Aladdin remains an iconic film from the Disney Renaissance era. The popularity of the movie led to a sequel and a live-action remake. One of the memorable characters in the animated film is Jafar, and a parrot named Iago accompanies him.
Jafar and Iago attempt to rule over Agrabah, and the latter provides comedic relief. The two have distinct and opposing personalities. Viewers almost saw the villains with reversed character traits. However, the filmmakers chose to switch the personalities in a revised script.
Jafar and Iago are classic antagonists from ‘Aladdin’
Aladdin draws inspiration from the famous Middle Eastern collection One Thousand and One Nights. The Disney movie uses one of the tales in the compilation to tell the story of a street urchin. The urchin, or Aladdin, uses a genie’s magic to impress Princess Jasmine.
Aladdin only comes across the Genie when Jafar tricks him into going into the Cave of Wonders. Jafar wanted him to retrieve the lamp so he could use its powers. The movie introduces him as a sorcerer and the vizier or political advisor.
However, Jafar quickly shows that he is up to no good and becomes the movie’s villain. His goal is to have the Genie grant his wish to become the Sultan. He keeps an animal companion around to help him with his plans.
The henchman is a sarcastic parrot named Iago, and he craves money and power. Iago steals the lamp and allows Jafar to be the owner. He and Jafar can work together since his desires align with the latter’s goals. Iago is also more short-tempered than his master.
Jafar and Iago almost had each other’s personalities
The voice behind Jafar is none other than Jonathan Freeman. Meanwhile, the iconic Gilbert Gottfried plays Iago in the movie. Both actors provide distinct voices to the characters that add to their personalities. Jafar and Iago’s personalities were almost opposite of what they are now.
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According to IMDb, the creators meant for Jafar to be hot-tempered. Meanwhile, Iago was going to be more cool and collected. Additionally, he would have displayed a sense of arrogant superiority and had a British accent.
In the end, Iago is the one who easily loses his cool, while Jafar does not. The reason? Creators thought Jafar would not have been threatening. He might come across as more comical than scary, so they switched his traits.
The change worked in the movie’s favor, and Jafar and Iago became iconic. The two antagonists were not the only ones who received alterations. Plenty of character changes and improvisation led to the final product.
Gilbert Gottfried ad-libbed while playing Iago
Many Aladdin fans know that Robin Williams improvised a lot while recording for the film. However, he was not the only voice actor who went off-script during production. The director was lenient, so Gottfried also had the freedom to ad-lib some of his lines.
One moment that made it into the final cut was the scene where Iago is leaving the palace with Jafar. Iago is packing his things, and he holds a picture of them. He then says, “And, uh, how about this picture? I don’t know, I think I’m making a weird face in it.”
Gottfried came up with the line on the spot, and the filmmakers loved it. Of course, they were not the only ones who enjoyed the ad-lib. Williams found the line to be hysterical, and he had a hard time keeping a straight face. Gottfried did not prepare for the recording session, so he had fun with the script.
