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During the TV series, does Aladdin live in the palace, his hovel, or a combination of both places? Different episodes seem (to me) support him living in both of them simultaneously, or was there a definite cut off point when he made the transition from the hovel into the palace?

It confuses me further that he hung out for some scenes in the KOT movie at his hovel, or was this some wedding superstition in which he was wanting to avoid seeing his bride during wedding preparations on his wedding day? Thoughts, anyone? On an unrelated note, I have been lurking on this site for a month or so, and am contemplating forming a user name, and becoming an official member of the board.

APK · Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 11:11 pm Post subject:

That's not a dumb question at all. I have to go find an old thread where we talked about this, because I forgot the answer to that question...it might take a while.

Meesh · Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 5:41 am Post subject:

Oh yeah, that's not a dumb question at all! We did have a thread about this, but I don't really feel like looking for it.

Unless I am mistaken, Aladdin lived at the hovel, but naturally he visited the palace all of the time. There were some exceptions like for security reasons like in "Eye of the Beholder."

Basically, Disney probably didn't want to promote an unmarried teenage couple living together.
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AladdinsGenie · Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 5:27 pm Post subject:

So here's the weird thing: Aladdin has a room in the palace (as mentioned in ROJ), but he lives in his hovel during the series. Occassionally he spends the night at the palace, which Jasmine seems to have a rule about (Iago mentions they [himself, Aladdin, Abu, Genie] get to stay the night during "From Hippsodeth, With Love" and Jasmine says "just for tonight"), but for the most part, he stays in his hovel.

But then this begs the question, if he has a room there and there's a stipulation about them staying at the palace when there's not any possible danger, then what the hell happened? Laughing

Guesses:

1. Aladdin didn't want to put the palace under constant danger after the whole thing with Jafar and his on going battles with the series villains, so he went back to his hovel

2. Iago and/or Abu did something. I don't know what, but I wouldn't be surprised Laughing

. Aladdin also takes full responsibility for Iago, so if something happens that causes Iago to get kicked out the palace again (unless the situation in ROJ was the thing that caused him to lose his rights to the palace), Aladdin would have to adjust for that

3. Aladdin wasn't ready to live in the palace. Maybe they were just trying out him living there for a bit, but it didn't feel right or he wasn't crazy about it. That's a huge adjustment to make so sudden. He doesn't seem to be too bothered by not living there. He visits all the time, though, so he's not missing much except those few hours at night

I can't make up my mind on whether or not he's in the process of moving out of his hovel (like he has stuff to move, but you get what I mean Laughing

), or if he's still staying there until after he and Jasmine are married by the time we see him in KOT. He at least goes there to get away from things, but I don't know how long they'd let the crown prince and future sultan of of Agrabah stay in a hovel on the other end of the city. It was fine when they were just engaged/dating, but I imagine he had to move in again at some point following the last movie.

AladdinsGenie · Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 5:36 pm Post subject:

AladdinsGenie

minimonster17 · Streetrat Joined: 12 May 2011 Posts: 24 Location: Florida

Thanks for your responses/insights, and making the differentiation between known, canon facts, stipulations based upon inferences the characters directly made, and stipulations based upon your personal logic/thoughts. I really do appreciate that.

No, you weren't spamming the thread, AG. You're one of the posters whom I look forward to hearing from in the threads on the board. Everyone's quick, kind, and informative posts provided me the final incentive to becoming a registered member on the board. Hello everyone!

AladdinsGenie · Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 9:14 pm Post subject:

Any time! We haven't a good discussion in a while. The amount of time it took me to remember which episode Jasmine and Iago say those lines in is a good indicator of that Laughing

Welcome!

Calluna · Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 7:57 am Post subject:

This is one of those issues where knowing the real episode order has really changed my mind. For about the first year or so of in-story time they were vague about where Aladdin lived; they never came out and said it, but it was implied that he lived in the palace. Then, all of a sudden they started showing him living in the hovel and continued that way (mostly) consistently for the rest of the series.

I'm pretty sure the reason for this was that the writers wanted him to live in the palace, but the censors wouldn't allow an unmarried Aladdin and Jasmine living under one roof, even if it is in a giant building with over 1000 rooms. It's like living in the same apartment building, but more so. Laughing

But I think at some point they got tired of the restrictions and just decided that he lived in the hovel, and you can tell it really was holding them back because as soon as they decided that then they were showing him at the hovel all the time! Laughing

But that kind of makes it awkward in-story, though, because it makes it look like Aladdin was living in the palace, but moved back out again for some reason. I need to do some kind of episode breakdown so I can show you all where I'm getting this stuff. And find that other thread, too, I'm sure I was more articulate there. Laughing

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"If only I could believe you. Perhaps I can! After all... you do bear the name of a flower." -- Arbutus

APK · Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 11:23 am Post subject:

I found the thread! It starts on page 26 of the "random thoughts" thread. Here's a link that will lead you directly to the page. Scroll down to the 11th post:

http://aladdincentral.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2184&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=375

Calluna · Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 1:43 pm Post subject:

Ah, I knew I had a nice summation somewhere. Laughing

There's also the last two pages of the press kit thread where we first started formulating this theory. Oh, and I'd forgotten the RoJ press kit also said that Aladdin lives at the palace...
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"If only I could believe you. Perhaps I can! After all... you do bear the name of a flower." -- Arbutus

APK · Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:47 pm Post subject:

It still bugs me sooo much that they didn't try to make the hovel nicer! I think it's because the low budget forced them to be lazy with the animation. Darn you, Jeffrey Katzenberg!

minimonster17 · Streetrat Joined: 12 May 2011 Posts: 24 Location: Florida

Thanks everyone for those links to the other threads. Y'all have provided a thorough answer to my question. For what it's worth, I personally think it is ridiculous that Aladdin's living situation in the series was probably changed due to pressure from censors. As noted, a lot of people *may* have viewed unwed Aladdin and Jasmine as committing a sinful/immoral cohabitation.

However, in ancient times, engagements/betrothals were taken very seriously, and were not typically broken unless there were extenuating circumstances, such as cheating, having sexual relations with someone you were not betrothed to, etc. It was not like today in which so many engagements are broken for whatever reasons may be, serious, or not.

For this reason alone, I personally would not be offended at a living situation in which Aladdin would be living in the palace. (I am generally against unwed cohabitation btw) When you also consider the vast size of the palace, the two could be pretty well physically separated during nighttime hours. In the event of suspected naughtiness between the couple, the Sultan could also order a guard be posted at Jasmine's door all night long to prevent foul play. Aladdin already hangs out at the palace pretty much every day, except when he's off adventuring, so it wouldn't be like there would be anything new to worry about during the daytime.

On a somewhat related note, I personally would think Aladdin would better be prepared to serve as future Sultan having lived for the series' duration in the palace 24/7, instead of just jumping right in right after tying the knot with Jasmine, and having to learn a lot more.

Sorry for the long post, lol. I just get into depth with this stuff, as I really like it a lot. Thoughts, comments, anyone?

Meesh · Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 9:55 pm Post subject:

minimonster17 · Streetrat Joined: 12 May 2011 Posts: 24 Location: Florida

I just watched the night of the living mud episode, the one in which the al-muddi is running around the palace, and Genie attempts to not get Aladdin and Jasmine involved so they can have some alone time. Anyway, there's a scene where Aladdin and Jasmine go away together, and later come out of the same room with different outfits on.

I was like wtf? That to me almost made it seemed like an implication of some horseplay, lol. It also makes me wonder what the creators were or were not thinking when animating the events in that sequence.