User reviews

"The Return of Jafar" isn't as good as "Aladdin" but, to be fair, it isn't that bad for a Disney sequel either. There are much worst Disney sequels than this, made after this.

"The Return of Jafar" continues the story of the original "Aladdin": now Aladdin and Jasmine are married and live together in the palace, the genie returns from his vacations, Iago escapes from Jafar and becomes a «good guy» and Jafar returns with the help of a new villain (a thief called Abis Mal).

Naturally that this movie isn't as good as the first one, like I said. Why? There are many reasons why. The story is more lame. The artwork looks more poor comparing to the first one (which is more refined and more according to Disney's standards). The humor isn't as funny and classic. The colorful imagination, creativity and magic of the first one are gone. The characters seem somehow to have lost their personality.

Speaking of the characters, let me start by Iago. He has the same general sarcasm and I like the idea that he becomes a «good guy», but let's be frank: he's way funnier in the first one. Jafar is now more annoying and not as humorous as in the first one. Aladdin, Jasmine and the Sultan seem to have lost some of their maturity. The Genie is still funny, but without the colorful imagination and brilliant sense of humor he's got on the first one. The whole movie in general doesn't hold a candle to the original, although it is still entertaining enough. Besides, there is no Robin Williams here, which is a deep lost. It also becomes tiring to see Jafar so many times as a Red Genie. The soundtrack itself is nowhere near as impressing and memorable as on the first one - in fact, none of the songs here really capture our attention and hearts.

Overall, this is not a bad movie. For kids it is just as recommendable and entertaining as the first one, but for older people the first one is, without a doubt, the best choice.

The original is one of my favourite Disney movies. This movie isn't terrible, but it is fair to say, it is the worst out of the Aladdin trilogy. If you want a really good DTV sequel, check out Aladdin and the King of Thieves (the best DTV sequel) or Beauty and the Beast:The Enchanted Christmas.

The characters were less appealing here.Most of the voice actors return, but all of them sound different. Aladdin and Jasmine were less mature here, as well as the Sultan. Jafar wasn't as frightening or as humorous as he was in the first movie, and Iago is sometimes annoying, unlike King of Thieves, when he is actually funny. Dan Castellanetta does a serviceable job as the genie(he is funny at times), but it just isn't the same without Robin Williams. The worst character was Abis Mal, I absolutely hate that character. He just grates on my nerves. The animation sometimes looks nice, but at other times, it has a rather nasty quality about it. Almost all the characters look poorly drawn, and I really didn't want to say this. Even the Genie wasn't up to top animation standard. It wasn't the backgrounds as such, some were very nice, it was the character animation that was the problem.

As for the songs, they aren't dreadful, but they are the weakest batch in any Disney movie. Iago's singing made my ears bleed, and "Second Rate" sounded as though Jonathan Freeman was struggling with the song. (No wonder, it is very hard)I don't know about you but the old woman in the chair bit I found creepy as a kid. The best song in my opinion is "there is nothing in the world quite like a Friend" which has a decent melody. Also Liz Callaway has a nice singing voice. I really liked the incidental music though, and the scene of the winged horses.

The story was the biggest problem, it went at such a slow pace. Also the villain back for revenge formula was over-familiar, and has been done so much better before. I also disliked the fact that Iago seemed to be the main character, when he was truly irritating here, and some of the dialogue is very lame, there was one part when Aladdin says something that is meant to be funny and he raises his eyebrows cheekily, but I found myself groaning than laughing. I'm sorry, that's my view. On a positive note, this film actually has one of the best climaxes in a DTV sequel, and the voice acting if different was decent especially Jonathan Freeman as Jafar.

This is a very disappointing sequel, especially when it was released two years after the original. but on the bright side, it isn't as bad as the Cinderella and Jungle Book sequels, which are both thinly plotted. 6/10. Bethany Cox

As rare as it is, Disney will have good sequels that will come out and one of those is Return of Jafar, even though this one you can tell the animation isn't as great as the original and Robin Williams skipped out on this one, I still really enjoyed this Disney sequel. I thought it was pretty cool to see how Jafar would get his revenge as a genie, you thought he was a scary villain just as a sorcerer? Imagine him as a genie with all the powers in the world! It's pretty crazy, but I like how they are continuing the story between Aladdin and Jasmine and how Aladdin's life has been since the Sultan has invited him to stay within the castle and to love his daughter. Plus we have the genie, Abu, and the carpet back, how could you not just fall in love with them again? Return of Jafar is a great sequel and has a very good story.

