Princess Jasmine
Background information
First appearance
Voice
Lea Salonga (singing)
Liz Callaway (singing; 1994-1996)
Bobbi Page (Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse)
Inspiration
Beth Allen (animator Mark Henn's younger sister)
Jasmine Guy
Jennifer Connelly
Lauren Bacall
Character information
Other names
Jaz/Jazzy (by Genie and Aladdin)
Dearest (by the Sultan)
Pussycat (by Jafar)
Street Mouse (once by Razoul)
Sweetheart (by Bill Chad Dawson Jollyland)
Dearie (by the ladybug)
Gender
Species
Personality
Feisty, free-spirited, compassionate, loving, sympathetic, supportive, empathetic, understanding, adventurous, explorer, loyal, generous, kind-hearted, optimistic, selfless, romantic, affectionate, humorous, intelligent, sassy, no-nonsense, sarcastic, intrigued, intuitive, independent, fearless, lovable, willful, strong-willed, fiery, mischievous, funny, defiant, stern, brave, sensitive, explorer, spunky, carefree, outgoing, animal-loving, gentle, mild-mannered, polite, attractive, snarky, charismatic, friendly, assertive, ophidiophobia, honest, curious, logical, witty, quick-witted, sensible, perceptive, inquisitive, sweet, flirtatious, beautiful, outspoken, open-minded, elegant, seductive, levelheaded, determined, passionate, fun-loving, beautiful, headstrong, stubborn, daring, courageous, cunning, resourceful, charitable, protective, decisive, direct, vocal, frank, blunt, charming, energetic, dreamy, opinionated, graceful, confident, firm, forgiving, decisive, smart, athletic, good-hearted, nice, sharp, astute, individualistic, impatient, self-sacrificing, feminine, tomboyish, fashionable, well-educated, pretty, willowy, rich, percussive, fair, just, reasonable, attractive, pure-hearted, fast learner, benevolent, nurturing, motherly, talented, helpful, tactical, pragmatic, artistic, clever, shrewd, soft-hearted, outdoorsy, considerate, thoughtful, likeable, naturalist, obligated, strong, tough, comforting, soft-hearted, tender-hearted, outdoorsy, mature, quick-thinking, thoughtful, fun
Formerly: Resentful, slightly bratty, fussy, impulsive, short-tempered, picky, unreasonable, strict, arrogant, angry, rebellious
Appearance
Age
Occupation
Teacher (temporary)
Affiliations
Goal
Home
Origin
Relatives
Kileem † (ancestor)
Hamed Bobolonius II (father)
Sultana † (mother)
Aladdin (husband)
Bobolonius † (great-grandfather)
Sharma (cousin)
Cassim (father-in-law)
Zena † (mother-in-law)
Behan Yerbak (uncle-in-law)
Jenna (adoptive oldest daughter)
Rafi (adoptive younger son)
Salima (adoptive youngest daughter)
Salman (son)
Hessa (daughter)
Khalifa (son)
Pets
Sahara (horse)
Midnight (horse)
Allies
Minions
Enemies
Likes
Dislikes
Powers and abilities
Fate
Quote
"I'm a fast learner."
"It's all so magical!"
"I choose you, Aladdin."
Jasmine is loosely based on the character of Princess Badroulbadour from the Aladdin fairy tale featured in the One Thousand and One Nights collection of stories in which the film is based. She is also the sixth official member of the Disney Princess line-up.
She is voiced by Linda Larkin, with Lea Salonga doing her singing voice (Liz Calloway did her singing voice in the sequels). In the live action film, she was portrayed by Naomi Scott in the live action reboot of Aladdin, and she was also portrayed by Karen David in the television series Once Upon a Time.
Background[ ]
Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and his late wife, residing in the kingdom's lavished palace alongside her father and loyal pet tiger, Rajah, whom she found years before the events of the film. She believed him to be a spiritual gift from her mother, who would tell her stories about the "star tiger" named Rajah. It is revealed in the book Tales from Agrabah that, whenever Jasmine would long for her mother, she would sit on her balcony and stargaze for a period of time.
Because of her status as a princess, Jasmine was unfortunately forbidden to ever leave the palace walls, spending her life sheltered within the confines of the royal home. She often felt suffocated by the laws of her kingdom, which restricted her from socializing with her subjects and forced her to constantly meeting suitors to possibly arrange marriages. This situation ultimately prevented Jasmine from making any connections, as she had never had any real friends (aside from Rajah), and left her with the desire to see the world and experience life outside of being a sheltered princess, which would eventually result in meeting Aladdin.
Official Description[ ]
- Jasmine is a dreamer who loves her pet tiger, Rajah. She's free-spirited, confident, and kind. When she meets Aladdin, she discovers the wonders she's often imagined outside the palace walls.
