Aladdin

Disney's 'Aladdin' (1992) is a retelling of an Arab folk tale, made into a western form as is typical of most Disney animated features. It contains many features of cultural redefinition of ownership as if often seen in  Disney films. the narrative takes on a very Hollywood style. Characters have anglicised features and are voiced by American actors, the musical numbers are Western rather than sounding traditionally accented, many of the ethnic elements are flattened down to show an outsiders' take on the culture of Arabia rather than including any of its subtleties. The humour, provided mainly by the comic relief of the Genie, is clearly American.
The mise-en-scene sets the story in very early 'Agrabah' (a fictional Arabian city). Technology is not present and the characters wear very basic, traditional middle-eastern clothes. The rich are signified by their finer clothes and adornments. The buildings in the city are primitively made from clay and earthen stones, while the palace is very ornate and towers over the rest of the city. They are based on buildings in present day Iran.

Anthropomorphic animals are included as sidekicks/ companions of the main characters, as in many other Disney films. Some of them, like Jafar's parrot, can talk while others such as Jasmine's tiger and Aladdin's monkey, cannot speak but give very human reactions and expressions. People are displayed very caricature-ishly, visually displaying their personalities on the exterior. The design for most characters was based on the work of caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, which production designer Richard Vander Wende also considered appropriate to the theme, due to similarities to the swooping lines of Persian miniatures and Arabic calligraphy.The 'evil' characters are either thin and gangly, with hard angles and sneering features, or brutishly large with small heads; suggesting a lack of brains. The good characters like the protagonist Aladdin have open, friendly faces with large eyes. Generally garment colours go along with this as well: protagonists have lighter jewel colours and antagonists have darker blacks and reds.
Computer's were used for the colouring and creating some animated elements. I personally disliked the combination of CGI and hand drawn images, similar to 'Origins,' I found them to very crudely integrated together, and the CGI was very obvious. I would put this down also to the fact that I personally prefer hand drawn animation.
Light and dark are used to great effect. Dramatic, scary scenes like when Jafar takes hold of the empire are clouded and cast in shadow. Many scenes take place during the night time also, using the contrast of the visible forms effectively. Eyes, fire, ripples on water and the stars and moon appear brighter at these times. Positive moods are emphasised with a blue glow from the natural lunar light, while dangerous scenes take place indoors in artificial fire illumination. More so than other films i have watched, this made me think about illuminating subjects and how to depict characters in the dark. In this, white colours become a shade bluer in the dark. Black hair is lined with an indigo blue.

Metamorphosis is used a lot in this film to emphasise the fantasy thematic. The Genie has the power to change into any shape he desires, and can change others also; a power which he uses on many occasions such as changing the shapes of various animals. At one point Jafar changes into a genie also, and grows monstrous in size and shape.