Genie

Genie From Aladdin.

History

Aladdin

On a dark night, a shady man named Jafar seeks the location of the Cave of Wonders, plotting to use Genie to take control of a nearby kingdom known as Agrabah. Unfortunately for Jafar, only one individual may enter the cave, the "diamond in the rough", who turns out to be a street rat named Aladdin. Jafar manages to manipulate Aladdin into entering the cave to retrieve the lamp for him, but Aladdin's monkey sidekick, Abu, touches a piece of forbidden treasure, resulting in the cave sinking back into the sand and trapping Aladdin inside. There, Abu reveals to have the lamp intact and hands it over to Aladdin, who inadvertently unleashes the Genie. Genie immediately introduces himself as a servant, willing to grant Aladdin a total of three wishes, be they food, riches, or any other form of luxury that sticks within the confines of the genie laws. To ensure he doesn't waste any wish, Aladdin tricks Genie into freeing he and Abu from the cave, which Genie falls for, taking the duo, as well as Genie's Magic Carpet companion, to an oasis in the desert. There, Genie realizes Aladdin's trickery but quickly gets past it to return to his job at hand, waiting patiently as Aladdin ponders on his wishes. The street rat, out of genuine curiosity, asks Genie what the latter would wish for, which sparks the reveal of the Genie's longing to experience freedom, explaining he can never escape his lamp prison unless his master wishes him out. Feeling sympathy, Aladdin promises to use his third wish to free Genie, though the latter is initially hesitant to agree. Once Aladdin reassures he's telling the truth, hope reigns over Genie, and a promise is set before attention is given to Aladdin's first wish: making him a prince to legally allow a relationship with Princess Jasmine, as only a prince can marry the princess. Along with new attire, Aladdin is given the alias "Prince Ali" and travels to Agrabah with the accompaniment of an elaborate parade led by a disguised Genie. Though the front is enough to impress the Sultan, Jasmine is less than amused by Ali's flashy nature, disregarding him as another pompous suitor who sees her as nothing but a prize to be won. That night, Aladdin laments his foolishness, feeling lost as to what more he can do. He asks for Genie's advice, though he merely advises Aladdin to drop the act and be himself, to which Aladdin scoffs, feeling Jasmine would never want association with a mere street rat. Aladdin flies up to Jasmine's balcony on Carpet, making another attempt to earn the princess' attention, but fails again as a result of keeping with the "Prince Ali" persona. Genie disguises himself as a bee to couch Aladdin but is shooed off. Aladdin nevertheless apologizes to Jasmine for his behavior and starts to make his leave, though the appearance of Carpet sparks her curiosity. Knowing Jasmine craves freedom just as much as he does, Aladdin offers the princess a ride on Carpet, to which she accepts. In during which, the two successfully spark a romantic relationship, but this causes trouble for Jafar, who wishes to marry Jasmine for power. Aladdin is kidnapped by the royal guards per Jafar's orders and thrown into the bottom of the sea. He manages to rub the lamp just before he loses consciousness. A panicked Genie forcefully uses Aladdin's second wish to rescue him, carrying him back to land, thus saving his life. Aladdin warmly thanks Genie, who responds by admitting to have a growing fondness for the street rat. Genie then takes Aladdin back to the palace, where Jafar's treachery is revealed. Just before he escapes the Sultan's guards, Jafar notices Genie's lamp hidden inside Aladdin's turban, and subsequently sends his parrot, Iago, to steal it. The next day, Genie congratulates Aladdin on his success, as Jasmine has officially chosen Ali as her suitor. Unfortunately, Aladdin feels unworthy of Jasmine's love, due to the fact that his persona is built on a lie. Genie, however, feels happiness and hopeful that Aladdin would now keep his promise and set him free. Because of his aforementioned feeling of guilt, Aladdin believes he's unable to keep up the ruse without Genie, denying the latter's freedom out of desperation. A downhearted Genie laments his feeling of betrayal, before returning to his lamp, leaving Aladdin to think over his choice. With remorse and selflessness having consumed him, Aladdin makes the decision to tell Jasmine the truth, leaving the lamp behind as he leaves to do so, and allowing it to fall into the hands (er, wings) of Iago. When Genie is summoned once more, he starts to berate Aladdin, only to find that Jafar is now the master of the lamp. Genie is then forced to abide Jafar's first wish to rule on high as sultan, stripping Jasmine's father of his title and transforming to a monstrous size to place the palace upon a high mountain. Aladdin tries to stop Genie, but the latter can only apologize, explaining that he must follow the orders of his new master. Craving dominance through the use of fear, Jafar wishes to become the most powerful sorcerer in the world, which Genie fearfully grants. Jafar uses his new powers to reveal Ali's true identity to Jasmine, and subsequently banishes him to the ends of the earth, alongside Abu and Carpet. Genie can only watch the scene unfold in despair, and just as Jafar assumes control of the world. In the dystopian Agrabah, Genie sits in depressed silence as Jafar continuously tortures the imprisoned Jasmine and former sultan. Fortunately, Aladdin, Abu, and Carpet return, elating Genie, though he warns Aladdin that he won't be able to assist him, being that his lamp was in the ownership of Jafar. Aladdin makes a stealthy attempt to steal the lamp, but Jafar spots him and attacks. Genie watches helplessly as the two adversaries battle, though he cheers Aladdin on throughout. When Aladdin is cornered, he looks to a fearful Genie for help and gets the idea to trick Jafar into wishing to become an all-powerful genie. Though horrified by the thought of such a cruel man having all the power in the universe, Genie reluctantly grants Jafar's wish. Unfortunately for Jafar, the powers of a genie come with a price, and the former vizier soon becomes trapped in his own black lamp. Jafar's magic upon the kingdom and its inhabitants are lifted, and a joyous Genie celebrates the villain's defeat by flinging the latter's lamp to the Cave of Wonders, to ensure 10,000 years of imprisonment. Afterward, Aladdin apologizes to Jasmine for lying to her and accepts the fact that they can never be together. Genie watches sadly and urges Aladdin to use his final wish to become a prince again, willing to lose his freedom for the love Aladdin and Jasmine share. Aladdin refuses to continue living a lie, and wishes for Genie's freedom, much to the latter's surprise. Genie undergoes a transformation, losing his shackles and misty tail, symbolizing his newfound freedom. Genie is ecstatic, and eagerly sets his sight on seeing the world, but not before bidding Aladdin farewell, claiming the latter will always be a prince in his eyes. Genie's words prompt the Sultan to abolish the law separating Aladdin and Jasmine, believing Aladdin has proven himself worthy enough for Jasmine's love. Genie joyously celebrates the romantic moment before leaving Agrabah to begin his travels, with Aladdin and Jasmine seeing him off as he does so.

