The story takes place in the mystical city of Agrabah though there are some inconsistencies in the time period. The sultan (who is never given a name) of Agrabah is secretly being controlled by his grand vizier, Jafar. Jafar, who is also a sorcerer, wants to be the sultan himself and rule Agrabah; to further his goals, he has spent years searching for the Cave of Wonders, so he can harness the magical power of the genie of the lamp found within. However, Jafar discovers that only one person, a metaphorical "Diamond in the Rough", can enter the cave, or anyone accompanied by that person.

The sultan, meanwhile, is having problems with finding a prince for his daughter, Princess Jasmine, to marry. By mesmerizing him with his magical snake staff, Jafar convinces the sultan that Jafar needs the sultan's ring to find Jasmine a husband. Jafar actually needs the ring to discover the identity of the "Diamond in the Rough."

Jasmine, who does not want to be married off, decides to run away disguised as a peasant girl. In the anarchy of the streets, she is saved by a street urchin named Aladdin, though she doesn't learn his name. Meanwhile, Jafar discovers that Aladdin is the "Diamond in the Rough", and has him arrested and thrown in a dungeon. When Jasmine asks what happened to her savior, Jafar lies to her by saying he had been executed at dawn for kidnapping the princess.

Later, Jafar, disguised as an old man, shows Aladdin a hidden passage that leads to freedom and takes him to the Cave of Wonders. Jafar tells Aladdin that if he brings back the lamp, he will be rewarded. The Cave's tiger-shaped head allows Aladdin to enter, but he can only touch the lamp. Inside the Cave, Aladdin successfully finds the lamp, but his pet monkey, Abu, loses control and attempts to take a jewel, causing the cave to melt around them. Aladdin and Abu manage to escape with the aid of a flying carpet. Upon his escape, Aladdin hands Jafar the lamp, and Jafar decides to give him his "eternal reward", preparing to attack with his dagger. Abu saves Aladdin by biting Jafar's arm, and Abu and Aladdin fall back into the cave as it closes.

Aladdin, Abu, and Carpet are all trapped inside the Cave of Wonders. Jafar discovers, to his dismay, that Abu got the lamp from him before they disappeared. Aladdin discovers that the lamp is home to an eccentric, fun-loving genie, who will grant him any three wishes, excluding wishes to force a person to fall in love, to kill someone, to bring someone back from the dead, or to give his master extra wishes.

Aladdin tricks Genie into getting them out of the cave, without technically wishing for him to do so. Once out of the cave, Aladdin gets to know Genie, and asks him what he would wish for if he had the chance; Genie says he'd wish for freedom, but that can only be granted if his master is benevolent enough to free him with a wish. Aladdin promises to set Genie free with his last wish.

Aladdin, who has fallen in love with Princess Jasmine, is disappointed that he can't wish to make her fall in love with him. However, the law states that only a prince can marry a princess, so he wishes to become a prince.

Meanwhile, Jafar, who is worried that the princess might have him beheaded as punishment for supposedly having Aladdin executed, comes up with the idea to convince the sultan to let him become her husband with the help of his parrot, Iago. He later tries to mesmerize the sultan into granting this request with his staff, but is interrupted when the sultan is startled by the noise from Aladdin's approaching consort.



As "Prince Ali Ababwa", Aladdin returns, now rich and wearing white robes and a turban of a prince, to Agrabah and, although offending Jasmine by appearing as another typical rich and self-important prince, eventually wins Jasmine's affection by taking her on a romantic ride on the flying carpet. Afterwards, Jasmine tricks Aladdin into admitting he's the street urchin she met in the marketplace. Aladdin however, wants to naturally impress her, so he deceives her by telling her that he really is a prince and had just pretended be a commoner in order to escape the restrictions of palace life, much as Jasmine did.

