Shadow of a Doubt

(Setting: the palace, at noon.)

Sultan: (nervous) Yes, well, indeed. Make yourself at home, Sultana. (walks towards his toy room)

Sultana: What's in there?

Sultan: Here? Oh, just my private... study.

(The Sultana opens the door to the toy room. We can see that she is a tall, overweight woman and looks quite a bit like the Queen of Hearts from Disney's "Alice in Wonderland".)

Sultana: Toys! (runs inside)

Sultan: Yes, well, I thought we were in the west wing. A thousand and one rooms, you know!

(Aladdin and Jasmine follow them into the room.)

Aladdin: I think the Sultana is made for your father, Jasmine.

Jasmine: Uh, hold that thought.

Sultana: (playing with all the toys) I just adore toys! Playing with little things is such fun!

(Sultan runs after her, setting all the toys back as they were.)

Sultan: Pity that you must return to your kingdom so soon, isn't it?

Sultana: I could squeeze in a few more.

Sultan: Days?

Sultana: Weeks!

Sultan: Oh, how... delightful.

(Rajah enters the room and starts growling at the sultana.)

Jasmine: Rajah! That's no way to greet a guest.

Sultana: Oh, you can let him go. I'm a real cat person at heart.

(Rajah slinks away, still growling.)

Aladdin: Rajah!

Sultana: (looking at a model of Agrabah) Dear Sultan, you must be so proud! Agrabah is a beacon of peace and prosperity.

Sultan: Oh oh oh! Very delicate! Oh my.

Sultana: (picking up model buildings) An inspiration to the entire Seven Deserts. What with its wise and benevolent sultan. Happy and contented citizens.

Sultan: Careful, careful, please!

Sultana: (holding the model palace) A model of perfect, placid harmony. Which is why it must be destroyed!

Jasmine: What?!

(The sultana throws the palace down, smashing the entire model city.) 

Sultan: No!

Sultana: (laughing) Fools!

Genie: (dragging Rajah into the room) Hey, guys! Something spooked the kitty! (looks up at the sultana) Yipes!

(The sultana transforms into Mirage.)

Aladdin: Mirage!

Genie: I was afraid of that! (disappears)

Aladdin: When will you learn? Your stupid tricks can't beat me.

Mirage: Until now. Poor Aladdin. While you were busy giving the sultana the royal treatment, I had already cast Agrabah's fate in stone.

(Mirage points out the window. There is a small black pyramid just outside the city walls.)

Sultan: Good heavens!

Mirage: A dark destiny will overcome your fair palace. The soul of the city will be ripped apart! (rips up a kite hanging from the ceiling, laughs, then disappears)

Genie: (coming out from hiding from behind a toy) Whew! Evil incarnate has left the building!

Aladdin: What could it do? It's just a pyramid.

(The pyramid starts to rise out of the ground, and we can see that it is actually just the top of an obelisk.)

Genie: Correction! It's just an obelisk. I'll get a closer look.

(Genie looks at the obelisk through binoculars.)

Genie: Oh, it's almost like I can reach out and touch it! Woo, these are powerful.

(Genie lowers the binoculars, and we can see that he has actually teleported himself right next to the obelisk and is touching it.)

Genie: Well, it's a nice monument, but I don't see what the big, hairy danger is.

(Genie drops the binoculars and walks away. The as the sun moves, the obelisk's shadow grows, and when it reaches the binoculars, the part of them that's in the shadow disappears.)

Genie: That'll do it.

(Genie reappears at the palace.)

Aladdin: Well, it's a nice monument, but I don't see— Genie!

Genie: Everything is going to be fine. Al, can I have a word with you?

(Genie teleports himself and Aladdin into the garden, next to a sundial.)

Genie: Al, we're doomed!

Aladdin: Genie, what?

Genie: Mirage's little civic improvement has a killer shadow!

Aladdin: A shadow?

Genie: Everything that shadow touches is wiped out of existence!

Aladdin: And it's high noon. So as the sun sets, the shadow stretches.

Genie: Yes. Like I said, doomed!

(Iago and Abu arrive and look at the sundial.)

