Greetings Typebar Magazine fans, subscribers, and well-wishers!
Typebar founder & editor Matt Wolfbridge here. First of all, I'd like to welcome all the recent arrivals joining us off the back of popular Issue 10 essays like Cybernetic Incels, Three Walks Back to Omelas, and Sex, Lies and Video Essays!
If you're new here: Full issues of the magazine are released on a three month cadence. Issue 10 came out at the end of July, so Issue 11 will launch at the end of October. In between issues, we publish individual pieces (either essays or fiction) every two weeks. We call these in-between pieces "interstitials."
If you're a longtime Typebar-head: You already know the drill!
This week we have Andrew Nickerson making his Typebar Magazine debut with a bold take: The Disney VHS sequels actually kinda slapped, specifically the two direct-to-VHS Aladdin films The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
Don't roll your eyes! As a kid, I watched more of the sequel movies than I did the original film and had action figures of sequel characters. The films may not be the pinnacle of animation, but there was enough to them that I enjoyed watching them repeatedly. I re-watched the movies after the essay was pitched to me and while the production is noticeably cheaper, the Aladdin sequels try much harder than a lot of later era Disney VHS sequels or even contemporary theatrical releases. And the "You're Only Second Rate" song sequence has some genuinely creative, fun imagery.
But Andrew makes the case better than I do. Read his essay below. We'll return to your inbox on Monday 8/24!
By Andrew Nickerson
Milking a cash cow. It’s a concept that’s plagued the literary world forever but, when The Fall of a Nation (the first ever feature-length film sequel) came out in 1916, its proverbial seeds were planted in the movie industry too…and they’d eventually grow into a phenomenon no one could’ve seen coming.
The first sprouts were in the 60s and 70s, when studios began milking successful westerns, war films, and police dramas. Popular films like The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, and Dirty Harry (respectively) got numerous sequels apiece. However, once VCRs revolutionized home entertainment in the 80s and early 90s, the invention of straight-to-video release soon followed. Many studios went overboard, flooding video stores with everything from cheaply produced sequels to even more cheaply produced B-movies (and everything in between). Worse, these titles irrespective of genre or studio all had one thing in common: easily predictable plots that mostly rehashed whatever made their original material famous, including their ad taglines (ex. Jaws 2: “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water”). The trend soon grew so prevalent Robin Williams even joked about it in his special A Night at the Met: “It’s Halloween part 5! Jason’s back and he’s pissed off!”
Yet, despite the feeding frenzy going on elsewhere, Disney chose to stay out of it for some time. But that all changed, as MEL magazine reported in a stunning 2021 article, when CEO Michael Eisner made a carefully calculated business move to enter it full bore in the early 90s. Why? Ironically, for the same reason as everyone else: money.
As famed Disney animator/storyteller Jim Kamerud said in the same article, “Walt Disney Pictures was interested in creating a lot of stuff, but after they’ve done that, they can make a lot of money by exploiting the property…so the videos were part of that.” They even opened a separate animation section, Disneytoon, to handle the resulting workload, starting primarily with TV series—until Disney TV founder Tad Stones suggested making the first five episodes of the planned Aladdin series into a straight release sequel. He got rejected at first, but then the original Aladdin VHS release did so well he got the green light. Later, according to Stones, Eisner apparently said in a meeting (the former wasn’t present, by his own admission) he wasn’t keen on making major features outside Disney’s main studio. However, when he heard that that sequel, 1994’s The Return of Jafar, had made between $180-200 million (on a $3.5 million budget, too), he asked, “How many more you got?” The rest, as the expression goes, is history.
Then again, unlike competing studios’ generic garbage, like Carnosaur 2 or American Ninja 3 , many Disney straight releases were impressive. In fact, several deserve a second look from audiences and critics. To better understand, let’s examine some of its better titles, starting with the pair that made it all possible: The Return of Jafar, and its 1996 sequel Aladdin and the King of Thieves, the latter celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Like all good films (particularly sequels), Return needed a gripping emotional hook, and Disney’s writers expertly chose to orient the story around the most phenomenal piece of Aladdin’s character: his strong moral code and its accompanying sense of duty.
