A  Weird fan theory suggests that Aladdin may have been set in a distant post-apocalyptic future. Certain suggestions made by Genie may have found the ground fertile for this hypothesis.

Let us deconstruct these hints one by one.

When Genie is about to give Aladdin a makeover, he says that Aladdin’s present costume looks like it belongs to the third century.

Now, if you think about the time he first got out of the lamp, he complained that his neck had been sore with staying inside the lamp for ten thousand years. Considering he has been locked away from the outside world there is very little chance that he is aware of the fashion in vogue. That pushes the setting way ahead in the future- roughly to 10300.

The Genie is voiced by Robin Williams and he seems to include bits of 20th-century actors including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Groucho Marx, Rodney Dangerfield, Jack Nicholson, etc. That pushes the date further ahead to 11970.

In fact, a lot of magical elements in the film logically back this theory.

The “Magical Carpet” for instance represents the hover technology that was trapped in the cave of wonders, probably to keep it from falling into the wrong hands during the nuclear war. A war that turned the whole world into a never-ending desert.

Likewise, Iago is not just another talking Disney character. It is quite possible that the people of the future grew so emotionally dependent on the pets, that they developed means to detect every thought passing through their minds. Or maybe a mutation occurred in the wake of the nuclear spat that caused animals to grow conversational abilities.

Furthermore, Agrabah is just a made-up town where they happen to follow Middle Eastern culture. The name was probably derived by playing the consonants from Egypt, Arabia, and Afghanistan. Considering the fact that in post-apocalyptic worlds, the names of places that once existed are deemed irrelevant, the name only plays into the validation of the theory.

More evidence comes from the Aladdin video game where remains of the dead from the nuclear war, undetonated nuclear contrivances, and 20th-century signs are clearly seen lying around in the desert.

Some fans highlight the presence of the monolith of Nintendo Wii in the cave of wonders. This holds little weight but cannot be fully disregarded since the former evidence sets a strong case in favor of the theory that the legend might be set well ahead in the future.

But to be fair to the school of the audience that does not support this theory, it makes more sense about Genie not being tied in the constraints of time. Also, the fact that he only brings up the 3^rd and the 20^th century and nothing in the middle is also worth emphasizing. In that case the time he spent trapped in the lamp would be a different time altogether. But the fact that he wants to take a trip to Disney land on being freed, catches us off guard.

There are alternate theories to neutralize the claims of this hypothesis.

The one where Belle from Beauty and the Beast reads a book about Aladdin, definitely means that the story was from the past.

The second theory is that the whole story, in fact, is a lie cooked up by a merchant to sell a lamp.

Which is your favorite theory about Aladdin? Do let us know in the comments.

Yeah, yeah! We all know how frenzy Disney is when it comes to ‘reimaging’ their classic tales. Over the past few years, the Mouse House has been on a streak of remaking their old animated features into live-action ones. Even though the critics are not at all happy with these retellings, the box-office numbers are enough for the studio to continue making such flicks.

But, don’t underestimate these movies as lousy remakes. They are at the top of the game when it comes to budget, visual effects, star power, and promotions. And as a result, they smash through millions at the box-office. The 2019 movie Aladdin is a perfect example of this. The movie was a huge win for not only the studios but for Actor Will Smith and director Guy Ritchie as well, giving them their highest-grossing film so far.

With Aladdin receiving such a huge response at the box-office, it is obvious that the studio will work on a sequel for it.  Recently producer Dan Lin revealed in an interview that the sequel is very much in the cards.

Lin explained: “We have now. We certainly when we first made the movie wanted to just make the best movie we could and let audiences tell us if they wanted to see more. And I would say resoundingly audiences want to see more. They’ve watched this movie multiple times. We have lots of fan letters about people who really go back and they bring their friends and bring their family. And so we feel like there’s more story to tell.

“We are going to treat it the same way we treat the original Aladdin movie and not going to do a shot by shot remake of anything that’s been done before. We’re really looking at what’s been done before in the past and the home video, and there’s just more story to tell with the underlying materials. So without giving away too much, we are certainly exploring where we can go with this franchise.”

Though Aladdin was a live-action remake, many changes were made to the original version of the story. So, we are curious about how the studio will be developing a suitable script for its sequel. The old animated feature had an indirect sequel named The Return of Jafar. From what we know, the new sequel will not be a direct adaptation of any movie, but an amalgam of various source materials- including the short-lived animated series as well.