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05b – Aladdin Part 2

August 17, 2014 By Paul Leave a Comment

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In our last episode, we left both Disney’s Aladdin and Shahdazad’s Aladdin sealed within a deep treasure trove. Disney called it The Cave of Wonders, and in the One Thousand and One Nights it is the Cave of Treasure.

To all appearances, that should’ve been the end of the story and there shouldn’t have been anything left to say about Aladdin. And if only the greedy and anxious villains in both Disney’s and Shahadazad’s stories, had been a little more even-tempered and patient, and helped Aladdin out of the cave, it would have been.
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Supplemental #02 – Djinn

July 13, 2014 By Paul 5 Comments

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I tried to squeeze the whole subject of Jinn into Aladdin Part 2, but to do so would kill the momentum of the Aladdin story, so I decided this should be another supplemental. And since you all like the first supplemental about Shahadazad so much, supplemental episodes may become a regular thing.

05a – Aladdin Part 1

June 13, 2014 By Paul 5 Comments

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The story of Aladdin is one of the most familiar narratives in all of literature, a classic ‘rags to riches’ tale featuring a young hero who has to learn an important lesson; an exotic setting; a good healthy dose of magic; a beautiful heroine; and an evil villain (or two, depending on which version of the story you follow). [Read more…] about 05a – Aladdin Part 1

Supplemental #01 – Scheherazade

June 9, 2014 By Paul Leave a Comment

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In Disney Story Origins Episode 5, I’ll be discussing the Disney Film “Aladdin” based on “Aladdin or his Magical Lamp”, which is one of many small stories within a large Middle Eastern story called “One Thousand and One Nights” better known us westerner as “The Arabian Nights”. [Read more…] about Supplemental #01 – Scheherazade

04b – Mulan Part 2

May 2, 2014 By Paul 3 Comments

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We start where we left of in Episode 4a – Mulan Part 1, Mulan has joined the army. How does Mulan from the old tales prevent being discovered to be a woman? I discuss the origins of Mushu, Li Shang and what makes Chi Fu such a misognyst. I talk about how Disney’s Mulan and Mulan from the legends approaches, trains for and wages war, and how she handles the various romantic angles or lack thereof. This one was a lot of fun to work on. Enjoy!

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