Author: J Larson

Writer, editor, college English instructor, nerd

I didn´t know about the live action prequel D: Not sure how I feel about that now that Robin Williams is gone :( They say they may also do a live action version of Aladdin (if the prequel does well, I imagine). What are your thoughts on this, I wonder?

I will need to reserve judgment until the Live Action Mulan comes out, honestly, because I don’t presently trust Disney not to whitewash the Hell out of it. My ideal would be for human, non-CG’d characters, at the very least, to be played by African and Arab actors and actresses. Sadly, I don’t think Disney has the guts to do it. 

Hey, how’s it going? Are you still gonna write about the rest of episodes and the third movie? I really enjoy your analysis :B Also, do you by any chance know where I can find the series’ soundtrack/score? I’ve noticed much of it is taken from the Return of Jafar score but I have never found anything other than the songs :(

Hello! Yes, I still intend to write the liveblogs. Life is just hectic rn. Alas, I do not think they have ever released that score. Maybe now that Aladdin is getting a live action prequel, they’ll consider it!

I found someone who uploaded the Aladdin series on YouTube, so I’ve been watching all the Mozenrath episodes. I just got to “Black Sand” and UGH. I didn’t see this episode much as a kid, so I’d forgotten just how bad the writing is and how poor a job Jeff Bennett does as Mozenrath. I don’t know if it’s because Jonathan Brandis was nearly fifteen years younger than him and he just couldn’t stretch his voice or what, but it’s nearly unbearable. My sympathies when you get to this episode.

Aaag, I’m gonna have to hit that one before I get to Lost City, and this makes me so sad. I honestly don’t even know if Jeff Bennett even studied Brandis’ performance at all (but then I don’t know how far along in production any of his initial episodes were in comparison to this one). 

We may see this one soon if I find myself with some free time. 

Interesting :> Will you ever write your version of their family past? I really enjoy your writing (still waiting anxiously for the next Moze episodes :B) One more question, did you notice that several of the thieves from King of Thieves are the sames that made up Abis Mal’s gang in Return of Jafar? There’s the moustachoed guy with the big chin and the big bearded one with the rings on his beard, and maybe others too. Wonder why they were working with Abis Mal to begin with…

I haven’t written a full story, but I have written summaries before! When I have a little more time on my hands, I may push through to some more episodes before finishing Some Enchanted Genie.  

I think because they’re background characters, the animators didn’t expect people to notice, but when you’re watching closely, it sticks out. It’s possible that some of the people in the Forty are longer-remaining, veteran members – the ones they didn’t arrest in the raid, and others come and go. It’s even possible that Abis Mal tried to strike out on his own and somehow managed to convince a few people to come with him. Maybe he didn’t much care for Cassim’s all-noble tactics and there were a few that agreed. Given Cassim and Abis Mal’s shared interest in treasures with a magical bent, the idea that they collaborated and parted on less-than-positive terms actually makes a lot of sense. 

I saw the movie recently and Cassim does speak of the thieves as his family, and then when Sa’luk tells the thieves that Cassim has betrayed them they refuse to believe it- I think this shows he’s spent a long time with them, not necessarily as their king, of course. Fitting Mozenrath in as Al’s brother is more difficult as he’s supossed to be somewhat older than Al and Cassim never says anything to suggest he had another son (the dagger was always meant for Aladdin, for example).

In fairness, the Moze storyline was what they were going with long before they even created Cassim as a character. But you can still play around with it. In my RP headcanon, where I do establish them as siblings, I write it that Cassim only mentions one son because Mozenrath was assumed to have died shortly before Cassim left to seek his fortune and may have been what catalyzed that decision in the first place. 

I have a theory regarding Cassim and Al’s wish from the first movie, perhaps other people have thought of it as well, but anyway, I think it makes sense: when Al asks to be made a prince, we see Genie give him riches, fine clothes, servants etc (even if we never see them after the song). So, what if Cassim became king of thieves at the exact moment Genie granted Al’s wish, making him a REAL prince? I mean, Genie’s powers were greater back then and wealth alone does not a prince make… thoughts?

