8 Easter eggs in 'Aladdin' you may not have noticed when you were a kid

Publish date: 2024-09-06

Disney is releasing its Academy-Award winning classic "Aladdin" for the first time on Blu-ray, Tuesday.

In honor of the anniversary, Disney provided Tech Insider with a few Easter eggs hidden in plain sight within the film alluding to other bodies of work.

We added in a few of our own we've noticed as well over the years.

You've probably noticed some, but we bet you haven't seen all of these.

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Walt Disney Pictures / YouTube

We'll start off with an easy one. After Aladdin promises to grant the Genie his freedom, the Genie turns his face into that of Pinocchio's to call Al a liar.

Disney

In the same part of the film, you may have also noticed the Genie pulls a crab from a cookbook. That's not just any crab, though. That's Sebastian from "The Little Mermaid." The 1991 movie was also directed by the filmmakers of "Aladdin," Ron Clements and John Musker.

Sebastian looks so sad. Disney

Speaking of the filmmakers, the two were drawn into the movie. You can spot them as the two characters to the left and right of Aladdin when Jasmine's suitors arrive at the palace.

Ron Clements (left) and John Musker put themselves into "Aladdin." Disney

For reference, here's how they look in real life.

Kristian Dowling/Getty Images

Pay attention to when Jafar's curse breaks at the end of the film. As Jasmine's tiger Rajah transforms back from a kitten into a full-blown tiger there's one ever so brief moment where he has two heads, one of which takes on Mickey's form.

Disney

Beast from "Beauty in the Beast" is hanging out in the menagerie of figures Jasmine's dad the Sultan is seen stacking.

Kirsten Acuna/Tech Insider

Look closely, and it looks like that may be Jafar's bird, Iago, too.

Two of the other animals also look like Shere Khan from "The Jungle Book," and the crocodile from "Peter Pan." Kirsten Acuna/Tech Insider

During Aladdin's magic carpet ride, you can see the temple of Zeus, in the background at one point from "Hercules." At the time, this was several years before "Hercules" came out.

Fun fact: Years later, in 1999, the two had a crossover episode in a "Hercules" animated television series called "Hercules and the Arabian Nights." Disney

Genie's outfit at the end of the movie — a Hawaiian shirt and Goofy hat — is an homage to a short, live-action and animated movie, "Back to Neverland." According to Disney, the short played for guests at Disney Animation Studio in Walt Disney World.

Disney

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8 Easter eggs in 'Aladdin' you may not have noticed when you were a kid

We'll start off with an easy one. After Aladdin promises to grant the Genie his freedom, the Genie turns his face into that of Pinocchio's to call Al a liar.

In the same part of the film, you may have also noticed the Genie pulls a crab from a cookbook. That's not just any crab, though. That's Sebastian from "The Little Mermaid." The 1991 movie was also directed by the filmmakers of "Aladdin," Ron Clements and John Musker.

Speaking of the filmmakers, the two were drawn into the movie. You can spot them as the two characters to the left and right of Aladdin when Jasmine's suitors arrive at the palace.

For reference, here's how they look in real life.

Pay attention to when Jafar's curse breaks at the end of the film. As Jasmine's tiger Rajah transforms back from a kitten into a full-blown tiger there's one ever so brief moment where he has two heads, one of which takes on Mickey's form.

Beast from "Beauty in the Beast" is hanging out in the menagerie of figures Jasmine's dad the Sultan is seen stacking.

Look closely, and it looks like that may be Jafar's bird, Iago, too.

During Aladdin's magic carpet ride, you can see the temple of Zeus, in the background at one point from "Hercules." At the time, this was several years before "Hercules" came out.

Genie's outfit at the end of the movie — a Hawaiian shirt and Goofy hat — is an homage to a short, live-action and animated movie, "Back to Neverland." According to Disney, the short played for guests at Disney Animation Studio in Walt Disney World.