Development[ ]
Loosely inspired by the Aladdin folk tale, Howard Ashman's 1988 treatment for an animated adaptation of Aladdin included a shallow, spoiled, and materialistic princess named Jasmine, whose "brattiness" served as comic relief in the story. Her personality was fleshed out in the song "Call Me A Princess", in which she arrogantly flaunts her royal status. There was also another female character, a tomboyish street urchin named Abbi, who joined Aladdin on his quest to rescue the princess. At the end of Ashman's treatment, Aladdin is offered the princess's hand in marriage, but he ultimately refuses in favor of his true love, Abbi. However, as development on an Aladdin film furthered at the studio, Ashman's screenplay saw major revisions. The Abbi character was cut, while Jasmine was given a larger role as Aladdin's love interest. Furthermore, Jasmine's "spoiled brat" persona was scrapped in favor of a character that was more endearing and sympathetic.
In Linda Woolverton's screenplay, the relationship between Aladdin and Jasmine served as a driving force of the narrative, slowly replacing Aladdin's desire to make his mother proud (as was the case in Ashman's treatment). Woolverton also gave the princess a human handmaiden for a friend. Although Ron Clements and John Musker enjoyed the love story blossoming between Aladdin and Jasmine, they believed Woolverton's script featured too many human characters and seemed better suited for a live-action format as a consequence. They sought to remedy the issue by adding characters that were "animation-friendly", thus, the handmaiden was replaced with a pet tiger.
Even with Musker and Clements on board to direct, there was still work to be done with the story. While observing preliminary sketches of Aladdin and Jasmine (the former of whom was portrayed as a young boy, while Jasmine was a young woman), Jeffrey Katzenberg believed that a love story between the two would be seen as unrealistic, as a woman of Jasmine's age and beauty would never fall for a juvenile like Aladdin. Screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio called for an aged up and redesigned Aladdin, while also expanding Jasmine's character to be "stronger".
Personality[ ]
- ”You're not gonna find another girl like her in a million years.“
- -Genie to Aladdin, about Jasmine
Jasmine is introduced as feisty and no-nonsense, with zero tolerance for anyone that belittles her. She initially rejected her role as a princess because of the unethical requirements that come with the role, including being forced to remain within the palace at all times, forced to marry for political gain rather than love, and treated as a tool rather than her own person. After gaining her independence by the end of Aladdin, Jasmine is shown to be very much ruler of Agrabah alongside her father, as opposed to merely sitting around on the sidelines. She takes part in most of the political disputes and garners an amount of respect equal to her father.
Strong-willed and defiant, Jasmine is not afraid to speak her mind, nor will she hesitate to stand up for what she believes is right. Her open resentment towards Agrabah's outdated laws, and her belief that people should be judged solely by their character rather than their background, shows that she is progressive. This mentality allowed her to see the goodness in Aladdin, despite his background as a street urchin. In "Garden of Evil", she was able to see the humanity in the plant creature Arbutus, whereas others assumed that he was a soulless monster.
However, Jasmine's attitude often put her at odds with her father and other members of the elite, who were content with following the status quo and expressed frustration with her refusal to do the same. She has been something of an outcast amongst royalty as a result, so she developed a standoffish nature and sometimes acts incredibly stubborn as a defense mechanism. More comically, siccing Rajah on those who annoy her is another defense mechanism that she is infamous for.
While the movie focuses on Jasmine's goal to achieve individuality, the television series explores her outstanding devotion to her kingdom and people. In "Bad Mood Rising", Jasmine explains that she rules under the philosophy that, "A princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own". Following that belief, she risked her life for Agrabah on numerous occasions: In the original Aladdin, despite not being a fighter yet, she was quick to aid Aladdin in the final battle against sorcerer Jafar by grabbing hold of the latter's snake staff. When her kingdom was terrorized in "Armored and Dangerous", she leaped into battle, with only Carpet by her side, to defend her people from Dominus Tusk's wrath. In "The Ethereal", she sacrificed her life to save a child's life, which in turn saved Agrabah from destruction at the hands of the Ethereal. In Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams, Jasmine attempts to contribute to Agrabah in ways that don't include flaunting her status as a princess - such as volunteering in schools or hospitals.
Being aware of her sex appeal and the effect that it has on others, Jasmine is notorious for flaunting her assets to gain the trust of her enemies, only to betray and/or humiliate them when the time is right. A prominent example of this occurred when Jafar took over Agrabah; when Aladdin tried to steal back the lamp, she took advantage of Jafar's lust for her by pretending to be madly in love with him, so to cover for Aladdin. Another example is when Aladdin appeared on her balcony in an attempt to woo her; she used her sex appeal and flirting gestures to make Aladdin think he was making progress, only to shatter his hope and embarrass him.