In honor of their engagement, Aladdin and Jasmine share a lavish magic carpet ride. As they fly off into the night, a zestful Genie (in the form of a moon) watches over them.

The Return of Jafar

In the 1994 direct-to-video sequel The Return of Jafar, Genie returns to Agrabah, deciding that the world is not all that great without his friends to share it with. He tells Aladdin and Jasmine that he is no longer as powerful as he once was because free genies are not as strong as genies bound by lamps. Instead of having phenomenal cosmic powers with an itty bitty living space, he now has "semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic powers" and is as free as a bird. Despite the fact that he lost some of his power when he was freed, he still appears to be roughly as powerful as Jafar is in the first film after he makes his second wish and becomes the most powerful sorcerer in the world. He can fly, shape-shift, conjure things out of thin air, and make them disappear.

That night, when Jasmine gets angry at Aladdin for hiding from her the fact that he brought Iago back to the palace, Genie convinces Iago to help get Aladdin and Jasmine back together. Later, he is confronted by Jafar and imprisoned alongside Abu. Jafar is able to do this because he was still bound by his lamp and thus had access to all the power that came with it. If Jafar had been freed from his lamp by Abis Mal, his power would have been downgraded and he would have most likely been just as powerful as Genie, but no more powerful. Ironically, Jafar wishes to become a genie to become even more powerful than he already was, and it came with a price. If Jafar had been freed, he would only have been as powerful as he was before becoming a genie, making his third wish a waste.

After being freed from Jafar's imprisonment by a morally confused Iago, Genie saves Aladdin from being executed by the palace guards, who Jafar had tricked into believing that Aladdin had murdered the Sultan.

