his article is about the Disney character. For the professional wrestler with this ring name, see Cynthia Peretti.
Princess Jasmine[1][2] is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 31st animated feature film Aladdin (1992). Voiced by American actress Linda Larkin – with a singing voice provided by Filipina singer Lea Salonga – Jasmine is the spirited Princess of Agrabah, who has grown weary of her life of palace confinement. Despite an age-old law stipulating that the princess must marry a prince in time for her upcoming birthday, Jasmine is instead determined to marry someone she loves for who he is as opposed to what he owns. Created by directors Ron Clements and John Musker with screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, Jasmine is based on Badroulbadour, a princess who appears in the One Thousand and One Nights folktale "Aladdin and the Magical Lamp".
Originally conceived as a spoiled, materialistic princess, the writers eventually re-wrote Jasmine into a stronger and more prominent heroine following the elimination of Aladdin's mother from the script, while borrowing story elements from the romantic comedy Roman Holiday (1953). Several months after securing the role, Larkin was nearly fired from the project because Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg felt that her voice was not suitable for a princess, but Clements and Musker managed to convince him otherwise. Discovered by casting director Albert Tavares, Lea Salonga was cast as Jasmine's singing voice based on her performance in the musical Miss Saigon; this unprecedented casting decision made Jasmine the first Disney Princess to have her speaking and singing voices provided by two different actresses. Animated by Mark Henn, Jasmine's design is an eclectic combination of unique sources, including an anonymous theme park guest, Henn's own sister, and actress Jennifer Connelly.
Unlike most of Disney's princesses, Jasmine is a supporting character in her own film, taking the secondary role of the love interest. The character has garnered mixed-to-positive reviews, with much of her character arc compared unfavorably to her predecessors Ariel and Belle from The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991) but has been praised for her personality and her chemistry with Aladdin. As the sixth Disney Princess and the franchise's first non-European member, the character is credited with introducing racial diversity to Disney's princess genre. Jasmine has made subsequent appearances in Aladdin's sequels The Return of Jafar (1994) and Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996), as well as its television series and a Broadway musical adaption of the film. Both Larkin and Salonga have been awarded Disney Legends for their contributions to the role. Naomi Scott played a live-action version of the character in the 2019 live-action adaptation of the original 1992 film.