Despite her cunning, Jasmine can sometimes be too fussy and act without thinking things through. She was willing to leave the palace without knowing the difference in customs between royalty and commoners; this is shown by her donating an apple to a child and being confused when the vendor demanded that she pay for it. In "Do the Rat Thing", she took offense when Aladdin declared that she didn't know what it's like to be a "street rat", despite the fact that he was right.
Physical appearance[ ]
Jasmine was animated and designed by Mark Henn, her facial structure is modeled after his sister, Beth Henn. She is a very beautiful, slender young woman of average height with a distinct, voluptuous hourglass figure. She has olive skin, high cheekbones, brown eyes with full eyelashes, and straight, lush hair reaching her thighs.
Jasmine's casual outfit is designed to be simplistic, resembling that of Arabian Harem women. She wears a sky blue (later turquoise) cropped tube top that reveals her midriff and navel with sewn-in off-the-shoulder straps, matching puffy pants with a light-blue V-shaped waistline, and cerulean curled shoes. With this outfit, her hair is worn in a ponytail in two sections with matching teal bands and ending in a small swirl. She wears a turquoise headband that is centered with a sapphire with a gold border adorned into it. She also dons two large golden earrings completely covering her ears and a matching necklace.
For formal occasions, such as the announcement of her engagement, Jasmine wears a purple dress. Opposite of her casual wear, this dress covers most of her body like a normal gown, with the fabric reigning down from her shoulders to her feet. The top half of the dress is strapless, and the lower half consists of a belt piece (centered with a sapphire) and a transparent pink veil that flows down, just below her calves. She also wears a headband with a similar royal blue jewel, while her hair is tied in a ponytail similar to the one associated with her casual outfit, though the bands are purple instead of blue.
When disguising herself as a commoner on the streets of Agrabah, Jasmine wears a brown abaya, with a matching hijab. The outfit would later become casual for her outings in the marketplace, as seen in her later appearances. In The Return of Jafar, Jafar used this outfit and her usual palace clothes as his main disguised form.
When Jafar takes control of Agrabah for a short while, he makes Jasmine wear red harem pants with a matching bandeau bikini top, both made of silk, with several golden accessories, such as a snake armlet on her right arm and triangular, gold earrings. Her hair is also tied in a high ponytail, with a golden seemingly metallic band. Jafar later creates a gold tiara for Jasmine from her shackles when he decides to make her his queen.
During the finale, Jasmine wears a violet strapless tube top, with matching pants consisting of linings around the waist that come full circle and end with a blue, encrusted jewel. Her shoulders are covered by a transparent, blue veil that reaches down to her waist. The outfit is completed by purple bands to tie into her ponytail, and the gold earrings she has with her casual outfit.
When she has a discussion with Aladdin about Iago's presence, Jasmine wears another formal outfit; her cropped tube top is now lavender with pink trim and long sleeves, her lavender harem pants gain a matching short greave with a pink trim adorned with a sapphire at the center and brown curled shoes. Her hair clips and her headband are adorned with a sapphire at the center are lavender to match her outfit, and she wears a gold necklace on her neck and different dangling earrings on both of her ears.
In Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Jasmine incorporates both of her outfits in the previous films. She wears a pink long-sleeved tube top with white collared sleeves on each side, pink harem pants with white trim, and brown curled shoes. She wears a pink hat instead of a headband and retains her gold necklace and earrings from her first casual outfit. Her hair clips are also pink to match her outfit.
Jasmine's other outfit is identical to her first casual outfit but is pink with gold trim. She wears a dark pink and light purple Arabian jacket with a gold trim beneath it. Her headband is gold and has a ruby gem in the center, and she maintains her gold accessories.
Jasmine's initial appearance and at the end of the film (where she is finally married to Aladdin, and they set off to their honeymoon) is a simple white Arabian wedding dress with a gold trim adorned with an amethyst gem on the chest and a gold sparkle designs at her dress skirt. Her hair is loose with lavender flowers on each side adorned and a white long wedding veil.
Abilities[ ]
- Intuitive Aptitude: Jasmine is quite intuitive and intelligent, has described herself as a fast learner. After one demonstration from Aladdin, she was able to pole vault across a rooftop. Jasmine has been able to manipulate foes and read people for their true intentions, such as Prince Achmed, Jafar, Mirage or even Chaos, showing an ability to uncover lies and secrets. This is prominently seen during her night with "Prince Ali" when she suspected that he is the same boy that she met in the marketplace. After spending more time together, she tricks him into confirming her suspicions, proving that she is smart enough to outsmart a street-wise street rat.