Iago: Aha, I thought it was lunchtime!

Abu: Yeah! Yum yum!

Iago: Eh, what is this, a Tuesday? Yeah, I think the royal chef is whipping up his famous fish kabobs.

Aladdin: Guys, Agrabah is about to be wiped off the map!

Iago: Okay, so we'll take 'em to go.

(A short while later, Aladdin and his friends are standing next to the obelisk.)

Aladdin: I've defeated Mirage before, I'll do it again.

(Mirage's reflection appears on the side of the obelisk.)

Mirage: And I'd be disappointed if you didn't try. I'll even give you a sporting chance. There exists a magic mirror that can stop the shadow, but it can only be found at the top of the world.

Iago: Oh, how convenient!

Mirage: Then don't go. And as the people of Agrabah succumb to their dark fate they will curse the hero who failed: Aladdin. (disappears)

Aladdin: We've gotta go get that mirror!

Genie: Not necessarily. They haven't built the magical obelisk that I can't demolish!

(Iago, Abu, and Carpet back away.)

Iago: Eh, not that I don't have faith in him...

Genie: (as a scientist) I shall find the precise point of structural weakness.

(Genie writes mathematical formulas all over one side of the obelisk, then draws an X on it.)

Genie: Eureka. Now I shall endevor to... (changes into a karate outfit) Pulverize it with a hi-yah!

(Genie kicks the X. The obelisk is undamaged, but Genie shatters into dust.)

Aladdin and Jasmine: Oooh...

Genie: (holding his foot) Ooh ooh! Ow! Maybe you'd better look for that mirror, just in case.

Iago: Maybe?! What're you waitin' for?! That shadow is creeping straight to the palace! (to Jasmine) I place I'd like to call home someday.

Genie: Okay, I'll stay here and work on the large, immovable object. You guys go, and dress warm. (zaps Aladdin and Jasmine into shorts and tank tops) Oops, sorry. (zaps them again, and they're wearing winter clothes)

Aladdin: Thanks, Genie. Come on, Carpet.

Jasmine: Wait! Doesn't anyone think it's odd that Mirage told us about the mirror? It could be a trap.

Iago: But she probably thinks we think that. Or would she think that we think that she thinks that? Ooh, she's tricky!

Aladdin: She thinks I can't do it, but she has a surprise coming! Let's go! Top of the world, Carpet!

(Everyone but Genie flies away.)

Genie: All right, you evil edifice! (turns into a construction worker) You're a public eyesore. And it is my official duty to wipe you off the landscape!

(Genie charges at the obelisk with a bulldozer, but the obelisk is unharmed while the bulldozer is crushed.)

Genie: Kids, don't play on or around heavy machinery. Somebody always gets hurt.

(Setting: the north pole)

Jasmine: Where do we look for the mirror?

Iago: Something tells me we're close!

Aladdin: We're getting warmer, I feel it.

Abu: Warmer? (shivers)

Aladdin: Look!

(They've come to an ice cave shaped like a scary face.)

Iago: New plan: we evacuate the palace and live in exile on some resort island. There's no shame in that.

Aladdin: We're going in!

(They fly into the cave.)

Iago: Nada. No mirror. Carpet, let's move.

(Mirage's shadow is on the wall of the cave.)

Mirage: Congratulations, Aladdin. You have reached the enchanted cavern. Deep within you will find many mirrors, but only the one that reflects the truth beneath appearances will save your city.

Jasmine: What if we choose the wrong mirror?

(Mirage laughs, and her shadow disappears.)

Iago: Okay, I'm freaking.

Aladdin: This way!

(They follow Aladdin deeper into the cave.)

Jasmine: Ooh, it's...

Aladdin: ...a lot of mirrors.

(There are mirrors covering the walls of the cave. Abu is close to some of them, and there are several reflections of him.)

Iago: Whew! For a minute I thought it was a room full of monkeys!

Abu: Hey!

(Setting: Agrabah. The obelisk's shadow destroys the city gates and continues down the street. As it continues on it cuts through buildings.)

Genie: Okay, I'll try the old-fashioned approach.

