Jackie Jasmine Popular Books

Jackie Jasmine Biography & Facts

Jasmine is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' animated film Aladdin (1992). Voiced by Linda Larkin – with a singing voice provided by Lea Salonga – Jasmine is the spirited daughter of the Sultan, who has grown weary of her life of palace confinement. Despite an age-old law stipulating that the princess must marry a prince in time for her upcoming birthday, Jasmine is instead determined to marry someone she loves for who he is as opposed to what he owns. Created by screenwriters and directors Ron Clements and John Musker with co-screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, Jasmine is based on Badroulbadour, a princess who appears in the One Thousand and One Nights folktale "Aladdin and the Magical Lamp." Originally conceived as a spoiled and materialistic princess, the writers eventually rewrote Jasmine into a stronger and more prominent heroine following the elimination of Aladdin's mother from the script, while borrowing story elements from the romantic comedy Roman Holiday (1953). Several months after securing the role, Larkin was nearly fired from the project because Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg felt that her voice was not suitable for a princess, but Clements and Musker managed to convince him otherwise. Discovered by casting director Albert Tavares, Lea Salonga was cast as Jasmine's singing voice based on her performance in the musical Miss Saigon; this unprecedented casting decision made Jasmine the first Disney Princess to have her speaking and singing voices provided by two different actresses. Animated by Mark Henn, Jasmine's design is an eclectic combination of unique sources, including an anonymous theme park guest, Henn's own sister, and actress Jennifer Connelly. The character has garnered mixed to positive reviews, with much of her character arc compared unfavorably to her predecessors Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989) and Belle from Beauty and the Beast (1991), but has been praised for her personality and her chemistry with Aladdin. She is the sixth Disney Princess and the franchise's first non-European member, as well as its first West Asian princess. Due to this, the character is credited with introducing racial diversity to Disney's princess genre. Unlike most of Disney's princesses, Jasmine is a supporting character in her own film, taking the secondary role of the love interest. Jasmine has made subsequent appearances in Aladdin's sequels The Return of Jafar (1994) and Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996), as well as its television series and a Broadway musical adaption of the film. Both Larkin and Salonga have been awarded Disney Legends for their contributions to the role. Naomi Scott played the character in the 2019 live-action adaptation of the original 1992 film. Development Conception and writing Jasmine is based on the princess who appears in the Middle Eastern folk tale collection One Thousand and One Nights, specifically the story "Aladdin and the Magical Lamp." Lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken had first begun to develop Aladdin while they were still writing songs for The Little Mermaid (1989), but further development was abandoned in favor of working on Beauty and the Beast (1991) instead. However, Aladdin was finally resurrected as Beauty and the Beast neared completion. While the princess in the original tale is named Badroulbadour, the studio decided to rename the character the more familiar "Jasmine" after actress Jasmine Guy. Additionally, the name was also among the decade's most popular at the time. In Ashman's original treatment of the film, Aladdin had two potential love interests: both Jasmine and a "Judy Garland-y tomboy," whose romantic feelings for Aladdin were not reciprocated by the hero. Screenwriter Linda Woolverton eventually drafted a screenplay based on the film The Thief of Baghdad (1940), a revision that included a handmaiden for Jasmine (an idea resurfaced in the 2019 live-action film), who was ultimately replaced by a pet tiger. Directors and writers Ron Clements and John Musker eventually disregarded Woolverton's script in favor of developing something more similar to Ashman's version, albeit making several changes to his treatment, among them approaching the character of Jasmine "a little differently," while maintaining Woolverton's vision of "a princess that Aladdin could woo." Following the elimination of Aladdin's mother from the script, Jasmine and Aladdin's relationship was expanded upon to the point of which it became a focal point of the film, ultimately allowing more screen time for the princess. Thus, Jasmine was developed into a more prominent character. Unlike Disney's previous adaptations of fairy tales, the princess is not the film's main character, and therefore the story does not revolve around her. Despite the presence of a prominent princess character, the directors decided to treat Aladdin more-so like "an Arabian adventure" as opposed to a traditional Disney fairy tale or princess film in the vein of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) or Beauty and the Beast. The decision to make Aladdin a high comedy ultimately eliminated the need to explore some of Jasmine's deeper storylines. Although several details of the original folk tale were altered for the film adaptation, Jasmine's main storyline – being pressured into marriage – remained mostly untouched. However, while Badroulbadour initially resents Aladdin, Jasmine on the other hand is almost immediately charmed by him. Screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio rewrote Jasmine into a "stronger" character who actively longs for freedom from her "regal confinement." According to Dave Smith of the Disney Archives, the "liberated" Jasmine primarily "seeks to escape her present lifestyle." The idea of a disguised Jasmine stowing away from her palace in the middle of the night was inspired by the romantic comedy film Roman Holiday (1953), in which Princess Ann, portrayed by actress Audrey Hepburn, similarly escapes the royal embassy in disguise in order to spend one day exploring Rome on her own. Voice The casting of American actor and comedian Robin Williams as the Genie inspired the studio to recruit similarly talented voice actors capable of matching his pace. The filmmakers had originally envisioned Jasmine's voice as similar to that of actress Lauren Bacall. Jasmine's speaking voice is provided by American actress Linda Larkin. The role was only one of several auditions Larkin had scheduled during the same week in which she auditioned for Aladdin, and she originally underestimated the scope of the project, joking, "I thought it was going to be something like DuckTales (sic)." Initially presented with only a few pages of the screenplay, Larkin found that she was particularly drawn to Jasmine's "spirit of activism," in addition to the ways in which character was both similar to and different from previous Disney heroines. Princesses Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora had been child.... Discover the Jackie Jasmine popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Jackie Jasmine books.