The story opens with a band of robbers arriving in their hideout with their latest spoils. Just as their incompetent leader, Abis Mal, rouses the ire of his men, Aladdin and Abu steal the treasures back and distribute most of it among the poor of Agrabah, with the exception of a jewel flower, which Aladdin intends to give to Jasmine. Upon their arrival, Jasmine announces to Aladdin a surprise which the Sultan intends to reveal at this evening's dinner. Meanwhile, in the desert, Iago manages to dig himself and Jafar's genie lamp out of the sand, into which the Genie had fired them. Jafar orders Iago to release him at once, but Iago, tired of being treated badly by Jafar, throws the lamp into a nearby well. He returns to Agrabah, hoping to convince Aladdin that he had served Jafar only because he had hypnotized him just like the Sultan. He meets Aladdin and insists that he is innocent, but Aladdin is not fooled and tries to capture him. While chasing Iago, Aladdin has a run-in with Abis Mal and some of his men, but is saved by Iago. Now willing to give Iago a fair chance, Aladdin returns with him to the palace, where they are greeted by Genie, who has returned from seeing the world and is glad to be home in Agrabah. That night, the Sultan announces that he wants to make Aladdin his new grand vizier. Trying to draw on the good mood, Aladdin attempts to persuade the Sultan to forgive Iago, but Iago inadvertently ruins the dinner and the Sultan and Jasmine are furious. With Iago's help, though, Jasmine eventually reconciles with Aladdin. Meanwhile, Jafar, by luck, is found by Abis Mal. As Jafar is a genie, he is handicapped by the incompetence of his new "master". Jafar desires to be free so that he can get revenge on Aladdin and rule Agrabah, but needs Mal's co-operation to do this. Once in the palace, Jafar reveals himself to Iago and forces him to play along with his plans. The next day, Aladdin and the Sultan depart to have a discussion at a place suggested by Iago. After they leave, Jafar confronts the Genie and Abu in the Palace gardens and shows his power, imprisoning the pair. When Aladdin thanks Iago, he is ambushed by Abis Mal, and the sulton is captured.

Even though Iago was a great little villain sidekick, I think I liked him better turning on Aladdin's side and seeing him rescue the gang from Jafar was just awesome. Even though the soundtrack isn't as memorable as the first Aladdin, I still loved Iago's song "I'm looking out for me". I'm a little sad that the same cast didn't return, but these voices did just as well and the story still worked. I really did like this sequel, even if others didn't, I think it was just a great way to continue Aladdin's journey with the genie, Jasmine, Abu and the others. Plus it was cool to see Jafar come back and just defend his title against Aladdin and the genie was awesome, you really don't wanna mess with Jafar. Well even if Aladdin did end up winning the day, I think Jafar is still a pretty cool bad dude. I do recommend that if you get the chance to see this movie, take it, it's a fun sequel and I personally enjoyed it.

7/10

I was a huge fan of Disney's "Aladdin" during my childhood, so I obviously wanted to see this straight-to-video sequel when it came out in 1994. From what I remember, I was not disappointed at all. However, after discovering that I still liked the popular 1992 Disney flick a lot after many years, I rented "The Return of Jafar" to see what I thought of it after all these years, and while I'm still not one of the haters, I can now understand the criticism!

Jafar, who is now a genie trapped in his lamp, and his parrot, Iago escape from the Cave of Wonders and work their way up to the desert surface. Iago gets out of the lamp, and Jafar expects him to rub it so he can get out and return to Agrabah, where he plans to have his revenge on Aladdin! Instead, Iago turns against the former grand vizier, and drops the lamp in a well, with Jafar trapped inside! However, when a thief named Abis Mal finds the lamp in the well, Jafar is finally out, and is ready for his revenge! To make it worse for Aladdin, Abis Mal wants revenge on him as well, due to a recent encounter in Agrabah! Meanwhile, Iago has returned to the city, and obviously, most people do not trust him, but Aladdin begins to. Is this a good idea?!