The Return of Jafar
Taking place a short while after Aladdin ended, things are looking up for its titular character (Al, as he still prefers): he’s living in the palace in Agrabah, enjoying the high life, and about to be offered the role of Royal Vizier, the Sultan’s most trusted advisor…and ironically, Jafar’s former position. All the while, he’s doing what he does best: helping those in need, starting with sneaking into the lair of ruthlessly inept thief Abis Mal (get it???) played by Jason Alexander,and his gang. Al swipes their loot, and gives money to the poor upon his return—while saving a jeweled flower for Jasmine.
At the same time, Iago (who’d been trapped with Jafar at the end of Aladdin), manages to escape the collapsed Cave of Wonders…only to have the writers throw an exceptional curveball: the rift that’d visibly formed between the two prior to their banishment explodes, causing the former to drop the lamp into a well and return to Agrabah, all timed to the film’s 1st song, “I’m Looking Out for Me”, a pretty generic piece with a campy ending. Afterward, he clumsily attempts to con Al, leading to an ugly confrontation that draws in the vengeful Mal and his gang. Amazingly, Iago (in his normal vindictive mood) surprises everyone again by saving Al, who, despite the implications, is honor-bound by his good nature to protect the former because he owes him. So, he brings Iago to the palace and even lies to Jasmine about his presence, an act which plants seeds of change in the parrot’s mind.
Moments later, the Genie reappears, having chosen to come home to his treasured friends, thus segueing into the film’s second song, “There’s Nothing in the World Like a Friend”, which is nice, yet equally campy. Genie in this film is voiced by Dan Castellaneta of Homer Simpson fame, the result of a well-documented dispute between Robin Williams and Disney. Despite the change in voice actor, Genie is zany as ever, but also drops an important bomb: his powers are greatly diminished. Still, he manages to entertain everyone at a banquet that night, only to stoke Al’s guilt by bringing up Jafar and Iago…just as the latter is exposed. However, Al’s moral compass holds true and he defends Iago, which leads to a reluctant truce between Iago and the Sultan, although Jasmine is furious about Al keeping the mouthy bird’s presence secret from her. Nevertheless, that same selflessness registers even further with Iago, and Genie plays off that to help reconcile Al and Jasmine in the film’s 3rd song, “Forget About Love”, which is surprisingly heartfelt.
Meanwhile, Abis Mal accidentally finds and releases Jafar, leaving the latter jubilant…until the writers remind everyone of two binding limits on the evil genie: he can’t travel far on his own, being forced to stay close to the lamp and its owner Mal. Most severely: Jafar, being a genie, cannot kill anyone. So much for his instant revenge on Al. Thus, he partners with Mal, promising him great rewards if he returns Jafar to Agrabah and uses his wishes to help destroy Aladdin. The duo returns to Agrabah, where Jafar confronts Iago and orders him to act as bait for a very crafty plan: lure Al and the Sultan to a remote spot, kidnap the latter, then frame the former for murder. Reluctantly, Iago agrees, but his conscience soon aches when Jasmine forgives him, showing how effective Al’s moral potency is on all who know him. Nevertheless, Iago continues the plan, allowing Jafar to ambush/trap the Genie to the tune of the film’s next song, “You’re Only Second-Rate”, one of the 90s’ creepier tunes: the sequence with the fingers by itself is nasty but, when combined with Jafar’s boasting and aping the famed sequence where they discover the dead mother in Psycho is utter insanity. Then again, Disney villain songs were getting scarier every year in that era (The Hunchback of Notre Dame’s “Hellfire”, which combines lust with fanaticism, is arguably Disney’s most terrifying song to date) so at least the writers did justice to a profound trend. Jafar then rejoins Mal, and they ambush/capture the Sultan and Magic Carpet, leaving Al to trek back to Agrabah, where he’s promptly arrested.
