Disney’s Magic Carpet Ride: A Multimodal Critique of Arab and Muslim Representation in the Aladdin Franchise

In an era of evolving societal structures and an increasing emphasis on diversity and inclusion, ensuring positive representations of different cultures and ethnicities in film production poses a considerable challenge. This study examines the portrayal of Muslims and Arabs in Disney’s Aladdin film series. A multimodal critical discourse analysis has been conducted on the quartet of Aladdin films. The study encompasses an exploration of how language, music, and visual representations were utilized to depict Muslims and Arabs, an identification of the translation strategies employed for the Arabic dubbing of these films, and a discernment of any changes in Disney’s approach toward the representation of Islamic and Arab culture, by contrasting the Aladdin film series with its most recent remake. The findings reveal that the series served as a conduit for Disney’s ideologies, which typically align with current mainstream American media trends that often negatively represent Muslims and Arabs. A combination of images, language, and accents was employed to demarcate morally good and evil characters. Indications of female oppression were discernible in various characters’ dialogues and attire. Additionally, using distinct accents reinforced language-based stereotypes associated with specific groups. Lastly, while minor modifications were observed in the 2019 iteration of Aladdin, a handful of prevalent stereotypes, such as the cruelty attributed to Muslims and Arabs, were still apparent in this updated version.