Post-Apocalyptic Aladdin Theory That Will Make You Rewatch It (Again)
This mystical land of magic and sand is more than it seems, indeed.
Aladdin is the animation that more than one generation of today's adults grew up with. But where some see only a fairy tale, others see details that are unnoticed by the rest. From these details has grown a fan theory that will completely change how you see the iconic movie.
Let's cut right through it. In one scene, Genie refers to Aladdin's clothes as "typical of the 3rd century". As far as we know, Genie has been trapped in the lamp for 10,000 years, so he just can't know how clothes in 3rd century looked like.
What is the conclusion that can be drawn from such a small detail? That's right, all the action in Aladdin takes place in the faraway future.
The world of Aladdin is a post-apocalyptic world where there're such technological marvels as flying carpets and talking parrots are considered "magic" by the Agrabah settlers.
Genie's parodies of long-dead celebrities like Jack Nicholson are just more proof of this theory. However, there are those who find counter-arguments to this theory, no matter how well thought out it may seem.
Some fans speculate that these time inconsistencies are due to Genie's ability to break the fourth wall and make references to contemporary pop culture specifically to entertain viewers.
"The genie makes pop culture references because he has a limited ability to break the fourth wall, similar to Deadpool. He even pulls out a script for the movie at one point," Reddit user ExhibitAa commented.
Others do not deny the futuristic theory altogether, arguing that although the action of the cartoon takes place in the past, the genie himself came from the future.
How? It was the wish of the last owner of the lamp before Aladdin. This theory seems even crazier, but it also has a lot of supporters.
"What if Genie was some kind of evolved human from the future, and his magic was based on technology? Also, maybe part of the 10,000 years he spent in the bottle was future time," Reddit user hec2014 suggested.
Maybe we'll never know if Genie really came from the future, or if it's just a joke to make the audience laugh, but such mystery around the animation only adds to its allure.