Aladdin and the King of Thieves

Plot

While the Genie and the people of Agrabah prepare to celebrate the upcoming wedding, Aladdin keeps a dagger belonged to his parents and tells the Genie that his father left him in the past. Meanwhile, the legendary Forty Thieves led by the king, arrive at the city to raid the wedding. The thieves steal every treasures from the palace, but Princess Jasmine and the others fend them off. Aladdin prevents the leader from stealing a specific scepter. After the thieves escape from the city, the staff, turning out to be a powerful Oracle, meets Aladdin and his friends. When Iago asks her about the "ultimate treasure", she replies and tells Aladdin that his father is the King of Thieves. After learning more about him, Aladdin follows them to their hideout in Mount Sesame. There, the king turns out to be Aladdin's father Cassim. When Aladdin reunites with him, his assistant Sa'luk tries to punish Aladdin. However, Cassim suggests Aladdin to fight with Sa'luk and replace him. Sa'luk falls off from the cliff to the sea, but survives the shark attack and gives the hideout password to Razoul in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Cassim mentions to Aladdin about the Hand of Midas, a powerful artifact touching to transform anything into gold. Jasmine, the Genie and the Sultan meet Cassim. After the palace guards imprison the thieves, Sa'luk tells them about the family. The royal guards detain Cassim and Iago for attempting to steal the staff at the treasure chamber, and the two are sent in prison. While Cassim and Iago escape, Razoul detains Aladdin to have him taking his responsibility. However, the Genie and Jasmine convince the Sultan to apologize and give a second chance for Aladdin. Cassim and Iago return to the hideout, only to be captured by Sa'luk and the remaining thieves. Cassim uses the staff's power and the Oracle leads them to the Vanishing Isle, (a castle fortress attached on the back of a gigantic undersea turtle) where the hand is located. After Iago reunites with Aladdin, the heroes head to the isle. When Aladdin saves Cassim, they work together to retrieve the hand, while the turtle begins to dive back under the sea. Sa'luk catches up with them and forces Cassim to choose between keeping the hand or saving Aladdin. After Cassim tosses the hand to Sa'luk, who catches it--but by the golden hand itself instead of the bronze handle, and Sa'luk is instantly transformed into a golden statue, which falls into the water. Believing that the hand is the dangerous treasure, Cassim discards it, realizing his true "ultimate treasure" is his son.

With their enemies gone, Aladdin and Jasmine get married in Agrabah then fly off for their honeymoon, while Cassim and Iago leave to travel through the desert.

Cast

Production

Following the success of The Return of Jafar in January 1995, Disney announced that the third film was in production, and later in June, it was scheduled for a home video release in 1996. In September 1995, it was confirmed that Robin Williams will reprise the role of the Genie reportedly for a $1 million salary after he received an apology from Joe Roth for Disney breaching an agreement not to use his voice to merchandise products inspired by Aladdin. With Williams on board, all recordings and animation footage of Dan Castellaneta as the Genie was scrapped, and all of the Genie's scenes were rewritten to fit Williams's comic style.

Songs

Adaptation

Two comic adaptations of the movie were on sale September 1996.

Release

Upon its release, the film was accompanied by a marketing campaign at more than $70 million with commercial tie-ins with McDonald's and General Mills.

Home media

At the time of its release, King of Thieves was reportedly outselling The Return of Jafar, but Disney declined to disclose actual sales figures for the release. In 1997, The Wall Street Journal reported that it sold over 10 million units, and generated at least $130 million in revenue. On January 18, 2005, the film was re-released as a Special Edition DVD, with digitally restored picture, remastered sound, two additional games, and a behind-the-scenes bonus feature. However, the film was matted into a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio (an aspect ratio Disney has rarely used for animation). The DVD went back into the Disney Vault along with the other two films in the series in January 2008. Aladdin and the King of Thieves, along with The Return of Jafar, was released on Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD Combo Pack on January 5, 2016 as a Disney Movie Club exclusive in North America.

Reception

Based on 11 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film received 27% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 4.8/10. Caryn James of The New York Times praised the sequel as "far better than The Return of Jafar", but acknowledged that "the video has some other weak spots, but these hardly matter when Aladdin and the King of Thieves is so brimming with comic invention and adventure."