Abu is Aladdin's pet monkey and friend, alongside Genie and Carpet.
Physical Appearance[]
He is a small and slender copper tufted/vervet monkey with a red vest, red above with a purple bottom fez.
Personality[]
He is scheming and sneaky and hates danger. However, he is also very loyal to Aladdin and is willing to risk his life to save him and his friends. He tends to be Iago's partner in crime, but is less deceitful and more honest and trustworthy than Iago is. Like Iago, Abu can get frustrated rather quickly and hates to be made a fool of, especially by someone as close as Aladdin. And he is also known as astute, big-hearted, unselfish, thoughtful, helpful, efficient, mischievous, optimistic, nice, kind-hearted, energetic, feisty, adventurous, benevolent, unswerving, tidy, humble, empathetic, mild-mannered, open-minded, naive, keen, emotional and sensitive.
History[]
Aladdin[]
In the first film, Abu is seen accompanying Aladdin during his daily adventures as they try to steal food to live. When Abu and Aladdin finally are about to eat, they see two children looking for food among garbage, and Abu is forced to share his stolen food with them when Aladdin voluntarily does so. After Aladdin gets arrested by Razoul on Jafar's orders, Abu enters the dungeon but is unable to free his friend. It is a disguised Jafar who frees them in a plan to use Aladdin to get access to the Cave of Wonders and retrieve the Genie's lamp. Inside the cave, Abu disobeys the command of the guardian of the cave and tries to steal a ruby, which causes a cave-in and almost costs his and Aladdin's lives. When they are about to exit the cave, Aladdin gives Jafar the lamp and, in turn, Jafar is about to kill Aladdin but Abu attacks him back and takes the lamp back. After meeting the Genie, Aladdin wishes to become a prince and Abu is transformed into an elephant as part of the disguise. Abu is transformed back to his original form by Jafar during the climax of the film, when he is about to attack the sorcerer. Abu and Aladdin are later sent by Jafar to a far-off place but return to Agrabah using the Magic Carpet. Once in Agrabah, Abu is transformed into a toy monkey by Jafar when he tries to take the lamp back. Abu returns once again to his original form at the end of the film when Jafar is defeated.
The Return of Jafar[]
Abu is first seen taking treasures from Abis Mal and his men, and distributing them among the poor people of Agrabah, against Abu's will. He is initially skeptical of Iago's reform, but eventually warms up to him. Abu is one of the first to know about Jafar's return, and is imprisoned along with the Genie. Abu and the others are freed by the Genie who was in turned freed by Iago. Abu participates in the final battle against Jafar.
Aladdin (TV series)[]
Abu plays a supporting role in the TV series, often accompanying Aladdin in his adventures. In one episode, he is worshiped by a lost civilization as their great protector. During his time working with a group of circus performers, during the episodes Seems Like Old Crimes Parts one and two, he met his friend Aladdin.
Aladdin and the King of Thieves[]
Abu goes with Aladdin to find his father and later to the Vanishing Isle.
Gallery[]
Aladdin[]
Aladdin: The Return Of Jafar[]
Aladdin TV Series[]
Aladdin And The King Of Thieves[]
Concept Art[]
.jpg "Abu concept art (1).jpg (37 KB)")
.jpg "Abu concept art (2).jpg (35 KB)")
.jpg "Abu concept art (3).jpg (19 KB)")
Trivia[]
- The book "Jasmine's New Rules" contradicts two earlier origin stories of how Jasmine and Rajah met.
- The book "A Pet for a Princess" reveals that Rajah was actually said to have been born at a traveling circus, and was bought by Sultan.
- Another book about the origins of Rajah, "Monkey Business" contradicts this by revealing that Abu set a tiger cub, later known as Rajah, free from a traveling circus cage.
- In order to fix the continuity, one could say that when Jasmine was nine years old, before Aladdin meets Abu as seen in "Seems Like Old Crimes", Abu had an altercation with a circus leader that resulted in him freeing Rajah, who would have been a cub at the time, out his cage. Rajah then would have escaped to the palace where Jasmine meets him. The Sultan after speaking with the circus leader would then have bought Rajah from him as a gift for Jasmine.
- This would also indicate that Abu is older than Rajah, as he appeared to be fully grown in "Monkey Business".
- Abu's origins in A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale differs from the basic premise featured in previous books and the television series; here, he was a gift to Aladdin from his mother.
- Assuming that Aladdin became a street rat the same year he first met Razoul, when he was seven, Abu, if a gift from his mother, would be at least eleven years old in the first film as Aladdin in the movie is eighteen.
- "Abu" means "Father" and is an epithet for men in Arabic.
- Abu is the only significant character to be absent from the musical adaptation, primarily because it would be difficult to convincingly portray him on stage. His role is filled by Babkak, Omar, and Kassim, three street urchin friends of Aladdin. He does, however, make a cameo appearance during "Prince Ali".
- Abu is Ancient Egyptian for "elephant". In the first movie, he gets turned into an elephant. He gets turned into an elephant again in the episode "Web of Fear".
- The artists studied movements of Capuchin monkeys at the Los Angeles Zoo to help design Abu.
- Abu's elephant form lacks tusks; in real life, only female Indian elephants lack tusks.
- When a screening of Aladdin was shown to the director, Steven Spielberg, Spielberg said he enjoyed Abu's character, as he felt the character helped balance the tone of the movie whenever it got too dark or serious.
- When Abu is transformed into an elephant, he retains his monkey tail while his head contains a patch of his monkey fur.
- In the live-action film, Abu is a tufted capuchin monkey. However, tufted capuchin monkeys are native to South America.
- Abu could have ended up in Agrabah a similar way to how Rajah, a Bengal tiger, arrived in Agrabah via a circus, as seen in the books "Disney's Aladdin: Monkey Business" and "Jasmine's New Rules".