(Genie turns into Paul Bunyan and chops at the obelisk with his axe, while another Genie, as his blue ox, Babe, tries to pull the obelisk down. The axe doesn't hurt the obelisk, but it does cut the rope tying the ox to the obelisk.)

Genie: Kids, don't play with sharp objects. Someone always gets hurt, don'tcha know.

(Setting: the ice cave.)

Iago: Don't let him touch anything! Remember the Cave of Wonders incident.

(Abu chatters angrilly at Iago. Meanwhile, Carpet admires himself in a mirror.)

Aladdin: You're beautiful. Come on!

Jasmine: Hmm... the truth behind appearances...

Aladdin: What does that mean?

(Abu finds a mirror that makes him look muscular.)

Abu: Ooh! Ha cha cha!

Iago: Let's just make a random selection and— (sees his reflection) Hello!

(Iago lands next to another mirror, one that shows him wearing gold and jewels.)

Iago: I like this mirror. It knows that greatness lies beneath my feathered exterior.

(Aladdin walks past a mirror that shows his reflection wearing his normal "streetrat" outfit. He picks it up.)

Aladdin: I found it!

(Iago tries to pull his mirror free, but it won't budge.)

Aladdin: Iago! No!

Iago: (pulling the mirror loose) Got it!

(The cave starts to collapse.)

Mirage: (voice) Wrong choice!

Aladdin: Everybody out!

Iago: Fine by me!

(Jasmine tries to run away, but her cape is caught by a giant fallen icicle.)

Aladdin: Jasmine!

(Another icicle is about to fall on Jasmine.)

Aladdin: Carpet!

(Aladdin sets down the mirror, and he and Carpet fly over to Jasmine and pull her loose just in time.)

(Iago tries to fly away, but Abu grabs his tail.)

Iago: Hey! Let go!

(An icicle falls right where Iago would have been if Abu hadn't stopped him. Carpet picks them up and they all fly toward the exit.)

Aladdin: Wait! The mirror!

(They fly back and pick up the mirror right before it's smashed. They make it out of the cave just before it completely collapses.)

Jasmine: You did it. You found the magic mirror.

Aladdin: Was there ever a doubt?

Jasmine: That's what bothers me. The way everything just fell into place.

Iago: No, everything fell in that place.

(Abu points at Iago and chatters at him angrilly.)

Iago: It was not my fault! I picked a good mirror. That cave just wasn't built to code, that's all.

Jasmine: I just don't trust Mirage.

Aladdin: She is evil incarnate. Of course she can't be trusted. But she can be beat.

(Setting: later at the palace, in the throne room. Aladdin and his friends fly into the room on Carpet.)

Sultan: Aladdin! Good news, I trust?

Aladdin: Eh, Mirage never had a chance.

Genie: Oh, yes! The home team has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat!

Aladdin: Genie? I thought you were working on the obelisk.

Genie: Oh, pshaw. I knew I could kick back when you got that magic mirror.

Jasmine: How did you know we found the mirror?

Iago: It's not like you were there to help when we nearly got iced!

Abu: Yeah!

Genie: (laughing nervously) Well, I am a genie. I know these things. (as a chef) I know why the French eat snails, (as a triangle) I know the hypotenuse of the Bermuda triangle, (back to normal) and most of all, I know that you had better stop that shadow!

Aladdin: No problem. I'll be back in time for a late lunch.

(Aladdin gets on Carpet and flies out of the palace.)

(The obelisk's shadow has now reached the Marketplace.)

Woman: (running away) The shadow!

(A melon vendor tries to run away from the shadow, but runs into a dead end. He manages to get away just before the shadow destroys his cart of melons.)

(laddin and Carpet fly up and land on the palace roof. Aladdin points the mirror at the obelisk, and there's a flash of light.)

Aladdin: Hey, I think it worked.

(The shadow moves backwards, restoring everything that it caused to vanish. Then the obelisk disappears.)

Merchant: Aladdin has saved Agrabah!

(Aladdin flies over the city, and the people cheer at him.)

