A small Arabian merchant rides an exhausted camel through the desert. At night, when he arrives in the city of Agrabah, he displays wares that he claims are the finest merchandise this side of the river Jordan. Among the items he has for sale is a lamp that is said to have changed the course of a young man’s life. The merchant explains that the young man, like the lamp, seemed unassuming, but was much more. As there is more to the tale, the merchant begins his story: One dark night on a desert dune, the evil Jafar, Grand Vizier of the Sultan, meets with a short and chubby thief, Gazeem, who has brought him half of a golden scarab. Jafar pulls the other half of the beetle from his cloak and when the two pieces meet, the bug comes to life, flying through the Arabian night sky before burrowing into the sand. The two pieces of the beetle reveal to Jafar and Gazeem The Cave of Wonders, which is shaped like a giant tiger’s head. Jafar orders Gazeem to enter the cave and find the lamp, saying that he may keep all the cave’s treasures, except for the lamp. When Gazeem approaches The Cave of Wonders, it awakens, and speaking as a giant tiger, warns that the only one who may enter is the “diamond in the rough.” On his first step into the cave entrance, Gazeem is devoured because he is unworthy, and the tiger tells Jafar and his parrot, Iago, that they must seek out the “diamond in the rough.” In Agrabah, a young peasant, Aladdin, and his monkey, Abu, run from the royal lawmen, carrying a loaf of bread they have stolen. When village women talk about Aladdin, he says that he must eat to live and steal to eat, and that he only steals what he cannot buy. However, when Aladdin sees two children looking for food in some street rubbish, he gives his half of the loaf to them and, after a single bite, Abu begrudgingly does the same. The children run to the street as Prince Achmed, a suitor to the Sultan’s daughter, Princess Jasmine, rides to the palace. When the children startle his horse, Achmed tries to whip them, but Aladdin intervenes. The suitor calls Aladdin worthless and says that only fleas will mourn him, which upsets Aladdin, who dreams of being rich, living in the palace and never having problems again. Later, Prince Achmed, storms out of the palace, his pants ripped apart by Jasmine’s pet tiger, Rajah. Inside, the Sultan reminds Jasmine that the law states she must be married within three days, and so must stop rejecting suitors. However, Jasmine wants to marry for love and laments that she’s never been outside the castle walls. At his wit’s end, the Sultan seeks the wisdom of his most trusted advisor, Jafar. Believing he can find Jasmine an acceptable suitor with the help of the Sultan’s blue diamond ring, Jafar uses his cobra-head scepter to bewitch the Sultan into handing it over. Meanwhile, Jasmine escapes over the palace walls, where Aladdin spots her wandering through the market place and becomes enamored. When she sees a hungry child eyeing some apples on a cart, Jasmine, unaware of the ways of the commoners, gives him one without paying for it. The vendor accuses her of theft and threatens to cut off her hand, but Aladdin rescues her and the two run off together. In the palace, Jafar uses the magic of the Sultan’s ring to power the “Sands of Time” into revealing the identity of the one who can enter The Cave of Wonders and, learning that it is Aladdin, dispatches guards to fetch him. Aladdin, unaware of Jasmine’s true identity, takes her to his compartment that overlooks the palace. As he expresses his dreams, Jasmine bemoans the life she led there and both of them admit to feeling trapped. Jasmine tells Aladdin that she ran away because her father was forcing her to marry, and the two have a romantic moment that is interrupted by the arrival of palace guards. To escape, Aladdin extends his hand to Jasmine and asks, “Do you trust me?” and the two jump from the window. However, they are still caught by the guards. Revealing that she is the princess, Jasmine demands that the guards release Aladdin, but, under Jafar’s strict orders, they cannot. When Jasmine later confronts Jafar about releasing Aladdin, the vizier says he was arrested for kidnapping her and has already been beheaded. Aladdin, however, is imprisoned in a rat-infested dungeon. As Abu releases Aladdin from his shackles, another prisoner, an old man with a hunchback, approaches him. The prisoner, who is really the disguised Jafar with Iago on his back creating the hump, tells Aladdin that if he enters The Cave of Wonders, he will be rewarded with enough treasures to impress the princess. After escaping the prison, Aladdin approaches the tiger of The Cave of Wonders, who permits him to proceed on the condition that he touch nothing but the lamp. As Aladdin enters, Abu also sneaks in under his vest, and they go into the depths of the cave, which is piled with gold and treasures. A magic carpet follows Aladdin and Abu through the cave, teasing Abu, but leading Aladdin to the lamp. As Aladdin lifts the lamp off its pedestal, Abu grabs a giant ruby. The cave tiger screams, “Infidels!” and starts to destroy itself by melting away the forbidden treasure. The magic carpet