Today’s post focuses on Jasmine from 1992’s Aladdin. While she plays a secondary role in the movie’s action, Jasmine commands attention because of her sassy, principled nature.
Wiki opening paragraphs for Jasmine: “Princess Jasmine (الأميرة ياسمين) is the deuteragonist of Disney‘s 1992 animated feature Aladdin, its two sequels and animated TV series.
She is from the Middle Eastern kingdom of Agrabah where her father, the Sultan, rules. Jasmine was born into a role and society that treats her as an object and a tool, rather than a person. As such, she lived much of her young life with the desire to breakaway from such confines and live a life where she is respected as an individual and free to make her own choices.
Jasmine is loosely based on the character of Princess Badroulbadour from the Aladdin tale featured in the One Thousand and One Nights collection of stories in which the film is based. She is also the sixth official member of the Disney Princess line-up.”,
“Princess Jasmine[1][2] is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Animation Studios‘ 31st animated feature film Aladdin (1992). Voiced by American actress Linda Larkin – with a singing voice provided by Filipina singer Lea Salonga – Jasmine is the spirited Princess of Agrabah, who has grown weary of her life of palace confinement. Despite an age-old law stipulating that the princess must marry a prince in time for her upcoming birthday, Jasmine is instead determined to marry someone she loves for who he is as opposed to what he owns. Created by directors Ron Clements and John Musker with screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, Jasmine is based on Badroulbadour, a princess who appears in the One Thousand and One Nights folktale “Aladdin and the Magical Lamp“.
Originally conceived as a spoiled, materialistic princess, the writers eventually re-wrote Jasmine into a stronger and more prominent heroine following the elimination of Aladdin’s mother from the script, while borrowing story elements from the romantic comedy Roman Holiday (1953). Several months after securing the role, Larkin was nearly fired from the project because Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg felt that her voice was not suitable for a princess, but Clements and Musker managed to convince him otherwise. Discovered by casting director Albert Tavares, Salonga was cast as Jasmine’s singing voice based on her performance in the musical Miss Saigon; this unprecedented casting decision made Jasmine the first Disney character to have her speaking and singing voices provided by two different actors. Animated by Mark Henn, Jasmine’s design is an eclectic combination of unique sources, including an anonymous theme park guest, Henn’s own sister, and actress Jennifer Connelly, while elements of the Taj Mahal were incorporated into the character’s hair, clothing and physique.
Unlike most of Disney’s princesses, Jasmine holds the distinction of being a supporting character in her own film, having been relegated to the secondary role of love interest. The character has garnered mixed reviews, with much denunciation directed towards her storyline and personality, both of which critics have dismissed as uninteresting and unoriginal; they have also accused Jasmine of lacking the depth of her predecessors Ariel and Belle from The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991), respectively, to whom she continues to be heavily compared. However, as the sixth Disney Princess and the franchise’s first non-white member, the character is credited with introducing racial diversity to Disney’s princess genre, although she has at the same time been criticized for being Westernized and Anglicized in both appearance and demeanor. Jasmine has made subsequent appearances in Aladdin‘s sequels The Return of Jafar (1994) and Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996), as well as its television series and a Broadway musical adaption of the film. Both Larkin and Salonga have been awarded Disney Legends for their contributions to the role.”
Here are a few pictures of my 2015 DS Jasmine.
I recently acquired a DS plush Rajah from eBay. Here he is with his mistress.
I’ll conclude this series tomorrow with some special photos and full source credits for the artwork I’ve used throughout.
daytondolls 