Othello, written by William Shakespeare, is a play written in 1603. It tells the story of a Moorish Venetian Army General named Othello living in Venice, Italy (of course). Othello marries his love, the gorgeous Desdemona, who is the daughter of politician Brabantio, without permission.
Meanwhile, a fellow named Rodrigo had been pursuing Desdemona with the help of a man named Iago.
Now…Iago HATES Othello, AND wants his position in the army, so he pretends to go along with the act of “helping Rodrigo.”
So, they alert Brabantio and the Duke of Venice of the elopement, in the hopes that Othello will be taken away. Othello and Desdemona manage to leave happily.
Iago now formulates a new plan:
1) Tell Rodrigo that the only way is to sell everything and make money to seduce Desdemona, except the money will be for Iago’s benefit.
2) Get a trusted army friend of Othello (Cassio) framed for having an affair with Desdemona by getting Cassio kicked out of the army, in which he’d HAVE to talk Desdemona to convince Othello to let him back in.
3) Tell Othello that he’s seen Cassio and Desdemona sneaking off together (planting the seed of jealously).
4) And by using his wife to steal a handkerchief from Desdemona to plant in Cassio’s hands to confirm Othello’s suspicions.
SO that in the big finale, Othello suffocates Desdemona out of jealousy, while Rodrigo (still after Desdemona) is killed by Cassio in a battle, and Cassio is injured. Othello also kills himself. No surprise there Shakespeare. Iago survives, and is cast away to torture. The end.
The name Iago might sound familiar to any fan of Disney Princess movies, because this animated scarlet macaw shares the same name-
YES. THAT’S RIGHT. THE BIRD FROM ALADDIN IS NAMED IAGO. And he fit’s Shakespeare’s Iago perfectly. Actually most of Disney’s 1992 Aladdin adaptation fits Othello.
Basically in Disney’s Aladdin (ignoring the subplot about the lamp), Jafar (the dude with the beard) is the Sultan’s right hand man. Iago is Jafar’s talking macaw. Iago advises Jafar to marry Jasmine (the Sultan’s daughter) so that he may become the new Sultan.
Of course, by this point, Jasmine’s heart is already stolen by the poor flying-carpet boy named Aladdin (including monkey side-kick named Abu).
So to solve this problem, Jafar attempts to drown Aladdin.
While Aladdin is gone, Jafar tries hypnotizing the Sultan into agreeing to the marriage, but Aladdin intervenes.
Jafar then sends Aladdin to a frozen waste-land, and wishes that Jasmine would fall in love with him.
His plans fall apart, and he is wished away into a lamp. Thus, Aladdin marries Jasmine.
So let’s sit back and compare.
Aladdin- Othello
Abu- Cassio
Jasmine- Desdemona
The Sultan- Brabantio
Jaffar- Rodrigo
Iago-Iago
Do you see the similarities?
Aladdin is basically a much happier version of Othello. Iago still uses his manipulation on Rodrigo/Jaffar. The Sultan/Brabantio is against both marriages at first. Rodrigo/Jaffar is still after The Sultan/Branbantio’s daughter, only to lose her to Aladdin/Othello. Only in this Disney musical, the couple Jasmine/Desdemona and Aladdin/Othello live happily ever after while the evil one is trapped in a lamp.
Who knew a 1992 Disney film based on an 18th century addition to The Book Of One Thousand And One Nights could have so much in common with 17th a century play written by William Shakespeare.
Beneath The Binding 