realizes that
Aladdin has the lamp), but here he's laughing like a lunatic, where his eyes
start swirling, lightning strikes, and he casts a shadow over a helpless
Jasmine and her Father. And I thought the opening scene with Jafar when I only
saw part of the film when I was a kid was the scariest scene in the film.
Much like how later Disney villain Yzma made the Palace her
own when she took control, Jafar does the same thing. This once gorgeous
looking palace is now drenched with hellish red, as Jafar sits on a throne
that's been changed to Cobra to fit his personality instead of an Elephant,
as he's surrounded by treasure, watches Iago stuff moldy crackers down the
former Sultans throat as his Jester (my favorite scene with Iago), and has
Jasmine in a slave outfit serve him. I don't know what took him until this very
moment to discover how hot Jasmine is considering that he was originally planning
to kill her (maybe it's the outfit, or that he has the power to do whatever he
wants) but for a guy as old and evil looking as Jafar is, to try to hit on an
underage and innocent beautiful princess like Jasmine is pretty disturbing. The
age gap is part of it, but the real reason is how little he thinks of her as a
person. All he cares about is her good looks and nothing more, and has no
trouble abusing her, acting like a slob in front of her, and wishing to
brainwash her to make her a mindless love slave for him. Gaston was pretty
similar to that, but the biggest differences compared to him and Jafar are,
Jafar was old and devilsh, while Gaston was around Belle's age and handsome.
Jafar had magical powers to abuse the girl he wished to have, while Gaston
didn't. And above all, Jafar got a little action from Jasmine when she pretend
to be in love with him, as Gaston got nothing from Belle! Though they are
equally sexist. I mean who could forget Jafar's cruel sexist line to Jasmine
"You're speechless, I see. A fine quality in a wife."
Out of all the forms that Jafar takes, my personal favorite is
when he turns himself into a giant snake. When I first saw him slowly transform
into one, I was so amazed for how cool it looked, that I had to rewind it once
or twice to see it again (which I should note that this is the last time that we ever see
Jafar in his sorcerer form). And when I finally saw how big, monstrous, and
deadly the snake looked as Aladdin fought against him, I was in absolute awe!
The way that this monster is animated and designed is incredible, and is by far the
most dangerous obstacle that Aladdin had to fight for how quick, gigantic, and
scary he is. And just when you think Jafar dies after being stabbed, he
comes back and nearly strangles Aladdin to death in his coils. Above all the
great things to come out this form, Jafar was destined to become a snake from
the very start, from his snake staff, to how sneaky he is, to how much his voice
resembles one. And yes, he does get a hissing voice when he finally changes into
one, that's just as terrifying as his normal voice.
Aladdin tells Jafar that the Genie is more powerful than he
is, and that he'll always be "second best" as long as the Genie is
around. Upon realizing this, Jafar makes his third and final wish to become an
"all powerful Genie". When he transforms into one, he turns into a
Genie that looks similar to the devil Satan with his black goatee, hell red
body, and bright yellow sharp teeth and lifeless eyes, speaking in a godly
voice. What makes matters worse is, now that he has the powers of a Genie, he
can now rule the universe.
He maybe as powerful as a god, but just like all other
Genies, he's a prisoner of the lamp that he's attached too, and will remain in
there until wished to be freed (along with Iago). Some would find his downfall
to be anti-climactic, but I think it's perfect. Jafar motivation is power, and
he will go through all the ranks of power until the world is trembling at his
feet. And just when he has all the powers known to man, he fails to realize
that he's wishing for imprisonment for the rest of his life, instantly
regretting his wish after discovering this important fact, when he could have
simply ruled Agrabah with the powers that he already possessed from his second
wish. It's his lust for power that contributes to his downfall,which I find to
be a more poetic way for this villain to go, rather than killing him like most
of the other Disney villains, thus making him one of the few to still live. Oh and
if this design reminds you of someone else, well that's because the Genie took
that form earlier in the film to describe his powers (in a cosmic background)
before showing his imprisonment in the lamp, which Aladdin uses the Genie's
exact words when he imprisons Jafar. So the film has a little foreshadowing to
Jafar's defeat as well.
What is there not to praise about Jafar as Disney villain,
he practically has all the qualities of a perfect Disney villain. He’s scary, ruthless,
funny, and sophisticated. His design is intimidating. His hunger for power
never seizes until he rules everything. Every different form he takes are cool
and threatening in every way. The powers
and skills that he possesses help make him such a challenge for our hero to
defeat. And his comical henchman is just as slimy as he is. He is just truly an
awesome villain from an awesome movie!
"I think it's time to say goodbye to Prince Abooboo"
-Jafar
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