Artist imagines Aladdin in a whole new (dark and gritty) world

In his latest series, artist Warrick Wong has re-imagined Aladdin, Jasmine, and Genie in a much darker take on the classic Disney characters. 

The Sydney-based artist has made a name – and almost 70k followers – for himself on his Instagram by posting art based on popular anime, comic book, and video-game characters.

He has drawn The Incredibles, Dragon Ball Z, DC and Marvel Comics heroes, and he has now turned his artistic eye to create a whole new wooooorld.

Over the last week, Wong has posted decidedly darker conceptions of Aladdin characters. By darker, I mean that his rendition of the trio is to characters from Mad Max: Fury Road than a family-friendly cartoon.

View this post on Instagram

GENIE – “You have three wishes boy…” The Genie waited patiently for 10 000 years and was ready to exploit the naive Aladdin. He was going to get his freedom no matter the cost… – I watched Aladdin so many times when I was a kid and I always loved the badass Jafar genie at the end. So let’s give Genie the same treatment 😎✏️ . . . #aladdin #genie #disney #art #drawing #illustration #princessjasmine #jasmine #badass #conceptart #characterdesign

A post shared by Warrick Wong (@warrickwongdesign) on Oct 15, 2018 at 6:12am PDT

The sketches are accompanied by intricate alternate storylines too. In Wong’s version, Genie has waited 10,000 years to exploit Aladdin and gain freedom at all costs. He’s more like Jafar than Robin Williams, that’s for sure.

As for our favourite Agrabah street rat, he isn’t the kind, charming thief we know and love. No, after suffering poverty his entire life, he “had his hand chopped off and his eye gouged out.” Once he found the Genie and was offered three wishes, he only wanted one:

“The power to destroy Agrabah and its royal elite. No one will suffer anymore under the tyranny of the Sultan. I’ll make him suffer the way he made us suffer.”

View this post on Instagram

JASMINE – After narrowly escaping the assassination of her father The Sultan, Jasmine led a new life of vengeance as a warrior princess. “I’ll find your killer, and I’ll take their life with our family sword. We will have our vengeance…” – Having fun with this alternate universe Aladdin story 🗡🖊😎 I’ve been wanting to do Jasmine since my Mulan piece, glad to finally get around to it. I’ve got several more badass Disney Princesses in mind ✏️ Stay tuned. . . . #aladdin #genie #disney #art #drawing #illustration #princessjasmine #jasmine #badass #conceptart #characterdesign #alternateuniverse #tiger #desert

A post shared by Warrick Wong (@warrickwongdesign) on Oct 18, 2018 at 5:02am PDT

Oh, and Jasmine? She isn’t the innocent princess waiting for her prince charming. After Aladdin played out his revenge and killed her father (yep, really), Jasmine fled the capital and took on a new role as a warrior princess.

“I’ll find your killer, and I’ll take their life with our family sword,” says Wong’s badass Xena-like warrior.

Wong’s art is sharp and evocative, and I could easily imagine myself watching an animated film based on his wicked art. Who knows, the new live-action Aladdin directed by Guy Ritchie could blow us all away and take on some of Wong’s ideas.

View this post on Instagram

ALADDIN – He had suffered at the hands of the elite, called street rat his entire life and had his hand chopped off and his eye gouged out when he stole bread to feed starving children. But everything changed once he found the lamp… The Genie granted Aladdin 3 wishes but he only wanted one. The power to destroy Agrabah and its royal elite… “No one will suffer anymore under the tyranny of the Sultan. I’ll make him suffer the way he made us suffer, I swear it…” . . . #aladdin #genie #disney #art #drawing #illustration #princessjasmine #jasmine #badass #conceptart #characterdesign #alternateuniverse #tiger #desert

A post shared by Warrick Wong (@warrickwongdesign) on Oct 20, 2018 at 5:33am PDT

If you’re craving some more disturbing and outright awesome designs,  you can check out and support Warrick Wong’s art on his website.