Although she isn’t the title character for this one, she still plays a major role in the film. Even on her own managed she managed to capture the sight of many audiences: Jasmine from Aladdin (1992)
Aladdin is a young pauper living in the streets of Agrabah. His usual routine is to steal food and escape the guards, but would rather have people see that he’s more than a street rat. Then we have Jasmine. She’s a princess who must choose a prince to marry within three days. Not liking the fairness of this law, or the idea of someone making all the decisions for her, Jasmine runs away into the streets of Agrabah and encounters Aladdin where they fall in love. The events of the film lead to Aladdin obtaining the magic lamp, and he is given three wishes by the Genie of the lamp. So Aladdin’s first wish to become a prince so that he and Jasmine can be together. However, the evil Jafar has his own plans to marry the Princess so that he can become the Sultan.
Jasmine is the first non-caucasian Princess in the line-up, being of Arabian heritage, and we wouldn’t have a caucasian Princess until Rapunzel. Another record she holds is for being the only Disney Princess to kissing a Disney Villain: Jafar, out of all of them! EWW! That takes GUTS! Anyway, supervising animator Mark Henn worked on the early development of this character: Jasmine’s facial features were actually based on his sister Beth, but they also gave the character Arabic features to fit in with the setting of the film. Jasmine’s voiced by Linda Larkin, who also voices her in the direct-to-video sequels and the TV series. Her singing voice is none other than the legendary Filipina-American singer Lea Salonga, who would later lend her singing voice for Mulan in her film. In the sequels Salonga is replaced by Liz Callaway, another singer very known for providing the singing voices for many animated female characters (Anastasia/Anya from Anastasia, Odette in The Swan Princess, Adult Kiara from Lion King 2, etc). AND I think I’m getting off-topic! I have a tendency to do that. Sorry, I’ll just talk about Jasmine now:
Jasmine, despite her known popularity, HAS received a lot of mixed criticisms to positive reactions. The argument is that her motivation is “predictable”: she’s tired of her royal life and wants something more. I guess this argument could come from the fact that when you compare Jasmine to to Ariel and Belle, who were much more developed characters than the original three Princesses, they could see Jasmine as a step down in terms of characterisation, and that she just doesn’t add anything new compared to the other two Princesses. I can see where they’re going with this, as I do agree that she isn’t as complex as someone like Belle. But I’m gonna defend and support Jasmine. She may not be my favourite Disney Princess, but I like her. I think she’s pretty dang cool, and overall makes a great and likeable character on her own… in fact, I think she’s the most bada** Princess of the bunch!
The original Arabian Nights story was more about about Aladdin falling in love with the Princess and wanting to marry her. This Princess, called Princess Badroulbadour in the original story, was pretty much an object of desire. It’s often the case in most fairy tales to have a princess/damsel in distress as a goal for the main character, and this woman’s only function is for her to be saved and for the hero to marry her. The film is aware that Jasmine is no damsel in distress nor an object of desire, and goes against this trope. Jasmine is aware of this herself and says that she is “not a prize to be won”. Aladdin does save her a few times, but for the most part Jasmine can handle pretty well on her own. Especially in the following sequels and TV animated series where she takes part in most of the adventures, and can be very helpful and even very heroic.
Aladdin may be the title character, but the story is not about Aladdin getting his prize; it’s about these two finding love with each other and ending up happily together. Like I mentioned in my Valentine’s Day article, they’re my favourite Disney couple, and I don’t have to explain it to you for you to believe it: you see them together on-screen, and you KNOW they love each other. This makes us easily care about Aladdin and Jasmine’s goals. Their love story works so well and is one of the best aspects of the film (along with the Genie!)
What about Jasmine as her own character? Characters should be able to complement the theme and story, but at the same time they should stand out on their own: in this respect Jasmine is a very good character. One of the film’s themes is about recognising someone beyond the role that is set out for them.