Jafar, who is afraid that "Prince Abubu", as he incorrectly calls him, may win Princess Jasmine over, ruining his own plans to marry her, wants Aladdin out of the way. He orders the guards to shackle and gag Aladdin. He tells him that he has "worn out his welcome," and a guard hits Aladdin over the head, knocking him unconscious. Aladdin regains consciousness when the guards drop him over a cliff into the sea. They have attached a weight to his feet, so he sinks very quickly. He hits the bottom, and his turban floats down. The lamp tumbles out and he begins to struggle towards it, but passes out before he can reach it. Unconscious, he slides down towards the lamp, and rolls over, causing it to rub against his fingers. Genie appears, and saves Aladdin, using up his second wish. Aladdin and Genie return to the palace and Aladdin confronts Jafar over trying to have him killed. Jafar uses his staff to try to convince the sultan that Aladdin is lying, but Aladdin, seeing what he is doing, grabs the staff and shatters it. He then shows the sultan that Jafar has been controlling and plotting against him. The sultan calls for the guards to arrest Jafar, but he manages to escape, and, before doing so, sees the lamp in Aladdin's possession. The sultan is convinced that his troubles are over as Jasmine has finally chosen a suitor.


All seems well, but the weight of his future responsibilities begins to distress Aladdin. He begins to consider going back on his promise to free Genie so he can keep a wish in reserve, which severely offends the spirit. Chastened, Aladdin decides to tell Jasmine the whole truth of the matter. Unfortunately, Aladdin leaves the lamp in his chamber and Jafar sends his parrot Iago, to steal it. Lamp in hand, Jafar becomes Genie's next master, and wishes to become sultan. When the former sultan and Jasmine refuse to bow to him, he wishes to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world. With his new powers, Jafar forces them to bow to him.

Jafar then uses his magic to reveal that "Prince Ali" is merely the street urchin Aladdin and he banishes Aladdin to "the ends of the earth", in one of the palace towers. "The ends of the earth" appears to be Antarctica, the Arctic, or possibly the Himalayas. Luckily, Abu and the carpet were banished with him, and Aladdin is able to fly back to Agrabah, with the intent of reclaiming the lamp.

Meanwhile, Jafar has taken control of Agrabah. He has turned the sultan to a court jester, who is being teased by Iago, and hanging from the roof like a puppet. Jasmine has become Jafar`s harem slave, now wearing a red,provocative suit instead of her normal blue outfit, and forced to serve him. Jafar is angry that Jasmine does not wish to become his queen, so he makes a wish for Genie to cause her to fall in love with him. Genie tries to tell him that he cannot grant that wish, but Jafar does not listen. Jasmine, who sees Aladdin sneaking into the palace, pretends that the wish has taken effect (much to Genie's surprise) in order to distract Jafar. She even goes so far as to kiss him, causing Aladdin, Abu, the Genie and even Iago to blanche. At first it seems to be working; Jafar, however, sees Aladdin's reflection in Jasmine's crown and confronts him before he can reach the lamp.

Jafar uses magic to imprison or transfigure all the good characters other than Aladdin himself so they cannot steal the lamp back. Jafar eventually turns himself into a giant cobra and fights Aladdin. When Aladdin appears to be defeated, Jafar tells Aladdin he was a fool for thinking he could defeat "the most powerful being on earth". This sparks an idea in Aladdin, and he reminds Jafar he is not the most powerful being on earth; that such an honor belongs to Genie, since he gave Jafar his power and may take it back.

Jafar decides to use his final wish to become the most powerful genie in the world. Jafar is at first convinced that his new powers will allow him to rule the universe, but he realizes too late that Aladdin tricked him, since as a genie, Jafar is no longer free. Jafar is imprisoned in his own lamp along with Iago. Genie sends them to the Cave of Wonders.

Of course, Aladdin is now no longer a prince and is not eligible to marry Jasmine. Genie insists that Aladdin use his final wish to make himself a prince again

nevertheless, Aladdin keeps his promise and wishes for Genie's freedom. When all seems lost for Aladdin and Jasmine, the sultan decides that, between his loyalty to Genie and his courage in defeating Jafar, Aladdin has proven his worth; the sultan therefore changes the law so that "the princess shall marry anyone she deems worthy" meaning Aladdin and Jasmine can be married. Genie flies away to see the world while the happy couple begin their new life together.