Adaptations
[edit]
Adaptations vary in their faithfulness to the original story. In particular, difficulties with the Chinese setting are quite often resolved by giving the story a more typical Arabian Nights background.
Books[edit]
One of the many literary retellings of the tale appears in A Book of Wizards (1966) and A Choice of Magic (1971), by Ruth Manning-Sanders. Another is the early Penguin version for children, Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp, illustrated by John Harwood with many Chinese details; the translator or re-teller is not acknowledged. This was a "Porpoise" imprint printed in 1947 and released in 1948.
Aladdin: Master of the Lamp (1992), edited by Mike Resnick and Martin H. Greenberg, is an anthology containing 43 original short stories inspired by the tale.
"The Nobility of Faith" by Jonathan Clements, in the anthology Doctor Who Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas (2007), is a retelling of the Aladdin story in the style of the Arabian Nights, but featuring the Doctor in the role of the genie.
Comics[edit]
Western comics[edit]
In 1962, the Italian branch of Walt Disney Productions published the story Paperino e la grotta di Aladino (Donald and Aladdin's Cave), written by Osvaldo Pavese and drawn by Pier Lorenzo De Vita. As in many pantomimes, the plot is combined with elements of the Ali Baba story: Uncle Scrooge leads Donald Duck and their nephews on an expedition to find the treasure of Aladdin and they encounter the Middle Eastern counterparts of the Beagle Boys. Scrooge describes Aladdin as a brigand who used the legend of the lamp to cover the origins of his ill-gotten gains. They find the cave holding the treasure—blocked by a huge rock requiring a magic password ("open sesame") to open.
The original version of the comic book character Green Lantern was partly inspired by the Aladdin myth; the protagonist discovers a "lantern-shaped power source and a 'power ring'" which gives him the power to create and control matter.
In the Elseworlds series, there was even a story that combined the Green Lantern mythos with that of Aladdin called Green Lantern: 1001 Emerald Nights.
Manga[edit]
The Japanese manga series Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic is not a direct adaptation, but features Aladdin as the main character of the story and includes many characters from other One Thousand and One Nights stories. An adaptation of this comic to an anime television series was made in October 2012 in which Aladdin is voiced by Kaori Ishihara in Japanese and Erica Mendez in English.
Pantomimes[edit]
An 1886 theatre poster advertising a production of the pantomime Aladdin
In the United Kingdom, the story of Aladdin was dramatised in 1788 by John O'Keefe for the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. It has been a popular subject for pantomime for over 200 years.
The traditional Aladdin pantomime is the source of the well-known pantomime character Widow Twankey (Aladdin's mother). In pantomime versions, changes in the setting and story are often made to fit it better into "China" (albeit a China situated in the East End of London rather than medieval Baghdad), and elements of other Arabian Nights tales (in particular Ali Baba) are often introduced into the plot. One version of the "pantomime Aladdin" is Sandy Wilson's musical Aladdin, from 1979.
Since the early 1990s, Aladdin pantomimes have tended to be influenced by the Disney animation. For instance, the 2007/08 production at the Birmingham Hippodrome starring John Barrowman featured songs from the Disney movies Aladdin and Mulan.
Other musical theatre[edit]
New Crowns for Old, a 19th-century British cartoon based on the Aladdin story (Disraeli as Abanazer from the pantomime version of Aladdin offering Queen Victoria an Imperial crown (of India) in exchange for a Royal one)
The New Aladdin was a successful Edwardian musical comedy in 1906.
Adam Oehlenschläger wrote his verse drama Aladdin in 1805. Carl Nielsen wrote incidental music for this play in 1918–19. Ferruccio Busoni set some verses from the last scene of Oehlenschläger's Aladdin in the last movement of his Piano Concerto, Op. 39.
In 1958, a musical comedy version of Aladdin was written especially for U.S. television, with a book by S. J. Perelman and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. A London stage production followed in 1959, in which a 30-year-old Bob Monkhouse played the part of Aladdin at the Coliseum Theatre.
Aladdin, Prince Street Players version; book by Jim Eiler, music by Jim Eiler and Jeanne Bargy, lyrics by Jim Eiler.
