I sense that this movie is going to become very loud here in a moment.
Okay, I know this is a pilot for a kid’s show and suspension of disbelief tends to float rather high and all – but consider this: Iago apparently dug himself and the lamp out of the cave of wonders – y’know, that cave that happens to go pretty deep if its original opening was a tiger’s head several stories tall that sinks and is completely buried by sand when not in use.
But Iago dug his way out.
Without suffocating.
Given how often he screams I’m actually not at all surprised he has supernatural lung capacity.
And then the hopping Jafar lamp demands that Iago release him so he can have his revenge. Iago’s not taking any of that because this is probably the first and only time Jafar’s been smaller than he is. But here’s where the headcanon comes in:
“If it weren’t for me you’d still be at the bazaar squawking ‘polly want a cracker!’”
I’ve always had it in my head that in this universe a familiar tends to reflect the level of progress a magician has made in developing their own magical potential. They form a bond with an animal and they know they’re advancing based on the animal’s development of sentience and grasp of human language. Xerxes, Mozenrath’s familiar from the TV series, would be another reflection of this. Clearly self-aware and has free will but speaks in broken sentences, suggesting, perhaps, that Mozenrath still has a way to go before he’s reached his full potential. Abu if interpreted as a familiar suggests this as well (especially since in Two To Tangle it is established that Aladdin has latent, completely untapped magic in him). Self-aware, and generally only able to communicate in screeches with the occasional almost human sounding words.
What this would imply is that Iago, who is self-aware and has a fully developed grasp of language, critical thinking, and reasoning, is a reflection of Jafar’s potential before he found the lamp. And let’s be serious, here: Jafar sucked as a magic user before he got hold of the lamp, and he probably knew it. All of his abilities displayed are because the objects he carries have some power themselves, not because he’s making them work. Holding to headcanon, he wanted the lamp to take over Agrabah, but he also needed it to exceed his own magical potential.
Also, apparently there’s a well. Right by where the Cave of Wonders is. Wonder why we missed that in the movie. Or why Jafar needed the scarab to find the place.
Oh, we’re gonna sing now?
Let me be the first to say, here, that Gilbert Gottfried is an amazing vocalist with a ridiculous range as far as speaking and acting are concerned, and I’ve never had the pleasure of hearing him sing in anything but the “typical” voice people are used to, but that’s totally not his standard voice. Also, he is a remarkable impressionist. So I’m willing to bet that this is a case of the character and not his true singing voice. In fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he busted out a standard from the Great American Songbook and sounded better than fucking Sinatra. I genuinely think he’s that talented because it is REALLY REALLY HARD to sing loud and clear and on key when you’re doing a voice like this one.
But my God, it just keeps going.
The DVD Fairy 