carries Aladdin and Abu to the opening of the cave where the disguised Jafar is waiting. When the carpet becomes pinned beneath falling rocks, Aladdin hangs from the cliff and Jafar demands that Aladdin hand him the lamp, which he does. Jafar then throws Aladdin and Abu into the cave, where Abu reveals that he stole the lamp back from Jafar. Aladdin rubs dust off an inscription on it, and in so doing, releases the Genie of the Lamp, who has been trapped for ten thousand years. Genie tells Aladdin he has been granted three wishes, none of which can be a wish for more wishes. The Genie also says he cannot kill, make anybody fall in love, or bring people back from the dead. Without making a wish, Aladdin tricks the Genie into helping them escape the cave. Afterward, Genie explains that he is a prisoner of the lamp and dreams of being free, so Aladdin tells him that after he makes his first two wishes, he will grant Genie his freedom. Because the law demands that the princess can only marry royalty, Aladdin’s first wish is to become a prince. In the process of turning Aladdin into Prince Ali Ababwa, Genie also turns Abu into an elephant that he can ride into Agrabah. At the palace, the Sultan, who has learned about Aladdin from Jasmine, reprimands Jafar for beheading him, and Jasmine tells Jafar she will be rid of him when she becomes queen. Later, Jafar tells the Sultan that, according to law, if the princess does not select a princely suitor in the appropriate time, she must marry the royal vizier. Outside, a crowd gathers to watch a parade that brings Prince Ali and his royal coterie to the palace. After meeting Aladdin, the Sultan feels favorably toward him, but Jasmine is not impressed and will not grant him an audience. Genie urges Aladdin to tell Jasmine who he is, but Aladdin does not feel he can impress the princess without being a prince. To win her, Aladdin flies the magic carpet up to Jasmine’s balcony and invites her to go for a ride. When Jasmine wonders if the carpet is safe, he extends his hand to her and asks, “Do you trust me?” Now recognizing that the Prince is Aladdin, Jasmine agrees, and the two fly through the sky and dream of the possibilities of a new world together. On a rooftop in China, Jasmine demands that Aladdin admit to his true identity, but he lies, saying that he really is a prince who sometimes poses as a villager to escape the pressures of palace life. When Aladdin later says goodnight to Jasmine on her balcony, the two share their first kiss. Shortly after, the palace guards, under orders from Jafar, intercept Aladdin, shackle him to a ball and throw him into the ocean. Aladdin escapes the water with the help of Genie, using one of his wishes. Meanwhile, the Sultan, still bewitched, informs Jasmine that she will marry Jafar, but Aladdin arrives and smashes Jafar’s scepter, revealing that it was used to control the Sultan. Just before he is arrested, Jafar sees the lamp in Aladdin’s turban. The Sultan, pleased that Jasmine has finally selected a suitor of unimpeachable character, decrees that they are to be wed at once. However, Aladdin is uneasy when he learns he is to be the next sultan. He will not free Genie because he feels impotent without him, which disappoints Abu and the carpet, as well as Genie. While Aladdin seeks the courage to admit that he is not a prince, Iago steals the lamp. Jafar then claims ownership over Genie and demands his first wish, to rule as sultan. When the real Sultan and Jasmine refuse to bow before Jafar, he makes his second wish, which is to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Jafar tells Jasmine that Prince Ali is really the street urchin Aladdin, and, using sorcery, turns him and Abu into their former selves and banishes them to the cold, snowy mountains. He then demands that Jasmine marry him. Aladdin returns to Agrabah via the magic carpet and, as he enters the palace, Jasmine distracts Jafar by attempting to seduce him. However, when Jafar discovers Aladdin trying to steal the lamp, he traps Jasmine in an hourglass for her betrayal, destroys the magic carpet, and turns into a giant snake to kill Aladdin. Although Jafar laughs at Aladdin for believing he could defeat the most powerful being on Earth, Aladdin reminds him that Genie, who created his power, is ultimately more powerful than Jafar. So, for his third wish, Jafar demands to be an all-powerful genie. Jafar is transformed into a genie complete with his own lamp. When Jafar becomes distracted by the strength of his new power, Aladdin claims ownership of the lamp and confines Jafar and Iago in it. Jafar’s wishes and spells reverse, and the palace and magic carpet return to their former states. Genie banishes Jafar to The Cave of Wonders. Aladdin apologizes to Jasmine for deceiving her, but because he is not a prince, they cannot marry, according to law. Although Genie urges Aladdin to use his final wish to regain his princedom, Aladdin decides to use the wish to free Genie. Impressed by the gesture, the Sultan deems Aladdin worthy of Jasmine’s hand and eliminates the law forbidding their marriage. After they are married, Jasmine and Aladdin ride on the carpet again, and begin their life together.