Aladdin’s labelled as the street rat and nothing else, while Jasmine’s labelled as the Princess and nothing else. They both easily get offended by this because it’s not entirely true: they’re more than they seem. Aladdin in particular doesn’t have much faith in himself: he pretends to be a Prince and lies to everyone, not because he’s a jerk, but because part of him does believe he’s a street rat. But the people closest to him can easily see that he’s a “diamond in the rough”, so much so that he’s the only one worthy enough to enter the Cave of Wonders. He does stand up to people and protect others without the slightest hesitation, but he has a hard time recognising that fact for himself. As for Jasmine, she wants people to see her for who she is, and wants others to recognise that there’s more to her than just a Princess. That’s why she becomes romantically interested in Aladdin, who loves her for who she is: a very strong and intelligent woman. Aladdin doesn’t know that she’s a royal, but he’s easily impressed by her awesome side. Like in the scene where Aladdin comes to her aid after she’s accused of stealing, she actually plays along with the whole “crazy sister” act instead of having Aladdin do all the work for her: I like her acting with that dumb look. It’s really funny. Also the scene where she pole vaults across a rooftop after seeing Aladdin do it: “I’m a fast learner”. She helps again when Aladdin needs to get close to the lamp, pretending to be in love with Jafar to act as a distraction… as far as to kiss Jafar! WOW! WHAT A COURAGEOUS WOMAN!
You could ague that it’s bit of a pointless scene, as Aladdin gets caught anyway, but I think it’s to create tension as the scene progresses, and to show how much Jasmine’s willing to help out. And BOY does she take risks!
On top of… *looking at image above*… sorry, I threw up a bit in my mouth… On top of that, Jasmine looks through Aladdin’s disguise when Aladdin’s personality shines through: she is no stupid woman. The scene where she outsmarts him by exposing his identity to her shows just how clever she is: “It’s a shame Abu couldn’t be here.” “Nah. He hates fireworks, and he really doesn’t like flying either… Uh! That is, um… Oh, no.” HA! GURL POWAH!!!
Another striking factor that makes Jasmine stand out from Disney Princesses is that unlike the others who has woodland creatures or birds and mice as an animal friend/sidekick, Jasmine happens to have a FREAKING TIGER! Come on! Tell me that isn’t freaking cool!!! I knew that the last time I had a pet tiger… was my last time…
She’s even a total badass in the sequels and the animated series. One moment I really loved in Aladdin and the King of Thieves was when her wedding was interrupted by the Forty Thieves, and she punched a random thief. PUNCH! “That’s for ruining my wedding.” HECK YEAH! GO GIRL POWER! And in the same movie, she’s pretty dang strong for her to be able to PUSH A STATUE!!! WOW!!!
Sorry, I’m throwing all the examples I can think of, because Jasmine is so awesome! And it’s not like she has to act manly to be like this: she can still keep her femininity and express it as much as she wants to.
Jasmine is probably the most adventurous out of all the Princesses, joining her fiancé in the TV series. But I think what that says under the surface is that she WANTS to prove to others and to herself that she’s capable of doing amazing things and that she truly cares about others, whether she is royal or not. It’s like I said: her title is not just annoying to her, but throughout the films and the TV series it’s been pulling her down many times and she almost DESPISES it. It seems as if, in the series, being called a “princess” means she’s labelled as the “pretty, spoiled and ignorant rich girl” stereotype who doesn’t care about being a leader or doing anything. For example, in the episode “Do the Rat Thing”, Jasmine gets extremely offended when her friends tell her that she couldn’t possibly understand how it is to be a street rat, and is willing to spend the entire day as a street rat to find out for herself. And in episodes like “The Ethereal”, it clearly shows that she cares about her people as much as the sultan does and would even die life for them (that’s what happens in that episode). She’d make a fantastic ruler because of all this.
Jasmine’s a very determined and very proactive character: if you think about it, there wouldn’t even be a story if she hadn’t made the decision to leave the palace and run away! Jasmine’s kind, smart, and also headstrong, and she truly speaks her mind out in raw emotion, not caring about whether she’s being offensive or not: when she’s angry, she’s angry! It’s no wonder that she joined Aladdin on so many adventures after this film.
Overall, Aladdin is a kick-a** film with two awesome leads. Both Aladdin and Jasmine are great on their own, and together they make a kick-a** pair! And let me tell you that they share a REAL HOT KISS in the film! Seriously! Look at the first kiss they share and tell me they didn’t use the tongue! It’s so passionate! To the people who gave her negative reception, like Roger Ebert who criticised both Aladdin and Jasmine for being “bland”… I don’t agree with them, but I can sorta kinda comprehend why they’d say these things. As for the people who love Jasmine, she may not be my favourite Disney Princess, but you know what? JASMINE IS A BADA**!
The next Princess we’ll be looking at is the first and only Princess to be based on a real-life person: Pocahontas.
