Aladdin and the King of Thieves

image for Aladdin and the King of Thieves

Short takes

Not suitable under 5; parental guidance to 8 (violence, scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Aladdin and the King of Thieves
  • a review of Aladdin and the King of Thieves completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 5 November 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 5 Not suitable due to violence and some scary scenes.
Children aged 5–8 Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes.
Children aged 9 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 and the King of Thieves
Classification: G
Consumer advice lines: The content is very mild in impact (Disney+ Advisory: This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.)
Length: 88 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Aladdin (voice of Scott Weinger) and Jasmine (voice of Linda Larkin), with the help of their friends, are preparing for their extravagant wedding. However, no one is prepared when the festivities are crashed by a herd of elephants provoked by the notorious criminal group ‘The Forty Thieves’, led by Cassim (John Rhys-Davis), ‘King of Thieves’. Their main goal being a sceptre, Aladdin follows Cassim to the treasure and fights him to keep the prize, while Genie (Robin Williams), Carpet, Abu (Frank Welker) and Iago (Gilbert Gottfried) run the thieves out of the palace. Forced to postpone their wedding due to the destruction caused by the raid, Jasmine and Aladdin are left clueless as to why Cassim was so desperate for the sceptre. Suddenly, a magical being bursts from within the sceptre and reveals herself as the Oracle, stating that she can answer a single question. However, knowing that Aladdin is curious about his past, the Oracle reveals that any questions he has can be answered by his father. This comes as a shock to all, as Aladdin’s father was presumed dead. Aladdin learns that his father is trapped within the world of the Forty Thieves, and so he must follow them to find his answers. Aladdin and his friends track down the Forty Thieves, only to learn Aladdin’s father is none other than the King of Thieves himself. Will Aladdin choose his long-lost father over Jasmine? Will Cassim change his ways and realise his ultimate treasure? Or will Cassim’s greed and lust for gold keep father and son apart forever?

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.

Crime; Family breakdown; Death or separation from a parent.

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:

  • Genie throws a heavy sack on top of a guard, crushing him.
  • While the wedding guests are fleeing the elephants, the Forty Thieves jump out and begin to attack everyone with knives and swords.
  • Aladdin and Cassim get in a physical fight over a sceptre that Aladdin and Jasmine were gifted for their wedding.
  • Aladdin crashes a meeting of the Forty Thieves, tackling Sa’luk to the ground and announces he is Cassin's son.
  • During the song, 'Welcome to the Forty Thieves,’ the thieves walk towards Aladdin, pointing their swords at him.
  • Sa’luk tests Aladdin in 'the challenge', which is a physical fight surrounded by lightning and rain.
  • Sa’luk throws Aladdin over the edge of a cliff, but he lands on a ledge.
  • Aladdin knocks Sa’luk off the ledge and he falls off into rocks and water. It is presumed that Sa’luk has been killed.
  • Sa’luk jumps out of the water and wrestles a shark, killing it.
  • Sa’luk plots with the palace guards to capture and kill Cassim.
  • Aladdin, dressed as the King of Thieves, jumps on the heads of the palace guards.
  • Sa’luk fights seven of the Forty Thieves. They punch, kick and throw knives at each other.
  • Aladdin jumps from a building and knocks Sa’luk to the ground, punching him in the head.

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 opening scene shows Cassim with his whole face covered, except his eyes, sneaking the thieves into the city in baskets. The scene is accompanied by intense music.
  • During the song, 'There's a party here in Agrabah', Genie is seen using his magic to change the appearance of people on the streets of Agrabah.
  • Sa’luk uses his knuckle spikes to rip open the basket he was transported in.
  • All the thieves break out of their baskets using swords and rope, then stare into the camera.
  • Sa’luk stabs his knuckle spikes into the back of an elephant, causing the herd of elephants to storm the palace. This causes the ground to move and structures to be knocked down.
  • The Forty Thieves steal the belongings, including money and jewellery, of the wedding guests.
  • Cassim yells the words, “open sesame”, at the water, causing a reaction of smoke and fire coming out of a cave and parting the water with an explosion.
  • The palace guards catch Iago and Cassim stealing the sceptre. They are then trapped and imprisoned in the dungeon.
  • When Iago and Cassim return to their hide out, they are ambushed and trapped by Sa’luk and the remaining seven thieves.
  • Genie tries to fight a giant turtle but is eaten by it.

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:

  • Sa’luk proposes that Aladdin, Iago, Abu and Carpet must die as they saw too many of the Forty Thieves secrets.
  • Aladdin and Cassim are trapped in a room that is filling with water. They run to higher ground to avoid drowning.
  • Sa’luk catches the 'hand of Midas' by the hand, turning him to solid gold. He then falls into the water and sinks.

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

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Genie refers to a 'Kodiak moment'.
  • Genie dresses himself and Jasmine as a variety of different characters, including; Snow White, Elvis, Cinderella, Pocahontas and Jessica Rabbit.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Genie says, “I thought the ground wasn’t supposed to move until the honeymoon”.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

  • During the song 'There's a party here in Agrabah' Genie uses his magic to change a group of girls wearing full coverage clothing, to long pants and cropped tops.
  • Genie jumps out of a cake dressed as a girl with large breasts in only a bra.
  • Aladdin and Jasmine kiss at the end of the movie at their wedding.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • The guards refer to Aladdin as “street rat”.

In a nutshell

Aladdin and the King of Thieves is an animated movie following Aladdin’s journey to reunification with his father. The film is the third instalment of Disney’s Aladdin movie franchise and is likely to appeal to families with older children. Due to some violence and scary scenes, this film is best suitable for children over 8, with parental guidance for ages 5 to 8.

The main messages from this movie are being true to yourself; and valuing family relationships and true friendships over treasure and gold.

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

  • You do not need to become someone you aren’t to conform to expectations.
  • You do not need to follow in your parents footsteps, you can be your own person and have your own beliefs.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of giving people a second chance, even if previously they may have done the wrong thing. Throughout the course of the movie, Aladdin, who has always felt abandoned by his father, learns that being true to who he is outweighs becoming someone for the approval of his father. Alternatively, Cassim learns that being there for his son is more important than any treasure he may seek. Understanding that although things may not have worked out in the past, it is okay to have hope for the future.