| “ | *Pluegh!* I can't take it anymore! If I gotta choke down on one more of those moldy, disgusting crackers... Bam! Whack! And then I'd grab him around the head... Whack! whack! And then I stuff the crackers down his throat! Ha ha! | „ |
| ~ Iago |
Iago was the secondary antagonist from the 1992 Disney movie, Aladdin. He later returns and serves as the anti-hero of the sequel The Return of Jafar, the tetartagonist in Aladdin and the King of Thieves and a supporting protagonist in the animated TV series. He was Jafar's pet parrot and is now one of Aladdin's good friends.
He was voiced by Gilbert Gottfried.
Biography
Aladdin
In the first film, Iago has a supporting role as Jafar's sidekick, and also served as his spy, disguising himself as Jafar's mindless pet parrot.
Iago is first seen during his and Jafar's confidential visit to the desert, in the middle of the night, where they are met by a thief, Gazeem. After forcefully handing over a stolen piece of a golden scarab, courtesy of Iago, Jafar is able to create one full, magical scarab, which reveals the location of the Cave of Wonders. Gazeem is ordered to enter in order to steal a magic lamp (as Jafar wishes to use the Genie to take control of Agrabah), but is killed in the process, as a result of being unworthy to enter. A frustrated Iago voices his annoyance, believing their mission to retrieve the lamp will forever be an impossible task to complete. Jafar, however, remains level-headed, and assures Iago that the lamp will be in their possession once they find the "diamond in the rough".
After returning to Agrabah, Jafar and Iago visit the Sultan, needing his diamond ring to uncover the individual worthy to enter the cave. Here, Iago shows his disdain for the Sultan; specifically due to the ruler constantly shoving "moldy, disgusting crackers" down his throat. Jafar reassures Iago that they will no longer have to abide to the Sultan's reign in good time, with Iago gleefully plotting to extract revenge once that time has arrived.
After discovering a boy named Aladdin is the one worthy enough to enter the cave, he travels to the Cave of Wonders with Jafar, though the mission goes awry, resulting in both the lamp, and Aladdin, being lost. Afterwards, at the palace, Iago concocts a new plan involving a rise to power. He advises Jafar to marry Jasmine, which would result in the vizier legally becoming the sultan. Once he holds such power, Iago continues, they'll kill Jasmine and her father. Jafar agrees, but their plot is interrupted by a new coming prince—Ali. Jafar and Iago soon discover that Ali is Aladdin, and holds ownership over the lamp. Iago is sent to retrieve it, doing so by cunningly disguising his voice as Jasmine to lure Aladdin away from the lamp.
With the lamp in his possession, Jafar takes over the kingdom, bestowing Iago with his own turban, to signify his leadership, as well as his own lounge area near the throne, with a throw pillow and plenty of fruit for his pleasure. After scarfing crackers down the dethroned Sultan's throat, Iago wallows in luxury before noticing Aladdin trying to steal back the lamp. Abu, Aladdin's monkey, tackles Iago to prevent him from alarming Jafar, which leads to a tussle. As a battle ensues between Jafar and Aladdin, Iago watches sadistically, rooting for Jafar to eliminate the threat, until Jafar wishes to become an all-powerful genie. Unfortunately for Jafar, this means an eternity of slavery and imprisonment, though his greed and lust for power made him oblivious to this.
As Jafar is quickly sucked into his lamp, Iago tries to flee, only to be grabbed by the villain, and dragged into the lamp, as well. Trapped and annoyed, Iago berates Jafar on his foolish decision, just as the two villains are sent to the Cave of Wonders to endure 10,000 years of imprisonment.
The Return of Jafar
After spending some time in the sunken Cave of Wonders, Iago flies to the surface getting him and the trapped Jafar out. He is freed from Jafar's lamp and his master demands that he frees him too, but he becomes frustrated with Jafar's insults and being treated like a slave. After Iago claims (with a degree of accuracy) that he does most of the work and comes up with the schemes, Jafar retaliates by saying that without him, Iago would still be in a cage in the bazaar, squawking "Polly want a cracker!". With that remark, Iago dumps Jafar, still trapped in the lamp, into a well. He returns to Agrabah, claiming that he needs nobody's help, and that he'll be running the town within a week.