Jafar then captures Jasmine and imitates her to condemn Al…but also drives the guilt-ridden Iago to make things right. In an impressively well-written segment, the latter feigns loyalty to trick everyone (especially Jafar), then frees the Genie, who saves Al in one of the closest nail-biters in Disney history. Genie then frees everyone else, after which Al’s goodness comes through again: despite the danger, they have a duty to stop Jafar, and the only way (according to the former) to do so is to destroy his lamp. Thus, all but Iago (who’s clamoring to flee instead) head for the throne room, where Mal has finally realized Jafar’s “reward” promise was just another lie. Sadly, an initial stealthy attempt to seize the lamp ignites a magical brawl that leaves everyone dangling over a pool of molten lava. At the critical moment, Al’s goodness finishes sprouting in Iago, who heroically (if predictably) reappears and seizes the lamp. Tragically, Jafar blasts his former familiar with magic, but Iago uses his last ounce of strength to kick the lamp into the lava, destroying Jafar in a (literally) electrifying death sequence. In the end, Al turns down the role of Vizier because he wants to see more of the world, and Iago is finally reconciled by all. A wonderful conclusion by any measure.
Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Now for Aladdin and the King of Thieves, whose approach is much grander. It starts with Robin Williams returning to play the Genie, setting a precedent that many other studios, whose straight-release sequels often replaced original casts to save money, would find hard to top. Naturally, Williams loses no time amping up his famed role to the nth degree, starting with amping up the film’s initial focus, Al and Jasmine’s wedding. He even serenades the festivities in the opening song, “A Party Here in Agrabah”, a highly energetic number concluding with Genie conducting his own gospel choir. Yet, the film soon segues to its extremely potent, highly emotional hook: Al’s past. Frankly, it was too long in coming. Unlike most Disney protagonists, Al’s past is virtually blank; even The Return of Jafar and its concurrent TV series that ran for two seasons in the mid 90s never touch on it, a truly strange omission by the studio.
Thankfully, the writers more than rectified this in Aladdin and the King of Thieves, beginning with visiting another famed tale from One Thousand and One Nights (where Aladdin was also adapted from): Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, more specifically, the latter half. The evil band, led by the King of Thieves, crashes the wedding seeking an oracle-containing staff that knows where to find the mythical Hand of Midas, an artifact that turns anything it touches to gold. . Al, Genie, and the guards fend the intruders off. In the aftermath of the attack, Al inadvertently summons the oracle, who reveals that Aladdin’s father, named Cassim, is indeed alive and is trapped in the lair of the very thieves who attacked the wedding. Here’s where the hook really digs in: Al wants to be with Jasmine, yet also wants to save his dad, who’s been gone most of his life. Thankfully, Jasmine uses the touching ballad “Out of Thin Air” (a nice tribute to Alan Menken, Disney’s most prolific composer and the one who scored the original Aladdin) to bolster him, and he sets out, carrying a dagger his dad left for him years before. Upon reaching the Thieves’ lair, he spots Sa’luk, enforcer of the 40 Thieves (and one of the 90s’ most vivid villains), lighting into Cassim, who Al recognizes from the Oracle’s vision…and who’s revealed to be the King of Thieves. However, Cassim proves as clever as his son, using an initiation test to pit Al against Sa’luk, thus neutralizing his angry cohort, who’s fuming over not getting to pilfer the wedding’s goods (and who then, in the test’s finale, supposedly dies in traditional Disney fashion AKA falling off a cliff). The thieves celebrate the reunion of father and son as well as Al’s admission into the group with the film’s 3rd number, “Welcome to the Forty Thieves”, which is mostly campy goofiness.
In the number’s aftermath, the writers gave Cassin a stunning level of vulnerability: he emotionally confesses the reason he seemingly abandoned Aladdin and his mother to find the Hand was so he could give his family a better life…and he didn’t return because he didn’t want to come back empty-handed. Still, Al’s innate goodness and sense of duty remain steadfast: he forgives Cassim, invites him to the wedding, and hides his identity to protect him. Of course, being a Disney movie of the 90s, they sing about it. The resulting song, “Father and Son” is sadly nothing too extraordinary.
Cassim’s appearance naturally causes a stir at the palace, particularly with Iago, whose own greed manifests when he learns the former is still after the staff. Unfortunately, Sa’luk’s reappearance causes the bigger ruckus: bent on revenge, he betrays Cassim (who’s managed to steal the staff) and his fellow thieves to the guards, then uses the film’s last song, “Are You In or Out” (a hefty tribute to revenge and greed), to get the few escaped Thieves to follow him instead. This turn leaves Al even more troubled, yet he remains true to his character by freeing Cassim, pretending to be him to lead the guards away, and then letting him escape with the staff before returning to Agrabah to take responsibility.