There are several things that make "The Return of Jafar" far inferior to its predecessor. First of all, some of the characters are not quite the same. Aladdin and Princess Jasmine seem a bit sillier and less mature than they are in the first movie, and there are some ridiculous scenes involving the two, such as the one where the Sultan praises Aladdin, and Aladdin then looks over to Jasmine with a smug look on his face, and she looks back at him with look of romance (a rather silly one). Another character who is not the same is the Genie. He is responsible for a lot of the humour in 1992's "Aladdin", but isn't usually funny in this film. This time, he is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, instead of Robin Williams, and Castellaneta voices many funny characters on "The Simpsons", but as the Genie, I guess he's not so great. That reminds me, this film is generally a lot less funny than its predecessor. Two other downsides I can think of are the animation (not too bad, but certainly not as good), and the forgettable songs, none of which have ever fully stuck in my head, and some of which still aren't stuck in there at all!

Sequels aren't usually as good or better than their predecessors, but even with that in mind, this one is still disappointing. Since I at least found an occasional laugh in the film, as well as some excitement, I give it a 6/10. Nevertheless, I found the film a bit bland overall, lacking several things that made the classic original so great. For hardcore fans of Disney's "Aladdin", this straight-to-video sequel might be worth checking out, but if you decide to do so, don't be surprised if you find that a lot is missing from the original! Judging by the few episodes of the "Aladdin" TV series I've seen, it seems to have the same problems as "The Return of Jafar", or very similar ones. Fortunately, at least these problems did not persist in "Aladdin and the King of Thieves", the final installment in the franchise, which is definitely somewhat superior to what came in between.

I thought this was a great sequel. Probably my favorite of the millions of sequels made by Disney.

Jafar is definitely a much better villain in this one than in Aladdin. He has a much stronger motivation and much greater powers on his side. Despite all that, however, Disney can't help but limit themselves as to how good a movie can be. The ending, in my opinion, was cheesy even by kids movie standards.

The genie isn't quite as entertaining as before either, but he still made me laugh a lot.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoyed Aladdin.

Following the huge success of Aladdin in 1992, Disney commissioned its television animation studio to create a show successor. When the creators of the series decided to make the pilot about Jafar seeking revenge on Aladdin and rule all of Agrabah, Disney chose to market the pilot as a direct to video sequel entitled The Return of Jafar. Released nearly 2 years after the first film, the sequel sold over $300 million on VHS sales alone and soon prompted a whole slew of straight to home video Disney sequels. That being said, it is today deemed one of the worst examples of such work, and for good reason too.

The film follows Jafar, now an all powerful genie, seeking vengeance towards Aladdin and his friends. At the same time, Iago turns against Jafar by means of going back to the palace, causing much turmoil towards the protagonists. With a premise like that, one would hope for a thoroughly engaging revenge story with the good and evil duking it out. Sadly, the biggest issue with Return of Jafar is how rushed and unfocused it is, as it would rather focus more on Iago trying to make amends with Aladdin and the gang than on Jafar plotting his master plan to rule all of Agrabah. It doesn't help that the person Jafar manipulates to help with his plan is a dreadfully annoying dimwitted thief Abis Mal whose only purpose is to get back at Aladdin for foiling his criminal activities. As a result, the story feels too fast paced for its own good in getting from plot point to plot point that the only amount of substance we get is the conflicting relation between Aladdin and Iago. At merely an hour runtime, Gilbert Gottfried has too much material for his own good that Iago is worth groaning at rather than rooting for.

Speaking of Gottfried, while the cast from the original do their best with the subpar material they have, the inclusion of Jason Alexander as Abis Mal is way too distracting. While Alexander can be very funny in the right role, Abis Mal comes off more as George Costanza in an Arabian thief disguise rather than a fully realized character, sadly aided by too much dialogue for the character's tolerance. It's sad when Dan Castellaneta doing the Genie is far more likable in his role than Alexander is as a villain, since at least there are times when he does sound close to matching Williams' energy. Even the singing talents of Liz Callaway and Brad Kane feel completely wasted on insipid musical numbers that feel more at place in a Saturday morning adventure series than a Disney sequel. It's bad enough that poor Gilbert has two songs to handle on his own, the movie doesn't need to shoehorn more forgettable material on sheer talent. Sometimes the cast of a feature can save a fairly weak feature with their talents, but when they fall short, it's not really their fault as much as the work itself.