Broadway Junior has released Aladdin Jr., a children's musical based on the music and screenplay of the Disney animation.
The Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular musical stage show ran at Disney California Adventure from January 2003 to January 10, 2016.
StarKid Productions released the musical Twisted on YouTube in 2013, a parody of the 1992 Disney film that is told from the royal vizier's point of view.
A Disney Theatrical Production of Aladdin opened in 2011 in Seattle, in Toronto in 2013, and on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre on March 20, 2014.
Theatrical films[edit]
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1917)
Animation: Europe and Asia[edit]
The 1926 animated film The Adventures of Prince Achmed (the earliest surviving animated feature film) combined the story of Aladdin with that of the prince. In this version the princess Aladdin pursues is Achmed's sister and the sorcerer is his rival for her hand. The sorcerer steals the castle and the princess through his own magic and then sets a monster to attack Aladdin, from which Achmed rescues him. Achmed then informs Aladdin he requires the lamp to rescue his own intended wife, Princess Pari Banou, from the demons of the Island of Wak Wak. They convince the Witch of the Fiery Mountain to defeat the sorcerer, and then all three heroes join forces to battle the demons.
A Thousand and One Nights is a 1969 Japanese adult anime feature film directed by Eiichi Yamamoto, conceived by Osamu Tezuka. The film is a first part of Mushi Production's Animerama, a series of films aimed at an adult audience.
The animated feature Aladdin and His Magic Lamp by Film Jean Image was released in 1970 in France. The story contains many of the original elements of the story as compared to the Disney version.
Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp (1975), Japanese short anime film produced by Toei Animation, featured in the series Classic Tales Retold (Sekai Meisaku Dōwa Manga Shirīzu).
Aladdin and the Magic Lamp was a rendition in Japanese directed by Yoshikatsu Kasai, produced in Japan by Toei Animation and released in the United States by The Samuel Goldwyn Company in 1982.
Son of Aladdin is a 2003 Indian 3D-animated fantasy-adventure film by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, produced by Pentamedia Graphics. It follows the adventures of the son of Aladdin and his fight with an evil sorcerer.
Animation: United States[edit]
In the 1934 short film Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, Aladdin is a child laborer who finds a magic lamp and uses it to become a prince.
In the 1938 animated film Have You Got Any Castles?, Aladdin makes a brief appearance asking for help but gets punched by one of the Three Musketeers.
Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp is a 1939 Popeye the Sailor cartoon, with Popeye portraying Aladdin and Olive Oyl playing the Princess.
In the 1942 animated film Foney Fables, Aladdin makes another brief appearance rubbing the magic lamp, but the genie is on strike.
The 1959 animated film 1001 Arabian Nights, starring Mr. Magoo as Aladdin's uncle and produced by UPA.
DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990) is heavily based on Aladdin, but Merlock with Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie replacing the title character.
Aladdin is a 48-minute animated film based on the story. It was produced by Golden Films and the American Film Investment Corporation. Like all other Golden Films productions, the film featured a single song, "Rub the Lamp", written and composed by Richard Hurwitz and John Arrias. It was released direct to video on April 27, 1992, by GoodTimes Home Video (months before Disney's version was released), and was reissued on DVD in 2002 as part of the distributor's Collectible Classics line of products.
Aladdin, the 1992 animated feature by Walt Disney Feature Animation. In this version, several characters are renamed or amalgamated. For instance, the Sorcerer and the Sultan's vizier were combined into one character named Jafar, while the Princess is renamed Jasmine. They have new motivations for their actions. The Genie of the Lamp only grants three wishes and desires freedom from his role. A sentient magic carpet replaces the ring's genie, while Jafar uses a royal magic ring to find Aladdin. The names "Jafar" and "Abu", the Sultan's delight in toys, and their physical appearances are borrowed from the 1940 film The Thief of Bagdad. The setting is moved from China to the fictional Arabian city of Agrabah, and the structure of the plot is simplified.
The Return of Jafar (1994), the first direct-to-video sequel to the 1992 Walt Disney movie.
Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996), the direct-to-video second and final sequel to the 1992 Walt Disney movie.
Live-action: English language films[edit]
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1917), directed by Chester M. Franklin and Sidney A. Franklin and released by the Fox Film Corporation, told the story using child actors. It is the earliest known filmed adaptation of the story.