- Animal Empathy: With her kind-hearted nature, Jasmine has shown a remarkable affinity to most animals she encounters. Most noticeably is the massive Rajah, who is undeniably loyal to her and acts more akin to a house pet with her. Other animals, such as Iago in their adventures together and even random fishes, tend to take a liking to her.
- Multilingual: As an aspiring queen, Jasmine can speak several unspecified languages, as it was briefly mentioned in Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams.
- Skill Hand-to-Hand Combatant: As seen in the television series, as well as Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Jasmine eventually garnered skills in combat, being able to hold her own in battle against thieves and other antagonists. She is rather unmerciful in battle, as seen in "The Secret of Dagger Rock", "The Great Rift" and "The Vapor Chase" In the episode "A Sultan Worth His Salt", Jasmine is shown to be skilled in the use of weaponry for combat. Her skills are arguably best showcased in "Forget Me Lots", where she (under magical amnesia) easily battled and nearly defeated Aladdin, as well as numbers of other characters. Both that episode and "The Wind Jackals of Mozenrath" feature a whip as her personal weapon of choice, with which she displays exceptional skill in an offense, defense, and even non-combat ingenuity.
- Physical Strength: Despite her appearance, Jasmine has impressive physical strength, as she could push a large statue in Aladdin and the King of Thieves, and a boulder in "My Fair Aladdin" and beat a thug with a punch in Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
- Horse Riding: In Disney Princess Enchanted Tales, Jasmine notes that she has been riding horses since before she could walk.
Trivia[ ]
- "Jasmine" is a Persian name for a beautiful flower that Persians call "yas" or "yasamin".
- Contrary to popular belief, Jasmine's age has never been confirmed or even referenced in any of the Aladdin movies, television series, or other spinoff projects. In the original film, the Sultan declares that Jasmine must be married "by her next birthday", but never specifies how old she will become on said birthday.
- An early story concept for the original film had the sultan saying, "Jasmine, the law says you must be married by your sixteenth birthday.", which would have made her fifteen years old. This concept was scrapped when Jeffrey Katzenberg became worried about sending the wrong message and the idea that fifteen year old girls can get married. Thus, the line was changed to "married to a prince by your next birthday.", leaving Jasmine's age unknown; or pushed Jasmine's age up.
- Actress Linda Larkin was 20 years old when she landed the role of Jasmine in 1990.
- In Disney Princess Enchanted Tales, Jasmine notes that she can name every one of the 40 thieves.
- The concept of Jasmine escaping the palace was partially inspired by Princess Ann's identical actions in the 1953 film Roman Holiday.
- Jasmine's wedding dress in Aladdin and the King of Thieves was modeled after her mother's wedding dress.
- One of the Disney Princess magazines has a story about two of Jasmine's cousins named Farah and Nadine. Whether they are considered canon is unknown.
- Jasmine is the first Disney Princess to be the deuteragonist instead of the protagonist/titular character.
- Producer Amy Pell was particularly fond of Jasmine's role as an independent woman when compared to pre-Renaissance Princesses.
- Jasmine has been a ground-breaking character for being the first non-Caucasian Disney Princess.
- Jasmine is also often praised as the first Disney Princess with feminist characteristics.
- Jasmine is the only named female character in Aladdin, this is because she is the only significant female character in the film.
- Jasmine has a recurring theme in the movie, which can be found as "Jasmine Runs Away" on the Aladdin soundtrack. The melody for Jasmine's theme would later be used as the template for a full song titled "To Be Free", which appears as a solo for Jasmine in Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular.
- Jasmine's theme was inspired by "Scheherazade Suite" by Rimsky-Korosakov.
- When casting Jasmine, the filmmakers strived to find an actress whose voice differentiated from that of previous Disney heroines.
- According to the filmmaker's notes on the Special Edition DVD, Linda Larkin was asked repeatedly to lower her voice to play Jasmine.
- Following her initial audition, it took nine months for Larkin to officially receive the role of Princess Jasmine.
- Larkin once boasted having to say the best line in the movie: "It's all so magical!" It is said that this line is what helped her understand the character of Jasmine.
- Jasmine was the first Disney Princess to be voiced by two actresses, Linda Larkin providing her speaking voice, and Lea Salonga providing her singing voice.
- Jasmine is also the first Disney Princess to have her singing voice done by Lea Salonga, followed by Fa Mulan.
- In an extended version of the Disney Princess scene in Ralph Breaks the Internet shown at the 2017 D23 Expo, it was revealed that the internet counterpart of Jasmine was allergic to cats and required an inhaler. While this part of the scene did not appear in the actual film, a 13-doll pack that featured Vanellope and the Princesses in their comfy clothes did give Jasmine's doll an inhaler accessory.