In a nice follow-up scene by the writers, that sense of duty earns Al forgiveness (more proof of his moral influence), yet Cassim and Iago, upon returning to the Thieves’ lair, are confronted by Sa’luk, who forces Cassim to use the oracle to reveal the Hand’s location. Thankfully, Iago manages to escape, return to Agrabah, and warn everyone. Al heads after Cassim, who’s found the Hand inside on a place called the Hidden Island, so-called because it’s balanced on a turtle’s back (seriously) and constantly submerges. Unfortunately, Sa’luk appears and threatens to kill Al if Cassim doesn’t hand it over, but the latter outsmarts him: in a very cleverly shot sequence, Cassim tosses over the Hand, yet does so in a way that forces Sa’luk to catch its palm, turning him to gold. The turtle then starts submerging, sinking the Thieves and their boat, while Cassim tosses away the Hand, finally realizing family is far more valuable. Thus, all return home, Al and Jasmine finally marry, and Cassim rides off on a fresh quest with Iago in one of the best conclusions in Disney history.
A Few More Noteworthy Gems
Admittedly, those two films were well-above par, but there are many other great examples, like Simba’s Pride (1998), the direct release sequel to The Lion King (1994). It’s a very well-written tale featuring Simba’s daughter, Kiara, after the former’s ascension to the throne; furthermore, thanks to the King of Thieves precedent, the film retained most of its original cast (including James Earl Jones in several Mufasa cameos), plus also did a great job hinting at Scar’s background, and its final battle is quite vivid. Yet, its best moments are the many scenes where Simba vacillates on how to rule, then settles on emulating Mufasa…until he gets a rude awakening via Kiara’s best line: “You are never going to be Mufasa!”
Another great choice is Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997), whose returning cast (precedent strikes again) is just as charming as ever. The plot did justice to the original story by hinting at how Belle pushed the Beast to open up. The film also expertly depicted one of the original movie’s key plot key sequences: the initial appearance of the enchantress who transformed the prince into a beast and his servants into furniture and flatware. The film hints at the evil influences that made the prince/Beast so cruel. Still, the film’s greatest accomplishment remains its music, arguably the best soundtrack of all Disney straight-to-VHS releases, namely Paige O’Hara’s (Belle) rendition of “As Long as There’s Christmas”, which was amply complimented by Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack’s pop version during the credits.
A third option is Mulan II (2004), which brought back all but Eddie Murphy from the original cast, yet still had a worthy storyline: Mulan and her intended, Shang, must escort an Imperial princess to an arranged marriage, thus sealing a peace alliance…but leaving the former deeply conflicted due to her belief that people should be able to choose their own lives, like she did. Its songs are sadly very generic (standards had badly fallen by that point), but the battle scenes are intense, and the twist that hits roughly three-quarters of the way through is both gut-wrenching and heart-breaking. What’s more, its finale does great justice to how influential Mulan’s emphasis on personal life independence is, both in her homeland and abroad.
Sadly, most of Disney’s other works were needless expansions of past and modern classics that should’ve been left alone, such as The Lady and the Tramp II (featuring the pair’s son, Scamp, wandering around London), Tarzan II (which introduces Tarzan and Jane Porter’s son), and Kronk’s New Groove (favoring Kronk, the title character’s BFF from The Emperor’s New Groove). Admittedly, even their staff couldn’t avoid falling into the same repetitive plot pattern forever, and standards correspondingly fell alongside revenue. Nowadays, Disney still tends to milk their favorite cash cows (Toy Story 5), but that doesn’t diminish their impact on straight release history. After all, considering how late it got into the trend, they managed to impress viewers far more than most. Therefore, instead of relying on hollow, live recreations of past hits, they should relearn the lesson of Return of Jafar and King of Thieves: break from convention and go in a direction no one expects. After all, that’s what they did with Frozen, Moana, and Brave, so there’s no reason they can’t do it again.
