this is Jasmine,

and this is her dad, The Sultan.

You know them from Disney's Aladdin.

You know this outfit

and this one

and then, there's this one.

But are they accurate?

We got this historian--

- Hi, my name is Ayse Baltacioglu-Brammer.

I'm a Professor of Middle Eastern History

at New York University.

Today, I will be talking about Disney's

classic animated movie Aladdin, released in 1992.

- [Presenter] To walk us through what the movie got right

and what they got wrong about these looks.

First, let's learn about the complex and intriguing

origin story of where and when Disney's Aladdin takes place.

- It's almost impossible to have an exact answer

for where and when the movie takes place.

The movie Aladdin conflates many,

and oftentimes contradictory, details

about the Middle East and Islam

by perpetrating negative stereotypes and presenting

basic factual mistakes and absurd characterizations.

From its opening song to its character formations,

the movie has drawn a lot of attention and criticism.

Interestingly, but not shockingly, the protagonists,

Aladdin, Princess Jasmine, and the Genie,

all have perfect American accents

with more Western features.

However, most of the other characters,

especially the more villainous ones,

have strong Middle Eastern accents.

- Only one may enter.

We must find this one, this diamond in the rough.

- The most direct inspiration for Disney's Aladdin

came from the movie Thief of Bagdad, filmed in 1940,

that was Alexander Korda's Oscar-winning British remake

of the 1924 silent film of the same name.

According to the producers of the movie,

just like The Thief of Bagdad,

Disney's Aladdin was meant to be set in Baghdad,

however this was exactly when the US

started bombing Iraq during the first Cold War

and therefore, Disney changed the setting

to a fictional city to avoid

negative connotations with the city of Baghdad

or the dictator ruling Iraq, Saddam Hussein.

Instead of Baghdad, the name of

the city in the movie is Agrabah--

- Welcome to Agrabah

- Which is not an actual place.

The imaginary city of Agrabah, however,

includes most of the letters from the city of Baghdad.

Regardless of the city, Disney's retelling of the story

effectively brings Aladdin to the Middle East

with some obvious details from Iran and India as well.

The movie Aladdin takes inspiration from

the famous collection of tales, One Thousand and One Nights

or, as more commonly known in

the West as The Arabian Nights.

["Friend Like Me" by Robin Williams]

♪ Well, Ali Baba had them 40 thieves ♪

♪ Scheherazade had a thousand tales ♪

- Scheherazade is the main character

in The One Thousand and One Nights stories.

Although the story of Aladdin is interestingly

one of the best known stories in the collection,

it was not a part of the original Arabic text.

It was, in fact, added to the collection

in the 18th century by Galland--

[camera shutter clicking]

- [Presenter] One second.

Who was Galland?

- Who allegedly acquired the tale from

a Syrian Maronite storyteller he met named Hanna Diyab.

The event that sparked Arabian Nights

into a modern European phenomenon

was its translation by the French author Antoine Galland

into French from a 15th century Arabic manuscript.

[camera shutter clicking]

- [Presenter] So, is Hanna Diyab

the creator of the story of Aladdin?

- Hanna Diyab was born to a Maronite Christian family

in Aleppo in modern-day Syria in the late 17th century,

which was under the Ottoman rule,

an empire that lasted over 600 years

and ruled the Middle East, North Africa,

Southeastern Europe, and Asia Minor.

The original setting of Diyab's story is ancient China.

The Chinese setting of Aladdin

may surprise many of you today,

but it is actually not that far-fetched.

Many of the stories that are told

in One Thousand and One Nights are not

situated in the Middle East but further East,

somewhere in or around China, most likely in Central Asia.

Looking back at the Disney film,

the Chinese or Central Asian Aladdin

is all mostly unrecognizable,

aside from Aladdin showing Jasmine the world.

- It's all so magical.

- This is partly due to a distinct Hollywood practice

to Arabize everything about Islam or the Muslims,

which is the assumption that all Muslims are Arabs.

Side note: vast majority of Muslims today

live outside of the Middle East,

mostly in Far East and Southeast Asia.

The royal palace in Aladdin seems like

an exact replica of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India,

built by the Muslim ruler of the time in the 17th century.

More references to India include

elephant sculptures around the palace

as well as the name of Jasmine's pet tiger, Rajah.

- Rajah was just playing with him, weren't you, Rajah?

- However, the background scenes are also said

to have been based on Persian miniatures

as well as the photos of the Iranian city Isfahan

taken by the film's layouts provider, Rasoul Azadani,

an Iranian animator at Disney and namesake of

Rasoul, Agrabah's Captain of the Guards.

- We've all got swords! - Hoo-ya!

[camera shutter clicking]

- [Presenter] Okay, so how should we analyze

the outfits worn in Disney's Aladdin?

- For the purposes of analyzation of Disney's Aladdin,

I think the most likely option is that the story takes place

during the lifetime of its creator, Hanna Diyab,

in the late 17th/early 18th century

and The Sultan in the story is simply

the Ottoman Sultan who was at the time the ruler

of the Middle East, including Baghdad, Cairo, and Aleppo.

While the time frame and region is very broad,

we understand that Disney's Aladdin

is a hodgepodge of cultural influences.

- [Presenter] Okay, now that we have

a time and place to analyze, let's look at the looks.

[whooshing]

First up, Aladdin.

[whooshing]

- Aladdin's signature outfit in the movie

is a pair of loose, baggy pants,

a small vest that he put on his naked upper body,

and a small fez on his head.

- [Presenter] Let's draw Aladdin's outfit

from the undergarments up.

Starting with the undergarments.

- I assume he will wear underwear but I'm not sure.

[bell dinging]

- [Presenter] All right, so maybe he did, maybe he didn't.

Moving onto the pants.

- These loose pants are mostly called salwars,

a Persian word for trousers.

These are loose pajama-like trousers.

The legs are wide at the top and narrow at the ankle.

The main purpose is to provide freedom of movement

and comfort in hot and/or humid climates.

Next up, his vest.

- Although Aladdin's religion and region is not specified,

it is highly unlikely that a similar character

will have worn a vest on the naked upper body.

What Aladdin is wearing in the film

can be considered a typical attire of mystics,

who historically isolated themselves

from society and its riches,

practicing self-severe self discipline,

and abstention from all forms of indulgence,

typically, but not always, for religious reasons.

Aladdin's vest isn't wholly inaccurate

but it is likely he would have worn short or long-sleeved

cotton or linen top with or without a vest on top.

[whooshing]

- [Presenter] Moving up to his headwear.

- Now, let's take a look at Aladdin's headpiece.