As for the film being intended for television from the start, it goes without saying that the animation quality in Return of Jafar is lower than that of the first film. It's hard to be critical of the visual work when a whole different studio is working on a followup to a feature like Aladdin, especially when the people at Disney Animation Australia and Japan had done some fantastic work in later endeavors. Unfortunately, the difference in art direction can be sighted from the background art looking more like oddly painted backdrops than a full fledged Arabian landscape. Seeing the characters drawn hastily for efficient production is probably the worst offender as it shows just how it is to draw a Disney character, let alone get them to move. While the layouts are definitely ambitious enough, they're sadly undermined by grotesquely flat color palettes. Arguably, the biggest highlight in the animation comes from the effects department, as the broad range of lights and power create a lot of tension in the film's climax. Otherwise, we're left with a feature that should've stayed on television instead of VHS.

As a followup to Aladdin and as the first direct to video Disney sequel, The Return of Jafar pales in comparison in every single regard. While the cast and crew did their best with the rushed schedule and subpar material they had, the result is nothing more than Disney shamelessly cashing in on the success of one of their most popular films at the time without much care for who would see the film or not. Unless you're a die hard Aladdin fan or curious to get through all those weird Disney sequels of back then, you're better off pretending this never happened and hope that Jafar remained in the cave of wonders.

I think if you enjoy hearing Gilbert Gottfried's incessant screeching as a performer, as I genuinely do (no, really, for a character like Iago it woks!) then Return to Jafar will be a good effort. Very good, great? Maybe not. I don't even know how necessary it might have been, but as a little kid coming off of Aladdin, which was a triumph for Disney at the time, this was a good way to bridge between the first movie and the animated series that was to come for many years on the Disney channel. It picks up right where the first one left off and follows Iago on his journey from being an awful "I'm looking out for me" kind of stooge and into being, well, semi-heroic.

Of course not having Robin Williams as the Genie, and as a kid as soon as I heard it, it was something of a shock (only once though, during the Genie's first song, does he sound a lot like Homer Simpson). But he does a good enough job and makes it entertaining. I don't know what could have been improved on aside from, you know, the animation (it's not the Hollywood group, it was done overseas), or Williams but... for what it is, I like it. It may not be a strong recommendation, but it's more-so compared to the dirge of ridiculous direct-to-video garbage that Disney pumped out over the next two decades (including things like Bambi 2 and Beauty and the Beast Christmas specials). At least Aladdin, through this sequel and one more and the series, got to be its own thing in continuity and follow arcs and characters in decent timing for children of the period.

Rule number one in movie viewing friends: never, ever expect a sequel to be better that the original. because it usually isn't. The Return of Jafar is no where near as good as Aladdin, but it is still generally good. This really wasn't even supposed to be a sequel. It was supposed to be the first five episodes of the animated series, thus explaining the change in animation. The story is fairly good and the movie has some good songs. And in defense of Dan Castellaneta, he does a good job as the Genie and sounds sort of like Robin Williams. Don't judge him just because of Williams' performance. It was not as good as Aladdin, but why would you expect it to be?

If you watch this made for video sequel to Aladdin and wonder why the Genie sounds a bit like Homer Simpson, that's because he's voiced here by Dan Castellaneta. Why? There was a pay dispute between Robin Williams and Disney, and Disney didn't want to pay; so they went ahead without him.

In this sequel, as the title suggests, Jafar does indeed return. If you saw the first film, you might wonder how he returned since Genie threw him into the Cave of Wonders. Well, it's easy, his sidekick Iago the parrot has something to do with Jafar's eventual escape.

Overall, Return of Jafar is a revenge story. Originally titled The Return of Jafar, it's also known as Aladdin: The Return of Jafar. Robin Williams would later return for the third installment, Aladdin and the King of Thieves.

