The Return of Jafar

One year has passed since the events of the first film. Aladdin and Abu have settled in the palace of Agrabah with Princess Jasmine and her father, the Sultan. Still yearning for adventures, Aladdin foils a criminal group stealing loot and returns it to the people of Agrabah. Meanwhile, in the desert, Iago escapes from Jafar's lamp. Tired of being taken for granted, Iago refuses Jafar's demands to free him. After throwing the lamp into a well, Iago returns to Agrabah, hoping to befriend Aladdin and return to the palace. During a confrontation with Aladdin and Abu, the three are attacked by thieves; Iago inadvertently saves Aladdin's life. In gratitude, Aladdin keeps Iago on the palace grounds, promising to speak with the Sultan on Iago's behalf.

Meanwhile, Abis Mal, the ruthless but dimwitted leader of the thieves, finds Jafar's lamp in the well. Hindered by his incompetent new master, Jafar manipulates Abis Mal into wasting his first two wishes, then enlists his help in taking revenge on Aladdin. In exchange he will grant him a special third wish. Abis Mal agrees, also desiring revenge on Aladdin. Meanwhile, the Genie returns to the palace after traveling the world. At the evening banquet, the Sultan announces Aladdin is the new grand vizier. Abu and Rajah discover Iago in the garden and chase him into the banquet. Aladdin asks the Sultan to pardon Iago, but Jasmine is dismayed that Aladdin never confided in her. Genie and Iago help persuade Jasmine to give Iago a chance. The Sultan remains suspicious, however, but issues Iago a temporary pardon, with the stipulation that Aladdin watch over him.

Jafar sneaks into the palace and forces Iago to trick Aladdin and the Sultan to travel to a waterfall. Jafar then captures Genie, Abu, and the Sultan, locking them in the dungeon. Jafar, posing as Jasmine, frames Aladdin for the Sultan's alleged murder and sentences him to execution. Iago frees the Genie, who saves Aladdin. Jafar now controls Agrabah, but Aladdin vows to stop him by destroying his lamp. Iago decides to leave.

Aladdin and the group confront Jafar in the treasure room just before Abis Mal can wish him free. Abis Mal realizes that Jafar will never grant his third wish, and swears revenge on Aladdin and his friends. Meanwhile, Jafar transforms into his Genie form, and incapacitates the Genie and shatters Flying Carpet. He splits open the Palace gardens, creating a pool of lava and traps Aladdin on a sinking rock. Iago returns and grabs the lamp. He is severely injured by Jafar, but he kicks the lamp into the lava, destroying Jafar. Aladdin rescues Iago as Jafar's magic is undone, restoring the Palace gardens and Flying Carpet. Aladdin officially adopts Iago and is officially accepted into the palace. Aladdin ultimately declines the Sultan's offer to become the vizier, instead opting to see the world with Jasmine, much to Iago's chagrin.

• Gilbert Gottfried as Iago
• Jason Alexander as Abis Mal
• Jonathan Freeman as Jafar
• Scott Weinger as Aladdin
  • Brad Kane as Aladdin (singing voice)
• Linda Larkin as Princess Jasmine
  • Liz Callaway as Princess Jasmine (singing voice)
• Dan Castellaneta as Genie
• Frank Welker as Abu and Rajah
• Val Bettin as the Sultan
• Jim Cummings as Razoul

After the success of The Little Mermaid (1989), Walt Disney Television Animation subsequently produced an animated television series of the same name that aired on CBS. At the same time, The Disney Afternoon had become a success with television series such as DuckTales and Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers airing in a syndicated two-hour time slot. Before the theatrical release of Aladdin, Disney commissioned Tad Stones and Alan Zaslove to produce an animated series of Aladdin that would shepherd its transition from the movie into a television series.[5]

While conceiving the sequel, Stones became fascinated with the character Iago, commenting that "I said 'I want the parrot in there,' but he was trapped in the lamp [at the end of the Aladdin movie], so we came up with a story of how he got out and ended up with Aladdin."[6] As common with half-hour animated television series at the time, Disney initially planned to begin the series with an hour-long television special, but Stones suggested that the film should instead be released on home video.[5][7] The idea was initially met with some resistance from then-Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider and then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner who felt it would cheapen Disney's brand.[6] Ultimately, layout designer Paul Felix conceived the film's opening with the gang of thieves entering into a cave, which was then later animated at Disney Animation Australia. Impressed with the animation dailies, then-Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg allowed for the first half to be animated in Australia while the climax was animated in Japan.[5][6]

