What Disney’s Live-Action Mulan Movie Means For Arabs

By Leena ElDeeb On Oct 7, 2016

Disney has just announced that it is looking for a Chinese actress to star as Mulan in the new live-action movie expected to premiere in November, 2018. Which brings us all to tears of joy because Mulan was literally the queen of every millennial’s childhood.

Disney’s decision to make Mulan’s 2018 movie as genuine as its storyline gives us hope that things will change in the filming/drama industry. If you’re an anime fan, you were probably taken aback in shock when you knew that the new Netflix movie, Death Note, premiering next year will be white-and-blackwashed instead of being Asian like it’s supposed to.

But if a Chinese actress is to be starring Mulan, and who knows maybe all the cast will be entirely Asian if not Chinese, does that mean that a live-action Aladdin movie will be entirely starring Arabs? Because that, if casted properly, will be brilliant!

The narrator in Aladdin says that the story happens in a fictional country called Agraba near the Jordan river. So we thought somewhere in the Levant and its close neighbors, and brainstormed some characters to help Disney out for Aladdin’s live-action film casting – yep, we decided there will be one premiering in 2019 khalass.

Aladdin

A young, humorous, dark skinned, brown-eyed and black-haired lad with a well-built figure. Here’s some people we thought of:

Mohamed ElSharnouby

Sharnooby is a rising Egyptian actor who has proved himself to do very well in horror, suspense, romantic and comedy roles. Moreover, we can hear his skin tone, facial structure, hair material and body shape all crying “Aladdin.”

Alexander Uloom

This Iraqi Calvin Klein model might be a tad bit cold for the role, also needs to put on brown-colored lenses to be more Aladdin-y. But with this facial structure and body shape, we think he’d do fine.

Hamid Fadaei

Not exactly Arab, still middle eastern though, born not too far away from Iraq and Levantine – Fadaei is Iranian, and charming. He has the body, the face, the eyes, the hair and – ya Allah – the smile! We’re pretty sure this Iranian model will not steal Jasmine’s heart alone with that dashing smile.

Moving on..

Jasmine

An innocent but headstrong young lady with sharp facial structure with dark features and a sleek hourglass shaped body. Here are the actresses we thought of:

Leem Lubany

She’s a Palestinian actress known for her role as Nadia in Omar. Her innocent features, with this headstrong glare in her eyes would match perfectly to fit in with Jasmine’s persona.

Amina Khalil

Of course, Amina has to make it to this list. She might look a little old for this role, but her outstanding acting skills and very Jasmine-y features would make her win this role very easily.

Carmen Bsaibes

Now this Lebanese beauty would make an excellent Jasmine adaptation. Dark features, long shiny and volumed hair with her eyes and eyebrows giving us this very headstrong look. Carmen would be a great Arabian princess.

Jafaar

An old, tall figure with very evil features. There was only one person we could think of:

Khaled ElNabawy

When I thought Jafaar, it didn’t take him a second to pop in my head. Whether you’re a fan or not, we can all agree that Khaled kills it when put in evil roles. Plus he proved to be an excellent actor, even in foreign movies. He might not look like Jafaar at all, but his acting persona does the match.

WE SAID THIS: Tell us which actors and actresses you think would work together to make a great Aladdin live-action movie.