Whenever disney makes a sequel that went straight to dvd, I always ask one question when watching one, DISNEY, WHY DO YOU MAKE THESE? This movie in ten words is, what if we made the same movie again, but worse. The runtime is only 69 minutes, the genie is not voiced by Robin Williams anymore, etc, while this isn't quite as terrible as some of the others in this heap of Disney sequels, it's still bad.

Aladdin: The Return of Jafar Iago the bird wants to befriend our heroes from the first film, distrust makes it hard for them to forgive him. When the powerful genie Jafar returns to seek revenge they must band together to stop him.

Return of Jafar is a fun short movie that will definitely keep youngsters entertained for a while. There some good entertaining action scenes, and a couple of funny moments.

The bad parts are largely due to weaker animation, there are a couple very noticeable goofs that should have been caught and fixed before release. Also Robin Williams does not return to voice Genie, Dan Castlanetta (most known for voicing Homer Simpson) takes his place. Castlanetta's voice work isn't too bad, but the material lacks the great laughs we were hoping for.

You may remember there was also a Toon Disney Channel show called Aladdin which featured Castlanetta as Genie. I feel this movie was made to be a part of that series.

The plot is simple and the film as a whole just doesn't feel like it strives for much. Still, the young'uns will probably like it.

Disney has a reputation of doing bad sequels. And for the most part they are but this movie is an exception. It's actually pretty entertaining but the flaw of the movie is the absence of Robin Williams. "Homer Simpson" does a good job providing the voice but he isn't Robin Williams.

2(**)out of 4(****)stars

I was surprised byt his film.Usually the sequels are bad.But this one has humor, new songs and a new character by the name of Abis Mal.Not as great as the prototype fil but still good.

Disney's first direct-to-video sequel... a rather dubious honor, surely. It is, apparently(I haven't watched very many of them... this one was given to me), one of the few Disney sequels that is actually a direct sequel, rather than the story of the kids of the main character or characters of the original film. It's a mixed bag. There aren't many songs, and one of them may even just be (some) new lyrics for one from the first... but on the other hand, both Iago and Jafar get a song(each)... the latter was supposed to have one in the first, it just didn't quite work out, and Freeman(Jonathan, not Morgan) certainly does sing well. The pacing isn't too bad, I guess. The plot certainly could have been better. Abis Mal is not that interesting of a character. The themes aren't as good and the developments just don't work as well as those of the first. The animation varies, some bits are downright poor when compared to that of the first. The energy and creativity in no way measures up to that of the first. I realize that the following is not necessarily something they could have fixed... but Castellaneta just does not make as good a Genie as Williams. Sorry, Dan... I like ya, I do(honestly possibly more than Rob), but some parts just suit certain actors better, and, let's face it, Genie is essentially Williams as an animated character. Dan tries, but it just doesn't work. In fact, it seems almost like they changed the character of Genie, either to move it away from the Williams performance or to suit the new guy, and if there was ever a character in fiction best suited for a fast-paced stand-up comedian, rather than an actor perhaps best known for his voice-work portraying one of the slowest, most dim-witted characters in the history of animation(it should be noted that I *love* The Simpsons, the first many years, until it turned sucky)... yeah, that character would have to be Genie. The film is a mere 70 minutes or so long, and only about an hour of it is actual film. There are dramatic parts, but the film is just not the adventure that the first was. It's nowhere near as entertaining... but hey, the actors do return(save for Williams), and at least Freeman does still do well(Gottfried was... not as good as he was in the first, a pity, since his character, Iago, is featured so heavily in this, especially early on... maybe that was the problem, he was overexposed). The DVD... could be better. The menus aren't as attractive as those of the DVD of Aladdin. The extras... well, there are three. One that takes you directly to any of the songs in the film(which, sadly, serves to underline just how few there are... and the DVD of Aladdin actually had other recordings of the songs featured, as well as deleted/unused songs). One that will have Aladdin describe how people wish in different parts of the world, divided into brief clips. And lastly, a feature that will allow you three wishes granted by Jafar... that one is actually decent enough. All in all, I'm not sure there's terribly much lost from not watching this. I recommend it to fans of Disney, Aladdin, and/or those who want to see more of Jafar... and it helps to not be terribly picky. 5/10