Due to a well publicized bitter fall-out over the use of his voice in the marketing campaign for Aladdin, Robin Williams refused to reprise the role of the Genie, and was instead replaced by Dan Castellaneta (best known for voicing Homer Simpson).[8] Stones also claimed that Williams participated in selecting Castellaneta to voice the Genie.[9] It was also the first Aladdin full-length production without the original voice of Sultan, Douglas Seale. He was replaced by Val Bettin, who reprised his role in the franchise's animated series and Aladdin and the King of Thieves.

Instead of the film receiving a theatrical release, Steve Feldstein, director of public relations for Disney's home video division, stated the decision to release The Return of Jafar on home video was due to time constraints claiming that "to put the film in the theatrical pipeline would have taken up to five years", but releasing it on home video would take "less than two years." In addition to that, Feldstein confirmed that financing was also a consideration since producing a direct-to-video feature would be "less costly to make than Aladdin."[10] Likewise, due to an expanding video market, Disney claimed demand from theatrical and video audiences for Aladdin and other characters was another reason for a speedy follow-up.[11]

The Return of Jafar was first released on VHS in the United States on May 20, 1994, being the first installment of Walt Disney Home Video collection series.[11] In its first two days, it sold more than 1.5 million VHS copies;[2] more than 4.6 million VHS copies were sold in less than a week.[10] In the United States, more than ten million copies were sold, ranking among the top 15 top-selling videos of all time (at the time), earning $150 million in profits.[12] The film eventually sold 15 million units and grossed approximately $300 million worldwide.[13] The sequel's success removed what Los Angeles Times described as "the low-quality stigma" from direct-to-video, and caused Disney, Universal Pictures, and other studios to release more direct-to-video films.[14]

Originally released on VHS that year, The Return of Jafar was later reissued on Special Edition DVD and VHS (with "Aladdin:" added to the title) on January 18, 2005, the same day as its direct sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, also received a re-release, with digitally restored picture and remastered sound. The Special Edition DVD, along with the other two films in the series, were placed on moratorium ("placed back into the Disney Vault") on January 31, 2008 in the United States, and February 4, 2008 in the United Kingdom.[15] The Return of Jafar, along with Aladdin and the King of Thieves was released on Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD Combo Pack on January 5, 2016 as a Disney Movie Club exclusive in North America.[16]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating of 33% based on 12 reviews collected, with a weighted average score of 3.91/10.[17]

David Nusair of Reelfilm.com summed up most of the negative feelings that contributed to this rating:

Notable as the first direct-to-video Disney sequel, The Return of Jafar follows Aladdin (Scott Weinger) as he attempts to once again foil Jafar's (Jonathan Freeman) villainous plot to take over Agrabah. And despite the fact that he was freed from his lamp at the end of the first film, the genie (now voiced by Dan Castellaneta) is back and wackier than ever. It's clear right from the outset that Disney put very little effort into the production of The Return of Jafar, particularly in the realm of animation. The film has all the style and fluidity of a Saturday morning cartoon, while various songs are bland and forgettable. The repetitive storyline doesn't do the movie any favors, and even at a running time of 69-minutes, doldrums set in almost immediately. Castellaneta does the best he can with the material, but generally comes up short (particularly when compared with Robin Williams's manic performance from the original). The Return of Jafar is a thoroughly needless sequel that may keep small children engaged, but is bound to come off as nothing less than a huge disappointment for fans of the original.[18]

Despite the mostly negative reception, on the television program Siskel & Ebert, the film received a "two thumbs up" from Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert.[19] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Steve Daly graded the sequel a C− criticizing it as a "knockoff" that "carries the Disney label and costs about as much as a tape of Aladdin, but it's clear from the first jerky frame that the same time, care, and creativity didn't go into it."[20]

Another direct-to-video sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, was released in 1996.

Quotations related to The Return of Jafar at Wikiquote

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• The Return of Jafar at AllMovie
• The Return of Jafar at The Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Return of Jafar at IMDb
• The Return of Jafar at Rotten Tomatoes