Aladdin: stage vs screen

Disney's Aladdin began as the 1992 animated film directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, with Robin Williams as the Genie, and was remade in 2019 as a live-action film directed by Guy Ritchie. The Broadway musical opened on March 20, 2014, at the New Amsterdam Theatre, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, and Chad Beguelin, and a book by Beguelin. Here is how the stage show compares.

Stage

Broadway musical (2014)

Screen

Aladdin (1992), directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, and the live-action Aladdin (2019), directed by Guy Ritchie

1. Three human friends replace Abu

In the 1992 film, Aladdin's closest companion is Abu, the pet monkey who steals alongside him. The stage show leaves Abu out. Aladdin runs instead with three human friends, Babkak, Omar, and Kassim, a trio Howard Ashman and Alan Menken created for an early version of the film before Abu replaced them. Adam Jacobs originated Aladdin on Broadway.

2. Iago is a human henchman

On screen, Iago is Jafar's wisecracking parrot, voiced by Gilbert Gottfried. On Broadway he is a human assistant to Jafar, first played by Don Darryl Rivera, and he joins Jafar and Aladdin in "Diamond in the Rough," a song written for the stage. Iago is arrested at the end. In the 2019 remake, Alan Tudyk voices a more lifelike parrot.

3. The Genie opens the show

The film begins with a peddler singing "Arabian Nights," with Robin Williams speaking the role and Bruce Adler singing. On stage, the man who welcomes the audience with that number turns out to be the Genie. James Monroe Iglehart originated the role in 2014 and won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, the show's only win from five nominations.

4. Songs cut from the film come back

Several songs written during the film's development were cut from the 1992 movie and return on stage. They include "Proud of Your Boy," which Aladdin sings in Act One and which is reprised later, the friends' number "Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim," and "High Adventure" in Act Two. The film's Oscar-winning "A Whole New World" is still the romantic centerpiece.

5. Jasmine and the score get new numbers

Courtney Reed, who originated Jasmine on Broadway, sings "These Palace Walls" with her handmaidens, a song written for the stage. The musical also adds "A Million Miles Away" and "Somebody's Got Your Back." In the film, Linda Larkin spoke Jasmine and Lea Salonga sang the role, including "A Whole New World."

6. Jafar and the Genie get stage endings

In both versions Jafar wishes to become a genie and ends up trapped in a lamp, and Aladdin's last wish frees the Genie. On stage the Genie heads off on a long-awaited vacation, the Sultan lets Jasmine marry whomever she likes, Babkak, Omar, and Kassim become royal advisors, and Aladdin and Jasmine fly away on the magic carpet.

7. The 2019 remake changes different things

Guy Ritchie's 2019 film stars Mena Massoud, Will Smith, and Naomi Scott. It adds Jasmine's handmaiden Dalia, who falls for the Genie, and a new song for Jasmine, "Speechless," by Menken, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul. Jasmine wants to rule as sultan, and the Genie becomes human. Those are the remake's own additions.

Aladdin movie vs musical: FAQs