Big-Time Questions That Disney Movies Never Really Answer

Disney movies are designed to be rewatched over and over again. When you really dig into them, though, you might notice that they often end with a few dangling and intriguing questions that are never fully answered, from nonsensical world-building to some very uncomfortable romantic implications.

Even if you've never seen Disney's Aladdin, you probably know how the whole Genie thing works. Once the title character's big blue buddy is released from the lamp, he tells Aladdin that he will grant any three wishes, with only a simple trio of limitations.

His final rule is that he can't resurrect the dead, but then goes on to say that it's not impossible, it's just that he doesn't like to do it. Not only does that imply that he's done it before, doesn't it mean that Genie could break the rules if he wanted, and he just chooses not to?

There's some evidence later in the film that the Genie has a lot more wiggle room than he is letting on. Aladdin's first wish is to be a prince, but the Genie never really grants this wish at all. Aladdin doesn't get a kingdom to rule or in his case, a principality. His "Prince Ali" shtick is merely a ruse,

and when that ruse is discovered, it turns out that royal credentials weren't really necessary for a marriage to Jasmine. When Jafar wishes to be Sultan, he actually gets to rule Agrabah, but all Aladdin gets is a parade.

At one point, the Genie tells Aladdin that he can't save Aladdin's life unless Aladdin uses a wish, but at another point, Al tricks the genie into granting a wish for free, because he never technically uses the words "I wish." That means the Genie can use his phenomenal cosmic powers even outside of actual wish-granting. We never learn for certain how much flexibility the Genie has in wish granting, but those three rules certainly aren't the whole story.

101 Dalmatians is a certified canine classic, but there's a seemingly vital question at the heart of the film that it never really bothers to answer. Why is Cruella de Vil hanging around with Roger and Anita to begin with? If you have a vague recollection that maybe Cruella was Anita's boss or something, you're wrong. That's how it works in the 1996 live-action remake, where Anita is a fashion designer working for Cruella, but in the original 1961 film, she's just an old friend from Anita's school days. Keep watching the video to see more big-time questions that Disney movies never really answer!

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Aladdin: Freedom of choice? | 0:16
101 Dalmatians: Bad BFF | 1:40
Toy Story: Strange behavior | 2:47
Snow White: Diamond exchange | 4:04
Monsters, Inc: Missing Boo | 5:12
The Lion King: Kissin' cousins | 6:18
The Incredibles: No warning | 7:13
Beauty and the Beast: EVERYTHING | 8:30