After discovering Aladdin now lives in the palace, Iago decides to use Aladdin's good nature to return to the palace, but Aladdin is not taken in by his act. But as Aladdin and Abu chase after Iago, all three bump into Abis Mal and his gang, and a brawl ensues, ending with Aladdin and Abu cornered by the thieves. In a turn of events, Iago (unintentionally) saves Aladdin from Abis Mal and his thugs, by causing them to crash into a chicken cart, destroying the eggs. The upset egg merchant calls for the guards and Razoul and his goons recognize Abis Mal and his thieves and the guards chase the thieves into the distance. In gratitude, Aladdin brings him into the palace, but locks him in a cage to give himself time to explain everything to the Sultan and Jasmine, and convince him that Iago has turned over a new feather. Abu unintentionally lets Iago escape (he intended to open the cage to scare Iago for Rajah being nearby as joke, but it backfired), resulting in Iago being chased by Rajah into the dining room, ruining an important dinner and blowing his cover. Aladdin protects Iago from the Sultan and his guards at the expense of losing the Sultan's favor, and Jasmine's trust.
Genie talks Iago into persuading Jasmine to forgive Aladdin with the song "Forget About Love," in which he uses reverse-psychology to tell Jasmine that she's absolutely right about wanting to be alone, and that love is over-rated, while reminding her of how wonderful love really feels, and she realizes how much she still loves Aladdin despite their argument.
Soon enough, Iago is enjoying the Royal Treatment, planning his future, believing that Aladdin will become the Grand Vizier, and that when he becomes Sultan, Iago will become the Grand Vizier. He is however horrified when suddenly, the lights go out and Jafar (set free by Abis Mal) appears out of the darkness! Jafar subtly threatens Iago, who is intelligent enough to know he will suffer if he disobeys again, into luring Aladdin and the Sultan into a trap. Iago talks with Aladdin and Jasmine, and finds it surprisingly easy to persuade Aladdin into taking the Sultan on a carpet ride without Genie. Jasmine apologies to Iago for doubting him. Then Iago has a sudden flash of conscience to warn Aladdin and Jasmine of what danger they are in, but Jafar's evilly omniscient eyes suddenly appear on the curtain above Al and Jas, and fearful for his safety, Iago refrains from warning them. As soon as Aladdin and Jasmine leave, Jafar appears from nowhere and sadistacally praises the ashamed parrot for following through on his evil plan.
Iago's guilt over how he has treated the trusting Aladdin increases visibly to a degree where he appears sickened by his own actions, especially during the Sultan's kidnap. He frees the captured Genie to save Aladdin from being beheaded when he's framed for murdering the Sultan through Jafar's schemes, in the process also freeing Jasmine, the Sultan, Carpet and Abu. Now that his debts are repaid, Iago leaves them to fight Jafar alone, somewhat surprised that they do not hold him to any further obligations. But in the struggle against Jafar, when all hope seems lost, Iago returns unexpectedly. He grabs the lamp and attempts to hand it to Aladdin, but is hit by an energy bolt by Jafar and horribly injured. Aladdin and the others believe that all is truly lost, but with his last ounce of strength Iago kicks Jafar's lamp into the boiling lava, destroying Jafar. Aladdin saves the helpless Iago from falling into the lava himself, but his injuries are so severe that for a moment everybody believes him dead. However this is not so, as Genies lack the power to kill Iago coughs "You'd be surprised what you can live through." The fully redeemed parrot officially turns from bad to good and is welcomed into the Palace, although he ends up upset when Aladdin decided to turn down the position of Grand Vizier.
Video game appearances
Kingdom Hearts
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Iago in Kingdom Hearts.
As well as his role in the film, Iago has also appeared in various video games, probably being in the Kingdom Hearts series.
Kingdom Hearts
In Kingdom Hearts, Iago was Jafar's servant. He played a minor role, normally just appearing on Jafar's shoulder in cinematics, though he was the one who stole Genie's lamp from Aladdin. He later appeared holding Jafar's lamp in the boss battle, and flew around with it. The lamp was one of the ways to damage Jafar. Like the movie, Iago tried to fly away at the downfall of Jafar, but ended up in the lamp as well.
Kingdom Hearts II
In Kingdom Hearts II, Iago, like The Return of Jafar, was finally free from Jafar's lamp. When he encountered Sora and the others again, he tried to convince them that he had turned over a new leaf, although only Goofy seemed to believe him until Iago saved the group from a bunch of Heartless.
Iago wanted to prove to Aladdin that he was no longer a villain. He did so by taking Jafar's lamp from Pete, which proved his loyalty, until Jafar was released and he was forced to trick Sora, Donald, Goofy and Aladdin into going to the ruins, thereby destroying any trust he had obtained. When the group returned to Agrabah to face Jafar, Iago blocked an attack aimed at Aladdin and proved himself a friend again.
Trivia
- Iago is the only Aladdin villain to be in all three films.
- Even though Iago was originally an antagonist and isn't even the lead character in the Aladdin-franchise, Iago's the second most popular character in the Aladdin-franchise after the Genie.
Gallery
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