Do the Rat Thing

Do the Rat Thing
Season 2, Episode 3
Air date	September 8, 1994
Written by	Doug Langdale and Jan Strnad
Directed by	Toby Shelton
Episode guide
Previous Episode 11: Bad Mood Rising	Next Episode 13: The Vapor Chase

Summary

While being bothered by a prince from a neighboring kingdom who wishes to marry her, Jasmine is further infuriated with Aladdin when he addresses her as "princess" instead of her name, and that Aladdin won't let her accompany him on the streets because she doesn't know the first thing of being a street rat. To prove him wrong, she goes on the streets with Iago. But when she steals a magic mirror, it turns her into a rat and Iago into a lizard. Now the two have to sneak into the palace to find Aladdin so they can get Genie to reverse the curse.

Plot

Prince Wazoo, a snooty, rude, stuck-up suitor for Jasmine, visits the palace. A rat falls and lands on his hands and tries to attack him. When Wazoo pulls out his dagger to kill the rat, Aladdin rescues it and sets it free. When Jasmine angrily asks Aladdin what he has in common with rats, Aladdin tells her that she wouldn't know because she doesn't know what it's like to be a street rat and because she is a princess. Angered by this, Jasmine decides to prove to Aladdin that she knows a lot about the real world.

Jasmine and Iago are at the streets of Agrabah in the thieves' quarter. When Iago tells Jasmine that she doesn't know what stealing is, the princess takes a mirror to show the parrot how easy it is to steal. A blind man suddenly appears and tells Jasmine a warning that "those who do wrong may find themselves punished by mysterious forces." A few minutes later, Jasmine looks at herself in the mirror and says that she is a street rat, while Iago sarcastically remarks "If you're a street rat, then I'm a frilled lizard". Suddenly, the mirror glows blue and turns Jasmine into a rat and Iago into a lizard. The two get to the mirror to wish themselves back to normal, but, unfortunately, the mirror is broken.

At the palace garden, the Sultan makes Aladdin take Wazoo to see the marketplace. Jasmine and Iago see Aladdin with Genie, Abu, and Wazoo. Jasmine believes that Aladdin will still recognize her in her rat form and suggests that they go to him so he can get Genie out of his lamp to change them back to normal. When she gets to Aladdin, she tries to tell him what happened, but all he hears are squeaks. Wazoo tells Aladdin to get rid of the rat, so Aladdin flings her onto a nearby vendor stand. Jasmine then suggests that she and Iago get to the palace to get to Genie themselves.

At the palace garden, everyone is about to have a banquet. Aladdin and the Sultan are wondering where Jasmine is and the Sultan suggests that if she doesn't show up, they'll just start the banquet without her. Aladdin says that she'll show up when she's hungry. Jasmine and Iago are on their way back to the palace, but run into some obstacles, such as Farouk and a customer. They then see a hungry family and Jasmine gives them a watermelon. They see a merchant's cart filled with watermelons. Jasmine and Iago use this cart to get back to the palace.

It's nighttime and the palace is having a banquet. Jasmine and Iago show up to try to grab the lamp. Rajah is about to attack Jasmine, since he hates rats, but then he recognizes her smell. He takes Jasmine to Genie and the jinn turns her and Iago back to normal.

Aladdin asks the princess what happened to her, but she's still angry at him, leaving Aladdin confused and takes her father inside the palace to tell him what happened. Aladdin and Wazoo see that Jasmine still has a rat tail and Wazoo realizes that Jasmine belongs to Aladdin since he's a street rat.

Character Debut

• Prince Wazoo
• Sa'Luk (Rat)

Trivia

• The episode's title is an obvious reference to the Spike Lee movie Do the Right Thing.
  • This episode's title could also be a reference to "Do the Right Thing", a song by American hip hop and new jack swing group Redhead Kingpin and the F.B.I. from their debut album, A Shade of Red (1989). The track was written for but not used in the Spike Lee film of the same name, but two years later, the song was featured on the soundtrack of Wes Craven's horror film The People Under the Stairs, playing over the end credits.
• The episode's title is also a parody of the phrase "Do the right thing."
• Jasmine's rat tail is never seen or mentioned again, and it's presumed Genie quickly zapped it away once he noticed it before their next adventure.
• Jasmine is incredibly arrogant throughout this entire episode and is still angry at Aladdin even at the end. However, she comes to understand that the plight of the poor in Agrabah is worse than she'd thought.
• According to the script, the name of the rat who appears throughout the episode is Sa'Luk, the same as one of the Forty Thieves in "Aladdin and the King of Thieves".
• Jasmine claims she knows enough about life outside the palace, ignoring the fact that she didn't know she had to pay for food in the first film.
• When Rajah chews off Prince Wazoo's pants, it's a reference to his off-screen actions to Prince Achmed in the first film.