inside joke?
I found an old VHS tape of this movie online. Remembered seeing it with my two sisters at our local theater when it was first released. (No rating system in those days; we were quite surprised at the racy parts--never did tell our mom about that! We were only about 11 or 12.)
So, I just started watching it, and there was a fleeting, funny moment when Aladdin and Omar, his slave, joined the caravan going to the wedding. Aladdin walked by some camels, then by a mule, who brayed quietly just as Aladdin passed. He stopped, asked the mule "What?" The mule, of course, said nothing; and Aladdin walked on, and tapped the side of his head, shaking it as if to say "No, it couldn't be!" Made me laugh out loud when I realized it HAD to be a sly reference to Donald O'Connor's 1950 movie "Francis, the Talking Mule"! No other explanation for that little scene makes sense. I hadn't remembered it from the theater showing; it was so quick and understated. Very clever!