(Back in the throne room)

Sultan: Aladdin has triumphed! Come, Princess! (walks away) 

Jasmine: "Princess"? Father, you never call me—

Sultan: Here he is, dearest!

(Aladdin and Carpet fly into the room.)

Aladdin: Piece of cake!

Sultan: Bravo, my boy! You have earned a richly deserved rest.

Genie: (wearing a Hawaiian shirt) Dudes, it's time to par-tay all night!

Abu: Party! Party! Party!

Iago: That's right! Whenever a city escapes annihilation you can always find frolicking and free fish kabobs. Driver! Let's hit the town!

(Carpet flies up to them, Iago and Abu jump on, and they fly out of the palace.)

(Setting: the Marketplace. It is completely empty.)

Iago: Hit the brakes!

(Carpet stops.)

Iago: Oh, something is wrong here. Where's the party?

(Carpet lands next to an orange stand.)

Iago: Monkey! Steal a piece of fruit!

(Abu jumps down onto the fruit stand. Carpet waves for them to stop.)

Iago: Relax, or I'll get ''[unintelligible]. ''Listen! No one's yelling, "stop, thief" or "put down the melon, you little fleaball!" Woo, somethin's weird.

(Abu puts an orange in his mouth, then spits it out. Iago picks up another orange and it disappears.)

Iago: I've got that freaking feeling again! Where are all the people?! No people, fake fruit, I tell you, this is not normal. We gotta tell Al!

(Iago looks up and sees Mirage, who has captured Abu and Carpet.)

Mirage: I don't think so.

(Setting: the throne room. Genie is sculpting a statue of Aladdin.)

Genie: This one's for you, Al. It is called, "Hero Who Has Saved City From Many Deadly Dooms, But None So Nasty As Most Recent."

Jasmine: Hm, it's lovely, Genie. But I prefer the real thing. (takes Aladdin's arm)

Iago: Me too!

(Iago, Abu, and Carpet are standing in the doorway.)

Iago: Hi, Al, buddy!

Abu: Hi, Al!

(Carpet waves to Aladdin.)

Aladdin: Uh, you guys okay?

Iago: Okay? We're fantabulous! After you, Abu.

Abu: Nuh uh uh! After you!

Iago: I insist! You first!

(Aladdn and Jasmine are watching this with their jaws hanging open.) 

Iago: My friend, let us enter together, as brothers, as equals.

(Abu and Iago walk into the room with their arms around each other.)

Jasmine: Aladdin, don't you think they're acting a little... strange.

Aladdin: A little?

Genie: Hey, get with it! Those two kids have caught that good time lovin' feeling!

Sultan: (entering the room) My dear boy! The whole city is cheering for you! Once again you have defeated that nefarious creature Mirage!

Aladdin: Was there ever a doubt? And, uh, that still bothers you, huh, Jasmine?

Jasmine: Aladdin, it's not that I doubt you. Something feels... wrong.

Sultan: Indeed. It's wrong that our young hero is not celebrating victory!

(Sultan pulls Aladdin out of the room.)

Jasmine: I'll join you later.

(Setting: Jasmine's room. Jasmine is looking into her mirror.)

Jasmine: I should be happy like everybody else.

(Jasmine's reflection changes to Genie.)

Genie: So ditch the introspection and party up! Woo! (jumps out of the mirror and starts dancing)

Jasmine: Genie, I have this strange feeling that this is not the palace where I grew up.

(Genie changes into Mirage.)

Mirage: It's more than a feeling. It's a fact.

(Suddenly, Mirage and Jasmine are in Morbia, inside Mirage's sphinx-shaped home.)

Mirage: Welcome to my home, Princess Jasmine. Your little friends missed you so.

Jasmine: What?!

(Iago, Abu, and Carpet run up to Jasmine.)

Iago: The princess! You're here to rescue us, right?

Mirage: Wrong. Like yourselves, the princess came too close to spoiling my fun with Aladdin.

Iago: But the kid beat your stupid shadow! We all saw it with our own eyes!

Jasmine: You have to see the truth beneath the appearances.

Iago: One mistake and you people hold it against me forever.

