macro study : Aladdin

Aladdin. A disney film most people have seen, is a perfect example of  a Vladimir Propp structured film. Propp focused mostly around the characters in the film. He said that the narrative structures are decided by the characters. He identified eight key rules:
1) The villain
2) The donor
3) The magical helper
4) The princess
5) Her father
6) The dispatcher
7) The hero
8) The false hero

In Aladdin these characters are very easy to find. The film was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. According to the imbd website the genres are: adventure, animation, family, fantasy, musical and romance. This is the storyline of the film which I got from this website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103639/

Aladdin is a street-urchin who lives in a large and busy town long ago with his faithful monkey friend Abu. When Princess Jasmine gets tired of being forced to remain in the palace that overlooks the city, she sneaks out to the marketplace, where she accidentally meets Aladdin. Under the orders of the evil Jafar (the sultan's advisor), Aladdin is thrown in jail and becomes caught up in Jafar's plot to rule the land with the aid of a mysterious lamp. Legend has it that only a person who is a "diamond in the rough" can retrieve the lamp from the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin might fight that description, but that's not enough to marry the princess, who must (by law) marry a prince. Written by Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>  

Characters

 

1) The villain:

The villain in a film is the character that struggles against the hero. In Aladdin this would be Jafar. During the film he tries to kill Aladdin who is the hero in this film and tries to marry the princess who actually loves Aladdin instead of Jafar.

2) The donor:

The donor in the character who prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object. In this film the donor would be Genie. He has got magical powers and is able to fulfill three of Aladdin's wishes. Genie is able to give Aladdin whatever he desires.

3) The magical helper:

In Aladdin there are actually two magical helpers. Abu and the magic rug. The magic rug and Abu helped Aladdin everytime he was in danger.

4) The princess:

Jasmine is in this film the princess she marries the hero in the end.

5) Her father:

The sultan is the princesses father. In the film he decides who Jasmine, the princess, has to marry.

6) The dispatcher:

In this disney film the dispatcher ( the character who makes the task known and sends the hero off) is actually the villain. Jafar locks Aladdin up in a prison and disguises himself then in an old innocent men who wants to give Aladdin's freedom back. He tells Aladdin that he will show him a way out if he goes into the cave of wonders to get him a lamp. This is how our hero gets send on his quest.

7) The hero:

The hero in this film is of course Aladdin. He is the character who reacts to the donor and eventually weds the princess in the end. He is the protagonist.

8) False hero:

In Aladdin the false hero is the same character as the villain which is Jafar. He tells Jasmine lies so she would think that he is the good guy and that Aladdin is the bad guy. He tries to hypnotise the sultan, so that he could marry Jasmine instead of Aladdin.