Arabian Nights is a 1942 adventure film directed by John Rawlins and starring Sabu, Maria Montez, Jon Hall and Leif Erickson. The film is derived from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights but owes more to the imagination of Universal Pictures than the original Arabian stories. Unlike other films in the genre (such as The Thief of Bagdad), it features no monsters or supernatural elements.
A Thousand and One Nights (1945) is a tongue-in-cheek Technicolor fantasy film set in the Baghdad of the One Thousand and One Nights, starring Cornel Wilde as Aladdin, Evelyn Keyes as the genie of the magic lamp, Phil Silvers as Aladdin's larcenous sidekick, and Adele Jergens as the princess Aladdin loves.
Aladdin and His Lamp is a 1952 fantasy adventure film with Johnny Sands and Patricia Medina as Aladdin and Princess Jasmine.
The Wonders of Aladdin is a 1961 film directed by Mario Bava and Henry Levin and starring Donald O'Connor as Aladdin. This film has a more working-class focus: Aladdin helps the prince (Mario Girotti) and princess (as does a fakir) but never becomes one and ends up in a romantic relationship with his neighbor, Djalma (Noelle Adam). The genie (Vittorio De Sica) can grant only three wishes (although what constitutes as a single wish is quite malleable, probably due to his sympathies with Aladdin) and shrinks with each one, which is leading to his eternal rest after 12,000 years.
1001 Nights (Les 1001 nuits), a 1990 French-Italian film with Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stéphane Freiss and Vittorio Gassman, loosely based on Sherazade's and Aladdin's stories.
The Erotic Adventures of Aladdin X, a 1994 Italian pornographic film with Christoph Clark.
A 1998 direct-to-video film A Kid in Aladdin's Palace directed by Robert L. Levy is a sequel to A Kid in King Arthur's Court.
Adventures of Aladdin (2019) is a mockbuster produced by The Asylum.
Aladdin is a Disney live-action remake of the 1992 animated film, released in 2019. It stars Mena Massoud as the title character, Naomi Scott as Jasmine, Marwan Kenzari as Jafar, and Will Smith as the Genie.
Aladdin 3477 is a trilogy of live action sci-fi films taking place 1,500 years in the future and are written and directed by Star Wars Artist Matt Busch. The first film, Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom, was released in January 2025.
Live-action: non-English language films[edit]
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp is a 1927 Indian silent film, by Bhagwati Prasad Mishra, based on the folktale.
Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp is a 1931 Indian silent film, adapted from the folktale, by Jal Ariah.
Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag (Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp) is a 1933 Indian Hindi-language fantasy-adventure film by Jal Ariah. A remake of the 1931 film in sound.
Aaj Ka Aladdin (Today's Aladdin) is a 1935 Indian Hindi-language film by Nagendra Majumdar. It is a modern retelling of the folktale.
Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag (Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp) is a 1937 Indian Hindi-language film adaptation by Navinchandra.
Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag (Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp) is a 1952 Indian Hindi-language musical fantasy-adventure film by Homi Wadia, starring Mahipal as Aladdin and Meena Kumari as Princess Badar.
Alif-Laila is a 1955 Indian Hindi-language fantasy film by K. Amarnath, Vijay Kumar portrays the character of Aladdin with actress Nimmi as the female genie.
Chirag-e-Cheen (Lamp of China) is a 1955 Indian Hindi-language film adaptation by G.P. Pawar and C. M. Trivedi.
Alladin Ka Beta (Son of Alladin) is a 1955 Indian Hindi-language action film, it follows the story of the son of Alladin.
Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp is a 1957 Indian fantasy film by T. R. Raghunath. Based on the story of Aladdin, it was simultaneously filmed in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi with Akkineni Nageshwara Rao portraying the title character.
Alladdin Laila is a 1957 Indian Hindi-language film by Lekhraj Bhakri, starring Mahipal, Lalita Pawar and Shakila.
Sindbad Alibaba and Aladdin is a 1965 Indian Hindi-language musical fantasy-adventure film by Prem Narayan Arora. It features the three most popular characters from the Arabian Nights. Very loosely based on the original, in which the heroes get to meet and share in each other's adventures. In this version, the lamp's jinni (genie) is female and Aladdin marries her rather than the princess (she becomes a mortal woman for his sake).
