 Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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| In ancient times, marriages like these between kingdoms were often arranged/performed in order to create alliances or political stability among or within nations. This was obviously not the case in the first Aladdin, as "Prince Ali" was from some exotic kingdom that was probably fictional as well.
This leads us to the point of Sultans appointing their successors. The man who married a Sultan's daughter for political or other reasons would not necessarily become Sultan himself one day. Otherwise, there would be no continuance of a particular family/dynasty, as it would be passed from one head to another generation after generation. |
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| Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 7:48 pm Post subject: |
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You mean they got to choose who replaced them? That makes sense in regards to Aladdin then.
Then again, this was back when they all thought she would marry an official prince. Still, it's weird because Prince Ali was supposed to be from a far away kingdom with no ties to Agrabah. I don't know how it works with other cultures, but I know England would not have been cool with someone not even from there becoming a ruling figurehead  Maybe Agrabah is smart and doesn't encourage inbreeding, no matter how far removed the married couple is. |
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| Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Besides the voice actors minus Robin, nope. Everyone else would have been too expensive, probably |
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| Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 10:06 pm Post subject: |
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Did anyone who worked on the first movie, work on the series?  This surprises me, because despite it's flaws, the series is quite good. I always assumed the original writers worked on the series, because it seemed like a lot of heart went into it. |
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 10:49 pm Post subject: |
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I can't tell you how many times I got questions right on my Middle Eastern history/art history exams because of this series
Ron and John haven't touched the series since they made the initial movie, so I don't think so. I'd be curious to see how they would have made the series. |
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 10:52 am Post subject: |
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| I wonder, were the writers of the series the same as the writers for the movies? | |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 8:15 am Post subject: |
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| Upon doing some research for my own benefit, I can confirm that you are correct, AG. A Sultana and a Queen were generally different titles in Islam, up until the 20th century where the title "Sultana" became synonymous with chief wife or "Queen" of a Sultan.
In the more historical definition of the title, there were eight Sultanas throughout history to rule different Muslim kingdoms, including India, modern Algeria, modern Indonesia, and Egypt. I know some people discredit Wikipedia, but this article is reliable for credible resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultana_%28title%29 Oh, the things I learn from an Aladdin forum, lol. I have taken courses that had large sections on Islam back in college, and this particular topic was something I had not learned up until now. |
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 3:03 am Post subject: Re: Is it weird that Aladdin would automatically be Sultan? |
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*must not quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail*
Prince Philip didn't even automatically become a prince when he married Elizabeth either. She gave him that title. She gave Kate her title of Duchess, too, just recently. She runs this 100%
But the way the sucession line works in Agrabah is strange. After Aladdin married Jasmine, he became a prince (or at least that's what I'm getting and what Disney is telling me). But, like you guys said, he'll become Sultan after the current one dies. That's all fine and dandy, but sultans usually appointed their heirs back then. Jasmine has said herself "when I become queen", which implies she knows whoever she marries will be a step above her as she didn't refer to herself as a "Sultana". A Sultana and a Queen, if I remember right, aren't the same thing. The Queen is just the Sultan's wife, but the Sultana is the ruling figure head much in the way a Sultan is (which there haven't been too many of in history). I think the only way she would have become a sultana is if she made it to the throne before Sultan died and didn't pick someone to marry, which also might explain why that rule is in place so early on in her life if they didn't go the betrothal route. Come to think of it, this also makes Sultan's line about Jasmine's mother not being nearly so picky weird because Agrabah has been ruled by the same line of people for hundreds of years as we saw in Founder's Day. Why didn't Sultan have someone in line for himself already? Did they die? Why did he have to be picked? Shouldn't it have been the other way around? Now I'm wondering what kind of background Jasmine's mother came from if she had to pick Sultan out of other choices. Where did she come from? Did Agrabah gain anything through the marriage? If so, what was it? Land? Resources? What happened after she died? Did the families stop talking? Did the countries stop talking? Where is Jasmine's mother's side of the family in general? But why Sultan would pick whoever is coming in over Jasmine to rule, though, is the even stranger thing, especially since she's the only child. I guess it's because she's a woman? Maybe they don't do any of this and Agrabah has some weird sucession line that we don't know about. Marry a royal, rule the country - YEAH |
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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| I would say that the main reasons the Sultan waived the legal requirement of noble blood for Jasmine's suitor (Aladdin) was because he himself to be loyal to Agrabah, having saved it from Jafar's attempted usurpation, and moved past his selfish use of the Genie's magic/wishes.
Aladdin also obviously proved himself capable of taking care of Jasmine, and demonstrated his true love for her. I would say that each of these factors played a role in the Sultan's ultimate decision to allow Jasmine to marry Aladdin. Initially, I had thought that Aladdin would merely serve as a Prince or royal vizier under his wife, Queen Jasmine. However, the TV series makes it pretty obvious that Aladdin will become Sultan someday. Episodes such as "The Return of Malcho," and "Destiny on Fire" deal with this particular issue more in depth. |
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 6:47 pm Post subject: Is it weird that Aladdin would automatically be Sultan? |
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| I used to like the idea of Aladdin being Sultan when I was a kid, but I think it was just a natural reaction to being raised in American culture. Now that I know more about other cultures, it just seems odd.
England has just a Queen. The queen has a husband (Prince Philip) but he didn't get upgraded to King just by marrying her. He's a husband, and that's it. I know Aladdin would be a great representative of the people, but it's not like people voted for him or anything. A crummy jerk could just as easily marry a princess of Agrabah and become Sultan of the entire kingdom if all you have to do is get married. Well, I guess if Jasmine's dad let Aladdin marry Jasmine even though he wasn't "supposed" to, they're not very traditional and just decided to hang all the rules? |
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