Together they decide that Jafar must be stopped once and for all and Genie says that the only way to destroy Jafar is to destroy his lamp. Genie later attempts to discreetly grab Jafar's lamp but is unable to do so. When Aladdin attempts to grab the lamp in front of Jafar, Jafar blows him out of the throne room into the palace garden, and Genie saves Aladdin from serious injury by catching him when he falls. He then assists Aladdin in the final battle against Jafar by shape-shifting into Aladdin in an attempt to distract him while Aladdin grabs his lamp. However, Jafar catches on in time to stop Aladdin from reaching his lamp. Fortunately, the reformed Iago manages to kick Jafar's lamp into lava, thus destroying Jafar. While this happens, Genie saves Jasmine and Abu from a dangerous situation as the ground is closing back up. When he finds out that Iago survived the battle, he celebrates by turning into a firework.

Aladdin: The Series

Genie has a major supporting role in the Aladdin television series, set between The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves. In the series, being that his power lowered after his freedom, the villains in the series hold a better chance a succeeding but not extremely. While he beats monsters and saves the day when the heroes are in trouble, he does not do everything for them. Because he lost some of his power when he was freed, he cannot solve every problem that comes up with the snap of a finger, so it is often up to Aladdin and his friends to do their own fighting and save themselves. However, he is still an indispensable member of the group. There are many, many occasions in the TV series where Genie's magic is crucial for the heroes to win and the situation would have been hopeless without him. It is also shown throughout various times in the show that he tries to hide his identity as a Genie to ensure that no one tries to abuse his power like "Do the Rat Thing" where Aladdin says he never wants to misuse his powers again, in "Never Say Nefir" where he took on a human appearance, in "Fowl Weather" where he hides from a young orphan boy, and in "Moonlight Madness" where he transforms his tail into a pair of legs while he has a food fight with Iago and Abu in the marketplace where many bystanders are.

During the course of the show, Genie meets a love interest, a genie named Eden. Unlike Genie, she still has a master. Several episodes revolve around Genie as well as some recurring series plots. In some episodes Genie is being hunted down by the evil sorcerer Mozenrath so that he can use Genie's powers for evil. Other episode plots involve being chased down by a Genie's natural enemy the Mukhtar who later becomes friends with Genie after Genie saves his life while they are working together towards a common goal.

Aladdin and the King of Thieves

Aladdin and Jasmine are about to wed and the excited Genie spends the morning preparing. He decorates the city and informs the citizens of the special event. He is also Aladdin's best man as well as wedding planner, decorator, valet and more. During the ceremony, Genie and his friends are attacked by the Forty Thieves. Genie battles with ease having the villains retreat.

After the dust settles, Genie has the task of rebuilding and reorganizing the wedding. Aladdin learns they were after a scepter that unleashes an Oracle. The Oracle has the answer to every question and Aladdin uses the opportunity to learn the whereabouts of his father. Genie and the others find out he's the King of Thieves and while Aladdin goes to find him, Genie stays behind to fix up the wedding pavilion.

After time passes, Jasmine begins to worry for Aladdin's safety until Genie comes in and uses a mix of comedy and heart to re-ensure Jasmine of Aladdin's safety and to cheer her up. He and Jasmine spend time planning the theme for the wedding and different outfits to try. That morning, Aladdin and the others arrive with a mysterious man. Genie is told that the man is the King of Thieves. Genie, in shock, uses his high-tech security system to prepare an attack, but is told that the man is Aladdin's father, Cassim. Genie quickly welcomes him into the family.

That night, Cassim is exposed as the king of thieves and caught attempting to steal the scepter with Iago. After Razoul alerts the Sultan, he has no choice but to put him behind bars. After requesting from Genie his father's clothes, Aladdin breaks Cassim and Iago out and is ready for the punishment but Genie and Jasmine take up for him having the Sultan forgive and forget. Genie tries to ease Aladdin's anger and convinces him to save his father after he's been double-crossed by his former henchman. They go off to an island where lies the Hand of Midas. Genie begins to sink the island while Aladdin and the others battle the thieves and save Cassim. After all is good, Genie attends the wedding and watches Aladdin and Jasmine fly off on Carpet.

During the post-credits scene, Genie appears on the black screen and says "Game over man! Game over!" (a reference to a similar line by the character Hudson from Aliens (1986) before disappearing magically, indicating that the film is the last installment of the Aladdin trilogy.

Voices

• Robin Williams (1992-1996)
• Dan Castellaneta
• Jim Meskimen (2008–present)