Since December, Disney fans have been abuzz with questions about the reimagining of one of the most popular movies from the '90s: Aladdin.
Questions have ranged from the genie's recasting, to where the movie would be filmed.
But one of the most recurring questions has been centered around Aladdin and Jasmine's shift in apparel.
The decisions behind the apparel choices for both characters are actually fairly straight-forward, however.
To those of us who have seen the 1992 animated classic, Aladdin wears a purple waistcoat and cream-colored pants, tied with a crimson cummerbund, and his maroon fez hat.
To suddenly see Aladdin in a maroon cap, red patterned waistcoat, and a long-sleeved, white-striped shirt, over distressed linen trousers, and a pair of moccasin-style boots, many viewers were surprised and had questions about dealing with the dry climate.
However, according to Michael Wilkinson, the team's costume designer:
"For the same reason why we thought it wasn't appropriate for Princess Jasmine to be flashing her belly button for half of the film, we also felt that once you make that leap from cartoon into live-action, you really have to make some adjustments."
"We thought having so much skin showing on Aladdin for the whole film would be quite distracting on a human actor as opposed to a cartoon character."
There's been a similar response around Jasmine's costume design. Jasmine's turquoise crop-top and harem pants is an iconic outfit, and it received a significant update for the reboot.
Her new outfit includes a flesh-colored bodice to cover her midriff, and her harem pants now have peacock feathers. Early-released photos also show a range of dresses that are better suited to the palace and market spaces.
Wilkinson explained:
"We wanted to, of course, refer to the iconic image from the animated film but within the context of the world we were creating around Jasmine, [such as] the way the courtiers dress and the way the people from the market town dress."
"It really felt more appropriate to do something that referred to the crop top that we see in the animation but we extended the [top's] line down, we had almost a flesh-colored fabric through the waist, but because it was more of a formal outfit for the palace court, it's quite restrictive."
For both characters, these shifts seem to make sense and are more socially conscious.
All of this thought and work aside, however, it seems Disney fans share mixed feelings via Twitter.
With its release yesterday, on May 24, hopefully more fans will see the movie and see what the director and designers were really talking about.
