this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2025
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No Stupid Questions
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No, everyone else literally has an arabic accent
Except for the Sultan, Jafar, Iago, the Genie, the Cave of Wonders... which are almost all of the named characters. Gazeem and the peddler at the beginning are the only characters I can think of that had noticeable accent that wasn't British or American.
Yeah, looking at a character list, that's actually basically every character of note. That's for the original, though it does occur to me that whoever did the voice for some international dubbed release might be different.
https://dubdb.fandom.com/wiki/Aladdin_(1994)
There were apparently releases for Egyptian and Standard Arabic.
EDIT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5q7cSx4tEo
Never noticed that but you're right.
The reasons are obvious. It would by jarring to a majority white audience, especially in the 90s. Can't have your main characters being caricatured and everyone with an accent was a caricature back then.
But again, every other character does and they're comprehensible
Its not really about comprehensibility. The characters, especially to a white American audience that is accustomed to being catered to, become less relatable if they have an accent. It almost certainly would have had an impact on commercial success, especially in the 90s or earlier. The relatability of secondary characters is less important.
I know white kids that legitimately thought Aladdin was white. As a PoC it was fascinating to hear to say the least. It was a deliberate choice to make him fairer than Jasmine and to ensure he had no facial hair (which was the aesthetic preference of white Americans at the time).
Like Jesus
Yes, actually exactly like Jesus.