Aladdin (1992)

image for Aladdin (1992)

Short takes

Not suitable under 5; parental guidance to 6 (some violence and scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Aladdin (1992)
  • a review of Aladdin (1992) completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 12 November 2020.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 5 Not suitable due to some violence and scary scenes.
Children aged 5–6 Parental guidance recommended due to some violence and scary scenes.
Children aged 7 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Aladdin (1992)
Classification: G
Consumer advice lines: The content is very mild in impact
Length: 91 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Aladdin (voiced by Scott Weinger) and his companion Abu, a pet monkey, live in the streets of the oriental city of Agrabah. They make ends meet by stealing what they need, and more than often they only just manage to escape the city guards who are after them. Even though he is a thief, Aladdin is good at heart, looks out for others that have even less than him, and wishes that one day his luck will change. Indeed, his life does take a major turn when sinister and power-hungry Jafar (voiced by Jonathan Freeman) – chief adviser to the Sultan (voiced by Douglas Seale) – finds out that Aladdin is the ‘Chosen One’ who can access the mystical Cave of Wonder and retrieve the most powerful treasure in the world: a lamp containing a Genie, who will grant three wishes to whoever becomes his Master. Jafar makes a deal with Aladdin, promising him to reward him generously if he gets him the lamp, planning to get rid of him as soon as he has what he wants. In a crazy chain of events, Aladdin ends up with the lamp, infuriating Jafar. After releasing the Genie (voiced by Robin Williams), Aladdin's first wish is to be a prince – because only a prince is allowed to marry the Sultan's beautiful daughter Jasmine (voiced by Linda Larkin). Aladdin had saved her from trouble once when she had escaped her golden cage, the palace. Of course, Jafar recognises that "Prince Ali Ababwa" is Aladdin in disguise, and is determined to get rid of him, get hold of the lamp, and become the new Sultan and most powerful sorcerer in the world. Is Aladdin going to be able to outwit sinister Jafar, and fulfil his dream of being with Jasmine?

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Animated Disney Classic; Musical; Adventure; Arabian tale; Magic; Good versus Evil; Love; Identity.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie including:

  • Someone mentions, "I had to slit a few throats".
  • One of Jafar's henchmen gets swallowed and buried alive by the Beast that guards the Cave of Wonder.
  • After stealing a loaf of bread, city guards with swords chase after Aladdin, threatening him to cut off his hands.
  • Jafar wants to get rid of Aladdin and has his accomplices throw him off a cliff to drown him.
  • Jafar repeatedly tries to kill Aladdin, for example by sending his sword-bearing guards after him, turning himself into a giant venomous snake, and catapulting him on top of a snowy mountain for him to freeze to death.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • The villain Jafar is very dark, gloomy, and sinister looking.
  • The entrance to the Cave of Wonders is through the mouth of a tiger-like beast with a scary growling voice.
  • Aladdin and Abu almost do not make it out of the Cave of Wonder, being threatened by waves of lava and falling rocks.
  • Jafar turns into a giant vicious snake going after Aladdin.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Some of the above-mentioned scenes may scare or disturb some children in this age group.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • There a few scenes featuring curvy oriental dancers and harem women in sexy outfits.
  • Jasmin's attire is quite revealing.
  • A middle-aged woman describes Aladdin as "tasty".
  • Jasmine and Aladdin kiss each other on the lips on a couple of occasions.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • There is one brief reference to pipe smoking.

Coarse language

There is some mild coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Jerk!
  • Shut up you Moron!
  • You street rat!

In a nutshell

Disney's 1992 animation hit Aladdin remains one of Disney's finest animated family films. A captivating story, catchy tunes, positive role models and messages, and especially an incredibly likeable and funny Genie, guarantee for great entertainment for the whole family. Some of the violent / threatening / scary scenes are likely too intense for a very young audience and therefore the film is unsuitable for children under 5 and parental guidance is recommended for children aged 5 to 6.

The main messages from this movie are that it is important to stay true to oneself, and not to pretend to be something, or someone else, only to impress someone.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Staying true to oneself
  • Honesty
  • Courage
  • Friendship
  • Looking out for one another.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Greed: Jafar's greed and insatiable thirst for power ultimately leads to his downfall. Insulted and blinded by Aladdin's remark that he will never be as powerful as the Genie, Jafar uses up his last wish to become the most powerful Genie of all times – and as a consequence gets locked up inside a lamp.