Main Hoon Aladdin (I am Aladdin) is a 1965 Indian Hindi-language film by Mohammed Hussain, starring Ajit in the title role.
A Soviet film Volshebnaia Lampa Aladdina ("Aladdin's Magic Lamp") was released in 1966.
A Mexican production, Pepito y la Lampara Maravillosa was made en 1972, where comedian Chabelo plays the role of the genie who grant wishes to a young kid called Pepito in 1970s Mexico City.
Adventures of Aladdin is a 1978 Indian Hindi-language adventure-film based on the tale, by Homi Wadia.
Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum (Aladdin and the Magic Lamp) is a 1979 Indian adventure fantasy-drama film by I. V. Sasi. It was simultaneously filmed in Malayalam and Tamil with Kamal Haasan in the title role.
In 1986, an Italian production (under supervision of Golan-Globus) of a modern-day Aladdin was filmed in Miami under the title Aladdin, starring actor Bud Spencer as the genie and his daughter Diamante as the daughter of a police sergeant.
Aladin is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language fantasy action film directed by Sujoy Ghosh. The film stars Ritesh Deshmukh in the title role, along with Amitabh Bachchan, Jacqueline Fernandez and Sanjay Dutt.
The New Adventures of Aladdin, France modern retelling of the tale of Aladdin.
Alad'2, second sequel to the French movie The New Adventures of Aladdin (2018).
Ashchorjyo Prodeep is a 2013 Indian Bengali-language film by Anik Dutta. This film is based on a Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay novel of the same name and deals with the issues of consumerism. It is a modern adaptation of Aladdin about the story of a middle-class man (played by Saswata Chatterjee) who accidentally finds a magic lamp containing a Jinn (played by Rajatava Dutta).
Aladin Saha Puduma Pahana was released in 2018 in Sri Lanka in Sinhala language.
In the 2020 Japanese live action series Kamen Rider Saber, this story is adapted into a "Wonder Ride Book" named "Lamp Do Alangina", which is the main Wonder Ride Book of Kamen Rider Espada.
Television[edit]
Animation: English language[edit]
The Arabian Nights, episode of the Rankin/Bass series Festival of Family Classics (1972–1973), inspired by different tales of the collection, also including Aladdin.
Grinder Genie and the Magic Lamp (1987), episode of Sanrio and DIC series Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater.
"Aladdin and the Magic Lamp", an episode of Rabbit Ears Productions' We All Have Tales series, televised on PBS in 1991, featuring John Hurt as narrator, with illustrations by Greg Couch and music by Mickey Hart. This version is set in Isfahan, Persia, and closely follows the original plot, including the origin of the sorcerer. The audiobook version was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children in 1994.
Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights (1994) featured a segment called Aliyah-Din and the Magic Lamp, which was a reverse gender telling of the tale, with Aliyah-Din being a female counterpart to Aladdin hoping to wed a prince. Yogi Bear and Boo Boo played genies.
Aladdin, an animated series produced by Disney based on their movie adaptation that ran from 1994 to 1995.
Aladdin featured in an episode of Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child. The story was set in "Ancient China", but otherwise had a tenuous connection with the original plot.
Animation: non-English language[edit]
An elderly version of Aladdin appears as a protagonist in the 1975 anime series Arabian Nights: Sinbad's Adventures. Furthermore, the same story is adapted in episodes 14–16.
Anime series Manga Sekai Mukashi Banashi (1976–1979) features a 10-minute adaptation in episode 37.
An episode of French animated series Les Mille et Une Nuits (1993).
Pekkle - Aladdin and His Magic Lamp (1993), an episode of OVA series Hello Kitty and Friends.
World Fairy Tale Series (Sekai meisaku dōwa shirīzu - Wa-o! Meruhen ōkoku), anime series produced by Toei Animation based on classic tales. Episode 1 is an adaptation of Aladdin.
Episode of 2001 series Hello Kitty's Animation Theater (Sanrio Anime Sekai Meisaku Gekijō).
Episode 15 of the third season of the German animated series Simsala Grimm (1999–2010).
