Aladdin is finally getting that blu-ray release in the United States. Several years late, but at least it’s actually happening. Aladdin as my better friends know is an animated masterpiece I hold high and mighty and rank it as among the best Disney has ever released. In my latest rankings, it’s the fourth best Disney animated movie of all-time. The music, the humor, the characters, the action----it was all perfect. It had peak Disney Renaissance quality and peak Robin Williams mixed in for good measure. But we aren’t here to talk about Aladdin, we are here to discuss the most underrated aspect of the film.
Jafar, the all-time champ for best Disney villain.
Oh yea, better than Maleficent, Gaston, Hades, Frollo, Man, and everyone else you can throw into this conversation.
Before we even get to meet Aladdin, we see Jafar in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night. No backstory required, we already know he is bad news---especially while waiting for a murderer doing his dirty work. Who knows how many people he has killed on his way to being in that moment at that point of time? And after the “humble thief” gets buried in front of Jafar, he’s just upset because the victim wasn’t worthy of entering the cage. No remorse, no sadness, back to the business of trying to achieve his goal.
Unlike most of your villains that just slouch around and get upset over things (Ursula, just what were you doing all this time?), Jafar has clearly worked his way to the top. Becoming the sultan’s top adviser with leader-like powers (ordering Aladdin’s arrest? That’s some power) without a family connection must have taken years upon years. Want more evidence? Who could possibly have had the time to build an underground lair underneath the palace? Jafar is not after lots of money, he’s after the sultan’s throne, and position of power. And he was as far as he could possibly go without the help of some magic.
The man is absolutely driven, and was willing to take down anyone that could be a roadblock. Aladdin helps him out by entering the cave later in the movie and barely surviving by the skin of his teeth. Yet after Aladdin gives him the lamp in the midst of the collapsing cavern, Jafar was still willing to kill him—despite Aladdin never really being a genuine threat. He tries to stab him, then throws him into the cave and towards his intended death---along with Abu (that monster!) And of course, instead of remorse over potentially murdering yet another man, he’s upset because he lost the lamp.
As a matter of fact, Jafar nearly killed our hero five times: stabbing, throwing into cave, drowning, shipping him off into God-knows-where, and lastly in the final battle. If it weren’t some ingenuity and Aladdin’s friends, the story would have definitely ended sooner. Of course it’s a Disney movie and happy endings are always guaranteed----except for Fox and the Hound (I’m still not over it). Nonetheless, “How many times do I have to kill you, boy!!” is hands-down the best villain line Disney has ever created. In Aladdin, Jafar was always lurking in the shadows, which makes him a bona-fide threat at all times.
Jafar is the only Disney villain to actually have a good share of success before his eventual defeat (Nobody mention Scar, did he honestly better his situation? Not really, they were all going to soon die of starvation). He did indeed achieve the goal of being sultan, made Jasmine a sex slave, became a sorcerer, and even the most powerful genie in the universe (that last part was short-lived). Jafar is also one of the few villains to actually have an awesome sidekick, as Iago is no slouch either.
Oh yea, he also turns into a freakin’ snake. I’m done.
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