Jasmine: No, I mean that wasn't really Agrabah. It was all a mirage!

Mirage: Exactly. And what a mirage! The counterfeit Agrabah was easy, but to make convincing copies of you, that took a little research by (turns into the sultana) the sultana.

Iago: So it was all phony. The palace, the fish kabobs, everything!

Jasmine: Except Aladdin.

Mirage: And the arrogant hero is having too much fun as a winner to realize that he is about to be the loser.

(Mirage uses her magic to show them Aladdin standing with copies of Jasmine and Sultan.)

(Setting: the throne room of the fake palace.)

Aladdin: Lovely princess, would you honor me with your company at my victory celebration?

Fake Jasmine: Nothing would make me happier.

Fake Genie: (as a newsie) Read all about it! Aladdin beats Mirage, saves Agrabah! Consumer confidence soars!

Fake Jasmine: Was there ever a doubt?

Aladdin: What did you say?

Fake Jasmine: You always win. There's never any doubt.

Aladdin: Maybe there should be. Jasmine, uh, does anything still bother you?

Fake Jasmine: Aladdin, everything is perfect.

Aladdin: Too perfect!

(Aladdin looks into the magic mirror and sees himself standing alone in the desert.)

Aladdin: The truth beneath appearances...

(The mirage disappears, and Aladdin really is alone in the desert holding the mirror. It is almost sunset.)

Aladdin: Mirage! (rubs Genie's lamp)

Genie: (a voice coming from the lamp) Hi, can't come to the lamp right now. Leave a message. (beep)

Aladdin: (rubbing again) Come on, Genie. I have an idea, but I need your help! I hope you hear me, Genie.

(Setting: at the obelisk, at sunset.)

Genie: I can't even dent this big, dumb, evil thing! I've failed! (looks around) I said, I've failed!

Mirage: (appearing) Of course you failed, you silly blue dolt!

(Mirage makes Jasmine, Abu, Iago, and Carpet appear.)

Iago: Now what?

Jasmine: Mirage brought us back so she can gloat.

Mirage: Can you blame me? It's sunset and Aladdin is stranded in the middle of the desert. Time is up, and the hero has fallen.

Genie: Oh, I don't know about that, Mirage.

(The obelisk turns into Genie as a totem pole.)

Genie: Psych!

Mirage: What?!

Genie: Can't you tell a mirage when you see one?

(Genie "rolls up" the fake sky, and we can see that it is still not quite sunset.)

Iago: I'm not 100% clear on this but I think this is a good thing.

Genie: So, for starters, we're not out of time yet!

Jasmine: And Aladdin?

Genie: Hit it, Al!

Aladdin: (on Carpet, holding the mirror) Thanks, Genie!

Mirage: It cannot be!

(Aladdin and Carpet fly toward the palace.)

Genie: Let's just say it's a good thing I check my messages.

Mirage: (zaps Genie) No one makes a fool of Mirage!

Genie: (coughs) Kids, don't play with evil incarnate. Somebody always gets hurt. (passes out)

(Mirage teleports to the palace steps and tries to zap Aladdin as he approaches, but he dodges.)

Mirage: You will not win this time, Aladdin!

Aladdin: This time and every time.

(Aladdin stands on the palace roof and points the mirror at the obelisk. The obelisk's shadow starts to recede.)

Mirage: (teleports to the top of the obelisk) The shadow must not be extinguished! It's the doom of Agrabah!

Genie: I don't think so.

(The shadow reaches the obelisk, which disappears in a puff of smoke, along with Mirage.)

Mirage: No!

(Setting: the palace steps.)

Genie: Pretty clever, eh? Tricking Mirage with a mirage?

Iago: Just tell us, did we win for real?

Aladdin: Yeah. This time we won for real.

(Setting: the throne room, that night.)

Sultan: Aladdin, my dear boy, you delivered Agrabah from an unthinkable fate.

Genie: And trounced evil incarnate... again.

Jasmine: Was there ever a doubt?

Aladdin: Yes, and it saved Agrabah.

(Aladdin and Jasmine kiss.)

THE END