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic (2012), adaptation of the eponymous manga.
Live-action: English language[edit]
Aladdin is a 1958 musical fantasy written especially for television with a book by S.J. Perelman and music and lyrics by Cole Porter, telecast in color on the DuPont Show of the Month by CBS.
Aladdin appeared in episode 297 of Sesame Street performed by Frank Oz. This version was made from a large lavender live-hand Anything Muppet.
A segment of the Marty Feldman episode of The Muppet Show retells the story of Aladdin with The Great Gonzo in the role of Aladdin and Marty Feldman playing the genie of the lamp.
A 1967 TV movie was based on the Prince Street Players stage musical. This version is very close to the touring musical with about 15 minutes cut to be adapted into the 50 minutes TV program. It had Will B. Able as the Genii and Fred Grades as Aladdin.
In 1986, the program Faerie Tale Theatre based an episode on the story called "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp", directed by Tim Burton and starring Robert Carradine as Aladdin and James Earl Jones as both the ring Genie and the lamp Genie.
In 1990 Disney made a direct to TV movie based on the Prince Street Players stage musical, starring Barry Bostwick.
Aladdin features as one of five stories in the Hallmark Entertainment TV miniseries Arabian Nights in 2000, featuring Jason Scott Lee as Aladdin and John Leguizamo as both of the genies.
The characters of Aladdin, Jasmine, Jafar and the Sultan, along with Agrabah as the setting and the genie of the lamp were adapted into the sixth season of TV series Once Upon a Time, with Aladdin portrayed by Deniz Akdeniz, Jasmine portrayed by Karen David, and Jafar portrayed by Oded Fehr. Jafar previously appeared in the spin-off Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, portrayed by Naveen Andrews. Both were produced by ABC Television Studios and based on the Disney version of the story.
Live-action: non-English language[edit]
In Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, the sixteenth installment of the long-running Super Sentai metaseries, the Djinn (voiced by Eisuke Yoda) that appears in the eleventh episode ("My Master!" Transcription: "Goshujin-sama!" (Japanese: ご主人さま!)) reveals that he was the genie from the tale of "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp", which did take place.
The story of Aladdin was featured in Alif Laila, an Indian TV series directed by Ramanand Sagar in 1994 and telecasted on DD National.
Aladdin – Jaanbaaz Ek Jalwe Anek (2007–2009), an Indian fantasy television series based on the story of Aladdin that aired on Zee TV, starring Mandar Jadhav in the title role of Aladdin.
Aladdin - Naam Toh Suna Hoga (2018–2021), a live-action Indian fantasy television show on SAB TV starring Siddharth Nigam as Aladdin and Avneet Kaur/Ashi Singh as Yasmine.It was earlier a loose adaptation of the Disney series, but later turned over to newer story arcs.
Video games[edit]
A number of video games were based on the Disney animated film:
The Genesis version (also on Amiga, MS-DOS, NES, Game Boy, and Game Boy Color) by Virgin Games.
The SNES version (also on Game Boy Advance) by Capcom.
The Master System version (also on Game Gear) by SIMS.
Disney's Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge for the PlayStation and Windows by Argonaut Games.
The Disney version of Aladdin appears throughout the Disney/Square Enix crossover series Kingdom Hearts, with Agrabah being a visitable world.
Sonic and the Secret Rings is heavily based on the story of Aladdin, and both genies appear in the story. The genie of the lamp is the main antagonist, known in the game as the Erazor Djinn, and the genie of the ring, known in the game as Shahra, appears as Sonic's sidekick and guide through the game. Furthermore, the ring genie is notably lesser than the lamp genie in the story.
In 2010, Anuman Interactive launched Aladin and the Enchanted Lamp, a hidden object game on PC and Mac.
In 2016, Saturn Animation Studio produced an interactive adaptation of The Magical Lamp of Aladdin for mobile devices.
Pachinko[edit]
Sega Sammy have released a line of pachinko machines based on Aladdin since 1989. Sega Sammy have sold over 570,000 Aladdin pachinko machines in Japan, as of 2017[update]. At an average price of about $5,000, this is equivalent to approximately $2.85 billion in pachinko sales revenue.