The Return of Jafar had a hard time, as the sequel to the great smash hit Aladdin, but it still manages to hang in there quite well. One of the greatest losses of this sequel, is the voice of Robin Williams as the Genie, which was so good in Aladdin that it was rewarded with a Golden Globe. His successor does a decent job though and manages to deliver some of the best lines in the film. Despite the fact that he was not able to portray the flamboyant blue guy as hilarious as Williams, he managed to make the Genie one of the best characters in the film. This film does not miss Robin Williams' voice! It misses the good animation, the great story, the emotions and the excitement that made up Aladdin. Making a sequel was worth a try, but I'm sorry to say it did not work, for The Return of Jafar turned out to be one of the ‘worst' animated features to be ever made by Disney. This doesn't mean The Return of Jafar wasn't enjoyable at times, but that the realization of the concept was faulty.

6 out of 10

This was full of plot holes I can't be bothered to write any more on this piece of s***

This movie is the weakest of the 3 Aladdin movies. This movie is nothing but a pilot for the cartoon that debuted shortly after the release of this video. The fact that it is just a pilot for the TV show is further demonstrated by the fact that it is just over an hour long and that it features one of the show recurring villains(Abis Mal). Aladdin and the King of Thieves is a much better sequel than this one.

You know, this film actually has excellent animation with loads of potential, but every last strand of it's potential is wasted with the film's awful animation direction. It's Saturday morning cartoon standard; for both animation direction and cinematography.

In some scenes, specifically the one in which Iago gets pinned against the wall with a watermelon, the animation is disturbingly unrealistic and fake. The whole film showcases possibly the least realistic animation I've yet to see in a Disney film.

While the backgrounds are very detailed and expressive, some of the characters, even the main characters look noticeably wonky and off-model in some scenes, As for the humour, it's just plain silly for the most part; silly and childish, which instead of making me laugh, just left me rolling my eyes in contempt. In fact, there's basically nothing until the genie's appearance that seems to even try to be funny.

Most of the music is forgettable at best, and when a song is half right decent, what puts me off about it is that it doesn't sound Indian or Aladdin-esquire at all.

The only thing that stops me from either falling asleep, or turning of the TV screen, is the genie, which this time, is voiced by Dan Castellaneta (Homer Simpson). His voice-work, as an imitation of Williams', isn't particularly great, and I feel it was a bit of a let down, considering how versatile Dan's voice is in real life, and here, he just sounds like a mildly tweaked version of Homer Simpson. But in the end, it really doesn't matter, considering how many other things that absolutely bomb in this film.

This film is worth watching only for Dan's appearance; if you're not a fan of his work, and you are a fan of the original, then seriously, avoid this one if you don't particularly feel like ruining what the first one did to you. This film is only for the Aladdin diehards, and obsessive collectors; everyone else, if you think it might have a chance of living up to the original, think again.

On it's own, this film is awful. In comparison to the stunning original, it's not only terrible, but it's an insult to every thing that made the first film so special. The only way I would, and could ever like this film, is if no-one else on the entire planet liked it. Unfortunately, there are going to be people out there that do, so I see it as nothing more than a bad, pointless sequel that did not need to be made.

With "The Return of Jafar", this brilliantly animated sequel reigns supreme in my library of films since 1994.

Can I give it zero stars? This just doesn't do it for me, and I don't see why they made it. The plot here is very forced, and has been used countless times--revenge on the good guy. Especially notable is Robin Williams' absence. (Instead, Genie is voiced by somebody from "The Simsons". I mean, come on!) The songs were an insult to Alan Maken and Howard Ashmen's wonderful soundtrack for the first film. And worst of all, the characters seem alien, like I've never known them before! I regret wasting my money back in 1994 for this trash. I would like to dispose of it, but someday I may watch it if I have absolutely nothing else to do. Besides, I regret to say (but it's true) that without this junk I wouldn't own the complete "Aladdin" trilogy. "Aladdin" fans might want to watch it once just to know what happens, but that's pretty much it. Dust off your old copy of the first one and watch it instead. Or watch "Aladdin and the King of Thieves", which was very good and featured an especially impressive return performance by Robin Williams as the Genie.