Terrible Pun Title: This play on “do the right thing” has always sounded to me like it’s supposed to be a weird dance move.
Plot: Jasmine attempts to prove she can survive as a street rat but finds herself transformed into an actual rat instead.
Terrible Pun Character: Aside from the guy in the thieves’ quarter – his name sounds like “what are you doing” but I’m not going to sink to the level of attempting to write it like a fake Middle Eastern name – this episode brings us Prince Wazoo, which isn’t a pun but is multiple levels of terrible.
Animated by: Walt Disney Television Animation (Australia) – these are the same people who animated “Air Feather Friends” and there are still issues with people being unnecessarily expressive, but Aladdin at least looks and moves a little more like himself than he did in that episode. Unfortunately Jasmine looks pretty rough as a human but since she spends most of the episode as a rat it doesn’t bother me that much.
What I thought then: As a kid I didn’t find the wacky hijinks of rat-Jasmine and lizard-Iago all that interesting.
What I think now: There is a major hiccup in this episode in that the conflict between Aladdin and Jasmine is based on very little, exists only to lead into the actual plot and then is left without an actual resolution. Jasmine gets mad at Aladdin for telling her she doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a street rat, she goes out and is shocked by the small glimpse she gets of that life, then she comes back and … she’s still mad at him?? Somewhat baffling but it cracks me up how Aladdin just takes it in stride. I guess by now he’s accepted that anger is Jasmine’s default state.
Even though the ball is quite soundly dropped on that aspect of the episode, I do think the idea of Aladdin and Jasmine clashing on issues related to their opposite backgrounds is interesting and realistic and I appreciate that the creators at least acknowledged the possibility of it.
Apart from that – OH MY GOODNESS is this episode so much better than any of the first three. My younger self didn’t have a very high opinion of this episode, so when I wrote in my previous Aladdinathon entry that I couldn’t wait for an episode where the characters acted like actual people I didn’t expect my wish to be granted so soon. The characters in this episode act like themselves, not weird copies of themselves that only exist to act in a way the plot requires! The story flows like a story and not a series of beats between commercial breaks!! A lot of the jokes are actually funny!!! I did not expect the episode where Jasmine turns into a rat to set the standard I want the rest of the series to achieve, but there you have it.
Also Fasir is here and that’s awesome.
Aladdin/Jasmine OTP
We should all be lucky enough to find someone who is as proud to be with us as Aladdin is proud to be with Jasmine when she is still half-rat.
Seriously I love how unfazed Aladdin is by like everything in this episode.
idk my bff iago
So it wasn’t until I had watched the series through a couple times that I even noticed this, but Jasmine and Iago are best friends and I love it. I’m not sure who decided they should be best friends and I’m not sure it even really makes sense but who am I to question the greatness of their friendship. When Jasmine is interacting with the other guys in the group, there’s always this vibe from both sides of “I have to be pleasant to you because I like Aladdin and he likes you,” but Iago and Jasmine together sink to the level of ~brutal insults because they are besties~ and I LOVE IT.
You might accuse me of reading too much into a children’s cartoon, but Iago accompanying Jasmine to the thieves’ quarter goes totally unexplained and is filled with dialogue like THIS–
Guy: “An ugly specimen, but he may be worth a shekel or two.”
Jasmine: “He isn’t worth anything, he’s mine!”
–so I really think I win this round.
What is Wrong with the Sultan? Watch
Sultan: “I was just telling Prince Wazoo that he should see our marketplace! I’d take him there myself … if I knew where it was …”
AND
Sultan: “Poor people? We have poor people in Agrabah?”
The sultan in the series is either perfectly competent or a total moron depending on who’s writing him. Most of the time it’s only vaguely annoying but I find that second line really irritating. He’s shocked to hear there are poor people in Agrabah?! He just spent the entire evening with a poor person in Agrabah! I mean I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to think he’s so stupid as to have no idea where his daughter’s fiancé comes from, ughhh …
Villain Threat Level
There is not really a villain in this episode which I think is pretty cool.
Quote of the Day
Genie: “Sure, you know all about the dark, sleazy underbelly of this seamy city of sin.”
Next up: Episode 5, “Never Say Nefir.”
A Jubilation! 