Aladdin

Aladdin is a 1992 American animated musical fantasy film based on the Middle Eastern folk tale "Aladdin" from One Thousand and One Nights and produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, both of whom co-wrote the screenplay with 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 an Arabian street urchin named Aladdin, who discovers a magic lamp containing a genie, with whose help he disguises himself 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 film's idea to Disney president Jeffrey Katzenberg and the screenplay went through three drafts before Katzenberg agreed to its production. The animators based their designs on the work of caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, and computers were used to both finish the hand-drawn artwork and create some additional animated elements. Composed by Alan Menken, the film's musical score features six songs with lyrics written by both Ashman and Tim Rice (who took over following Ashman's death in 1991). Aladdin was released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution through the Walt Disney Pictures banner on November 11, 1992, to critical and commercial success. Critics praised the animation and Williams' performance as the Genie, and it became the highest-grossing film of the year, with an earning of over $504 million in worldwide box-office revenue. On release, the film became the first animated feature to reach the half-billion-dollar mark, and was the fifth highest-grossing film at the time of its release and the highest-grossing animated feature of all time until it was surpassed by The Lion King (1994). 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 theme song "A Whole New World", which was performed by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. 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 (1994) and Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996); an animated television series (1994–1995); and in 2011 a stage musical adaptation. A live-action film adaptation directed by Guy Ritchie was released in 2019.