Aladdin (found Howard Ashman treatment of Disney animated film; 1988)

When Howard Ashman, a lyricist working for Disney, was still alive, he was strongly involved with the production of Aladdin as well as The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Ashman and songwriter Alan Menken worked on a total of eleven songs for Aladdin. At some point, the development for Aladdin came to a halt and focused on the then-troubled production of Beauty and The Beast. However, Howard Ashman succumbed to AIDS.

As a result, much of the production for Aladdin had to be redone from scratch with Menken and Tim Rice working together, which resulted in the movie that we know today. Only three songs that Howard Ashman worked on remain in the final movie: "Prince Ali", "Arabian Nights", and "Friend Like Me".^[1]

Plot

In the original story, there were two genies: The Genie of the Lamp and The Genie of the Ring, who would appear from time to time to comment on and explain various points of the story. Aladdin is actually not an adult; instead, he is about fifteen years old and is motivated by the need to prove to his mother that he is responsible and capable of growing up and making her proud. Babkak, Omar, and Kasim are Aladdin’s gang of friends. Jafar was not “Jafar” yet; instead, he was called The Wazir, and his “smart-mouthed, back-talking sidekick” parrot was named Sinbad. Most surprising though is the description of Jasmine as “a purely comic creation; the ultimate in pampered spoiled brattiness” as well as the character Abbi: “The tomboy female component in Aladdin’s gang. (In West Side Story she’d play ‘Anybody’s.’) She’s the Girl-Next-Door to Aladdin and he doesn’t even notice that she is a girl until fairly late in the proceedings. But when he does notice, boy are we happy.” Ashman’s original concept included a bratty and entitled Princess Jasmine; while on an epic adventure to save the princess, Aladdin would see Abbi’s love for him manifested as she protects him on his journey. Though he is offered the princess’ hand in marriage after saving her life and the kingdom, Aladdin ultimately refuses in favor of true love with Abbi.