This is really interesting and a possibility! It might even be a fun headcanon to play with if you’re RPing or writing fanfic. I would want to sit down and watch the movie again to see what indicators Cassim gives of how much time has passed since he rose to prominence there, because I think only a couple years have passed since the first movie, and Cassim’s been gone since Aladdin was wee. (That’s not to say he left and immediately became the King of Thieves; Sa’luuk talks about a time before he came along, after all.) But things to look for would involve references to time passing in his dialogue. How does he seem to talk about his experiences with the 40 Thieves? Does it seem like he’s been there longer? What’s more, how do the other members of the band talk to or about him? 

One thing we can probably be certain about is that even if it adds up, it probably wasn’t intentional on the writers’ parts, with regard to the first film and how it plays out. Remember that Return of Jafar was the first direct-to-video sequel they’d ever done, and it pretty much started the slew of video sequels we got throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s. Before the final script for the third movie got greenlit, the only certainty was they intended to focus on Aladdin and reveal a long lost relative. They originally intended to reveal Mozenrath was his brother, but pressure from the studio led them to distancing the final movie from the series because they thought people who did not follow the series would not buy it. (In the end it wouldn’t matter, since non-fans of the series bought it because Robin Williams was back.) 

Hi! I have a question regarding your headcanon about how Mozenrath lost his hand. I’m in love with the idea that he might have lost it to the Thirdack (and I’m impressed that you’ve noticed such a detail!), but then you have Mozenraths comment from “The Lost City of Sun” how he gave his hand for power and how wearing the gauntlet is painful but worth it- dunno, it kinda sounds like losing a hand was a mean to aquire/create the gauntlet. Curious what’s your idea on this!

I honestly think he’s just being figurative. “This is what I did for power. The magic of a genie was handed to you on a silver platter, but I gave my right hand for power. To wear the gauntlet is painful, but it’s worth it – worth it to destroy the likes of you.” (It is really, really sad the things I can quote by memory word for word.) 

Like I said in that commentary, it’s vague enough that it could really go both ways, but I’m sticking to my guns on that. I think Mozenrath is talking fancy without being completely straightforward because this is still a pissing contest and he refuses to lose his composure (for the moment) when his injury’s just been laid completely bare. (This will completely fail when the sprites reveal they buried his gauntlet.)

Technically if he kept his hand in that thing’s mouth long enough to save the gauntlet, then he still totally did it for power. Let’s be real. I think his injury would have spread, and we’d see evidence, by his final episode, where he confirms that the gauntlet is weakening/killing him. It seems like it’s more a life force thing. 

Unless I somehow manage to get an interview with one or two writers to confirm some of this, I can really only speculate. Either way, I think given how his right hand looks under the gauntlet, and they were able to get away with that at all, it’s possible they weren’t allowed to be explicit on how it got that way. 

Here’s a question. What species do you think Iago belongs to? I’ve always thought he was a (rather plump) scarlet macaw, but then there’s some who say he’s a red lorikeet… or even a hybrid of both (if such thing was possible, which I doubt) because he’s got the white naked skin around the eyes like the macaw, but lacks the yellow feathers in the wings and seems a bit small… Alternatives, unknown species, a magical creation? Me, overthinking? PS- Don´t even get me started on Xerxes…

I never gave Iago’s species much thought, but I never considered a lorikeet before! That said, you could probably come to your own headcanon on that point. I think quibbling on the major physical characteristics may be a bit pointless when, among other things, Iago is also a bird with human teeth. 

(PPS: I remember in ancient online websites, back in the fabled days of Netscape, Altavista, and dial-up internet, he was described specifically as being a flying lamprey, which… if you’ve seen lampreys you’d know why that’s disconcerting. Most prefer eel. He has physical characteristics of both, but he also flies and talks, so I just prefer to call him magic and leave it at that. That also said, if in Kim Possible a naked molerat can climb walls, operate video game systems, walk on ceilings and NOT be total nightmare fuel, then I figure Xerxes can be the least terrifying lamprey on earth.) 

Will you be talking “way too much” about the remaining Mozenrath episodes? I just rediscovered the series and was reminded of how much I liked the character :D

Oh absolutely! I’d do them all in a row if that didn’t feel a bit unfair. We’re coming up on some episodes that I loathe, though (Vocal Hero and Black Sand – thankfully with the Lost City of the Sun in between, I think), so it’s going to be interesting to see how these mix in, given how heavy the previous episodes I’ve done have been.