The DVD Fairy

At the bottom of the furthest, deepest ocean, as per Abis Mal’s orders, Genie is feeling sorry for himself. But he apparently has an answering machine, where Eden lets him know how to get out of the safe he’s in – because Abis Mal didn’t tell her to imprison him forever. 

We can chalk this up to Eden’s magic working on a similar wavelength as Genie’s, which as I’ve said works on Roger Rabbit/Toon Town rules: Can they do this kind of magic at any time? 

So, crisis of romance averted, Genie springs himself and hurries back to Agrabah to save the day. 

I hate when this kind of stuff is used as a plotline at the last second, and like I said, there wasn’t enough time to play with this. The last two scenes played out in about a minute altogether. 

But in fairness, he’s being coached. Haroud knows this’ll go south quickly if Aladdin has any magic on his side, and since Carpet seems to be at the movies again, this largely centers on getting Genie far away. 

His second wish is kind of mishmash and Eden seems to be too nice a genie to screw him over. He wants to be the biggest tough guy around, on a cosmic level, with MEGA BRAIN ENERGY (and also eye lasers) and she just…gives him all of that. Because why not. 

She turns him into the world’s most annoying Kaiju. 

This entire romance and every sharp turn in it is based on misunderstandings. Eden didn’t want anything to do with him when she thought he was trying to move in on Dandi. 

Genie thinks Eden doesn’t like him because she is called away and doesn’t come back.

Genie sees Abis Mal has the bottle and assumes she was working for him the entire time. 

What the Hell, Genie? 

Listen, dingdong, if he already had a genie, why the Hell would he steal your lamp?

Also Disney, your episodes are not long enough for this kind of drama; there’s literally five minutes left before Gargoyles is coming on. Please never do this again.

I find it very odd that Genie is hesitant to find Eden and ask her what’s going on – taking her not coming back as a clear “no” – when the beginning of this episode was all about him taking zero hints that she wanted him to go away. 

Maybe we’ll take that as character growth, but it’s so bad for the plot resolving itself more easily. 

So Eden is called away from her date when somebody (she assumes Dandi) rubs the bottle. Assuring Genie she’ll be right back, she pops off to check in on her kid, and when she doesn’t return, Genie assumes he’s been dumped. 

Of course, Aladdin doesn’t believe it, as this very comical between-frame tells you. He and Abu saw the pig. So it had to have been real. 

Genie will not be consoled. Pig’s a liar, he says. 

But more to the point, he thinks that Eden somehow found out that 1) he’s free and therefore only semi-phenomenal, nearly-cosmic, and 2) he’s homeless. 

Nobody wants to date the semi-phenomenal Genie of the Shoe, he says. His attachment to the lamp, I think, is only really addressed in this episode – and we come to find out is only being ignored because he thought Eden was more important. In fact, he knows where Abis Mal is pretty much since the first time he rubbed the lamp. However, the fact that his powers are limited has come up multiple times (Never Say Nefir and Return of Jafar, of the ones I’ve reviewed already). However, instead of making it the subject of a full arc, I don’t think the episodes or sequels have ever gone beyond just making it something Genie will always be down on himself about. (That…nobody ever seems to question him on. Thanks Aladdin.) Readers, am I correct in that? Is there an episode I’m not remembering that addresses this more? Let me know!

One of the criticisms I hear from a lot of people who remember the series is that the series version of Genie is in many ways different from the movie version – which is fair. They paid a new voice actor to come in and try to impersonate Robin Williams, but I honestly think Dan made the character his own, and he had unique traits that would have made for interesting ongoing arcs (kind of like how Aladdin is incapable of growing too much as a person). His dealing with the limitations his powers now have and what that means to how he defines himself as a person is one of them – if only the writers took time to develop on it more. 

This…includes roping citizens and their animals into helping out without asking but we’ll just let it go for the laugh. 

And we know the date is going exceptionally well because Aladdin gets an unexpected visitor from the stars: 

Also, spontaneous growth, as suggested before: 

Most of the date itself is just dialogue free faffing about. They go ice skating on the rings of Saturn. They go on a carriage ride. You know. The usual first date stuff. 

Eden is fully willing to cancel on this date if Dandi needs her and makes absolutely certain she’ll be okay by herself before she leaves. 

– assuring her, naturally, that there’s plenty to eat if she needs it.

Dandi, who is used to being by herself, is just happy that Eden gets to go off and have fun, and she encourages her not to worry. (This will be a bad move, because Abis Mal shows up immediately afterward.)

Eden is excited because she’s never been on a date before, and if what Genie says is true about genies falling in love, then Eden knows it, too. It is probably even more of a rush – going on your first date, but knowing that if it goes as well as you think it will, the entire universe is going to change and become better just because you’re happy together? 

Given how Genie and Eden tend to be about their people, we’re probably experiencing the happiest moments of their lives. 

And I think Eden already loves Dandi. Not romantically (because no), but there’s more than one kind of love. Between friends. Between a parent and a child. Genie didn’t specify, but even if he never came into the picture, I think things are already different because Eden met Dandi. 

Love and genies are powerful combined forces. It creates new life. It makes pigs fly. It’s what sets genies free. 

Of course Aladdin is overjoyed to learn Genie met someone, which he didn’t even think was possible. Genie agrees – the odds are pretty slim that it happens. There’s not a lot of room in this episode for “Aladdin might be an asshole” antics, but he squeezes just a little in there when he says he didn’t think genies could fall in love. 

“What, do you think all we do is grant wishes?” 

Genie explains to him that yes, the odds are low, but that’s what makes it special, not just for genies, either. When you hear music in the air, seemingly coming from nowhere, when fields of flowers grow overnight, and when…pigs fly in outer space and play croquet? That means a genie has fallen in love. 

I like the significance here. The universe recognizes how rare it is for even the opportunity to fall in love to occur, and so, when it does happen, it magically makes the universe a (mostly) better place. And…I don’t know, gives flying pigs a clear knight when they can play organized sports. It’s a good thing for the flying pigs, anyway. 

That’s kinda cool.