asteriamalfoy Thank you so much for this article! I completely agree with all of these points. I've seen that you've received a lot of hate for your opinion and that is very unfair especially since the haters seem to just be following on the local SJW train and have no facts or knowledge of their own. I would have stuck up for you sooner, but I barely get on fanpop much and when I do, it's already been days since you've posted so I didn't want to rile up the subject again. A few more things to add. The peacock appears a lot on Jasmine merchandise, especially the peacock feather. There's a reason Jasmine has a whole song about it and dresses based on that as well. The peacock is not associated with Arabia as much as it is associated with India. So the entire peacock influence is Indian. Riding elephants is an Indian thing, not Arabian. So when Abu becomes an elephant and has Aladdin ride him in Prince Ali, that is very much a common form of imagery found in India especially with prestigious grooms who come to their weddings. The Aladdin Musical has a lot of Indian/Bollywood influences. The costumes have a lot of intricate beading and jewelry that is more Indian styled than anything Arabian and baring the mid-riff is also part of many Indian traditional garb for women. Her pink wedding gown from the end of the musical looks more like something an Indian woman would wear at a grand party or celebration than anything a medieval princess (Arabian, European, etc.) would wear. The Arabian Nights/One Thousand and One Nights are tales compiled from a multitude of places but especially Arabia, Persia, and India. There are some from Egypt, Mesopotamia, etc. as well, but mainly the first three I listed. Thus, it is not unusual or wrong for Aladdin to have Indian influences, since the original stories had them too. Some stories flat out say that the ruler is from the East Indies which would be India. There are many princesses from distant lands as well, some coming from areas which are now part of India or were commonly part of India before the 20th century. Aladdin is set in the 850s in Baghdad, Iraq. This is considered the Golden Age of Islam. While Europe was in the medieval time period, Arabia was having it's own Renaissance and light-years ahead of most of Europe. In fact, much of Europe's Renaissance came about because they learned a lot from the Muslims during this period and got translations of ancient Greek and Roman texts that the Muslims had translated and which the Europeans had no access too. Aladdin was originally supposed to be set in Baghdad itself, but because of tension in the area at the time, it was decided to create a fictional kingdom (Agrabah) which was very much based off of Baghdad. I have a Pakistani friend whose father was watching Aladdin one day with us and he clearly recognized Baghdad in Agrabah. This is something I only knew from reading in the Making Of book and because the directors have said it several times, but someone really familiar with Baghdad and this Golden Age of Islam period would recognize it in a second. This period was very culturally diverse because it was a vast empire that replaced the previous Muslim empire and Persia became part of it during this time as well. Parts of India were involved as well. Sindbad is believed to have been from this time (if he was real, which he isn't) which shows the exploration and voyages that the rulers of this era were undergoing. Basically the point is that the Muslim empire was thriving culturally because they were very diverse from expansion. Jasmine being 100% Arabian would be very unlikely. Same with how most of the European princesses would probably not be 100% of whatever ethnicity they are because if they are born princesses, they would be the daughter of a king and queen, and the queen likely hails from a different kingdom, meaning different country, nationality, ethnicity, language, etc. The princess would be brought up with her father's national identity, but her biological genome would not reflect 100% French, German, or in this case, Arabian. Jasmine's mother could very well be an Indian princess or a princess from Kashmir or Persia or anywhere. She would not have to be 100% Arabian. A certain user (whose name I will not mention but he/she has been very vocal in the hate/outrage on this topic and constantly gets facts wrong amongst other things) claims that Jasmine is not Caucasian. Learn your facts please. Arabian people are considered Caucasian. Indian people are also considered Caucasian. For that matter, the Romani people (known better as gypsies but that is a racial slur) are mostly descended from North India meaning that they are Caucasian as well. This means that two prominent Disney Princesses (Jasmine and Esmeralda) may have tan/brown skin, but both classify as Caucasian. That does not mean they are white, but they do register as Caucasian. So whether Jasmine is Arabian or Indian, she classifies as Caucasian. Finally the China setting gets brought up a lot so let me clarify this. The same with European fairy tales like to talk about lands or kingdoms in far off exotic places, so do the Arabian Nights fairy tales. To show a place that was distant or far off or "exotic," they would often use China is a location because that was considered exotic for them and not part of the empire (although China also had many Muslim people at the time because of the close proximity). So some people complain that Aladdin is not faithful because the setting should be China, but although the fairy tales say the setting is China, look at everything else. No name is Chinese...they are all Arabian/Persian. The clothes are often not Chinese looking depending on the illustrator and sometimes the characters do not look Chinese either. China does not have jinns/genies, flying carpets, genie lamps, elephants carrying princes around, sultans/caliphs, etc. yet these are all things found in what would be classified as Arabia or India today. Even the original fairy tale of Aladdin talks about how one of the villains hails from North Africa and it is more likely that this person would show up in an Arabian/Indian setting than China, because once more of close proximity and because North Africa had parts in the Muslim Empire of the 850s. China did not. So China was just used to make the story seem far off and "exotic" but really it was no China that ever existed and real Chinese people would no recognize it or find it familiar at all. Also, Disney has changed settings for their fairy tale kingdoms before. I learned from this fanpop page actually a long time ago when I used to lurk on here that the Little Mermaid fairytale setting is actually the Mediterranean and not Denmark as commonly believed. The original fairytale mentions palaces of white marble and a prince with dark eyes and slave girls/women dancing in silk and gold outfits. Most generic storybooks show a European kingdom but those that are true to the original text show a very Mediterranean/Arabian setting. Likely the kingdom was in Greece which would have been under Ottoman rule explaining why the above mentions would not show up in a Western European kingdom but would show up in a Mediterranean/Muslim kingdom. The palm trees are another indicator of the setting. The Disney movie, according to the directors, also takes place in a Mediterranean setting (you can see grape vines and palm trees in the movie), but this is clearly more European stylized so the setting would probably be Spain, Italy, or Greece. Because of the time period (early 1800s likely 1830s), Greece here would be separate from Turkey/Ottoman rule and not have the Arabian/Muslim elements that are apparent in the fairy tale. My reason for talking about The Little Mermaid is to explain that most people complain about Aladdin's changed setting, but The Little Mermaid could be argued to have the same issue but no one either realizes it or cares. If Disney has changed one setting, it is not an issue then if it changes another, especially since Aladdin makes more sense in a pseudo Arabian/Persian/Indian blended kingdom that reflected the actual era the film took place (850s Iraq again). Just like most people associate The Little Mermaid with a European kingdom, so it made sense to keep it in a Christian European setting rather than a Muslim inspired kingdom.

BelleRose829 This is an article people need. No one complains about Auli'i being mixed with white or Mulan being played possibly by Jennifer Lawrence, but yet all the hate about the race of a character who's culture was vague to begin with.

Sparklefairy375 ^Wtf JLaw is going to play Mulan? Never heard that so far but seriously? There are a lot of Asian actresses, why don't choose one of them instead? Hope this is just fake rumor.

Mongoose09 @BelleRose829; You're looking in the wrong places if you think no one would care about the Jennifer Lawrence thing. Many people would most definitely complain if Mulan was played by J-Law (or any other white actress). Myself included, that would be a terrible casting. It's not happening anyway, it was most definitely a rumour, thank God.