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!

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I loved that too, I came here to check if someone had mentioned it. I wonder if it was scripted or ad-libbed.
I could imagine it being some O'Connor wit popping up on set.



Don't throw Repressed-Memory Emily!

- She won't remember this.

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And just for the record, O'Connor appeared in six "Francis" films opposite the talking mule. They were released by Universal between 1950 and 1955. Character actor Chill Wills was the voice of Francis in these films.

There was a seventh movie featuring the mule with Mickey Rooney (1956).

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