“Aladdin” is an Arabian story set in China that has become well-known due to its association with The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, also known as The Arabian Nights, to which it was added Antoine Galland, a French translator in the early eighteenth century. It has since been the subject of a number of theatrical productions and films, both animated and live action, as well as many translations.
Aladdin’s story has elements in common with a number of other fairy tales and folktales, such as the focus on a poor and lazy young man who succeeds despite everyone’s expectations that he will fail. In this case, a charlatan sorcerer attempts to deceive Aladdin into recovering a magical lamp, but dies in the process, freeing the sorcerer from having to reveal his secret. Aladdin is saved accident magic and retains possession of the magic lamp, despite having no idea of its power.
When Aladdin’s mother tries to clean it, the lamp’s properties are revealed. A genie, or jinni, appears, and Aladdin becomes wealthy and marries a princess in no time. The sorcerer obtains the lamp deceiving Aladdin’s wife, who is unaware of its properties. What happens next varies depending on the story, but Aladdin eventually reclaims his wife, reclaims the lamp, and defeats the sorcerer.
“Aladdin” appears in literature as a standalone story, in versions of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights or The Arabian Nights, and in collections of fairy tales and folk tales. It was first published in English in the early eighteenth century and has since been retold story collectors such as Andrew Lang and original story authors such as Philip Pullman.
For more than 200 years, Aladdin has been the subject of pantomime, a type of musical theater. Aladdin’s mother is played a man in pantomime as Widow Twankey. Sir Ian McKellen played the role in the Old Vic production in 2004-2005. Aladdin as a film is probably best known for the 1992 animated Disney adaptation, which, as one might expect, takes liberties with the story.
A version of the story of Aladdin was included in the 2000 made-for-TV film Arabian Nights, in which Scheherazade tells several popular tales that are often included in the collection. An episode based on the Aladdin story was also created Faerie Tale Theatre. Among the animated adaptations of “Aladdin,” the 1939 film Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp, starring Popeye, is noteworthy.