- “Why you hairy little thief...”
- ―Aladdin to Abu
Abu a supporting character in Aladdin. A mischievous thief with a love for all things valuable, Abu serves as the film's titular character's best friend, confidante, and loyal partner-in-crime. He is voiced by Frank Welker.
Personality
Abu is a monkey that is obsessed with shiny items, due to his occupation as a thief and is a kleptomaniac. Abu is usually very kind, but can also be quite selfish. In Disney's 1992 film Aladdin, Aladdin and Abu saw some hungry kids in the alley. Aladdin gave his share of the bread to the kids, and implored Abu to do the same. Abu at first considered himself down on his luck and hungry enough to be entitled to the bread, but soon found warmness in his heart and realized that the children were even worse off than Aladdin and himself. He is scheming and sneaky and hates danger. However, he is also very loyal to Aladdin and is willing to risk his life to save him and his friends. He tends to be Iago's partner in crime, but is less deceitful and more honest and trustworthy than Iago is. Like Iago, Abu can get frustrated rather quickly and hates to be made a fool of, especially by someone as close as Aladdin.
Appearances
Aladdin
Abu acts as pet, sidekick, and best friend to Aladdin. Rather than being a genuine 'character', he is used as somebody for Aladdin to voice current thoughts, or sometimes to help him out of trouble - or sometimes to get him into trouble.
He makes his initial entrance while helping Aladdin escape from the Palace Guards after stealing bread. Unfortunately, he is attracted to a stall selling jewelery and has to be dragged away. Later in the bazaar, he helps Aladdin to steal a melon for breakfast, and when Aladdin meets Jasmine, he is almost caught picking a pocket. He also steals some apples. He doesn't really appreciate Aladdin's attraction to Jasmine, thinking it will spoil their friendship.
When Aladdin is imprisoned in the palace dungeons, Abu, who had not been captured, arrives and picks the locks of Aladdin's chains.
In the Cave of Wonders, Abu wakes up the Carpet. He is attracted to the many fantastic jewels and finally grabs a huge ruby out of a monkey idol's paws, initiating the destruction of the cave. When Jafar is about to stab Aladdin, he bites him on the arm, stealing the magic lamp in the process, but is thrown into the cave with Aladdin.
When Aladdin awakens the Genie, Abu is seen to be a tool for a mode of transportation, and goes through many changes before Genie decides on turning him into an Indian elephant (with a remarkably long monkey's tail). Abu is changed back into a monkey by Jafar, who then imprisons him, Aladdin and the Carpet into a tower and sends them to the ends of the earth.
After Aladdin, Abu and the Carpet returns to Agrabah to stop Jafar, Abu helps out by pinning and knocking out Iago, keeping him from alerting Jafar to Aladdin's return. Abu is transformed into a cymbal-banging monkey toy by Jafar when he tries to steal the lamp, but is restored once Jafar is imprisoned in his lamp after becoming a genie.
The Return of Jafar
Abu in The Return of Jafar.
Abu and Aladdin enter a secret lair where they battle Abis Mal and his gang and rescue a collection of jewels and a jeweled flower that they had attempted to steal. On the way back to Agrabah, they give the riches to poor folk in Agrabah and the jeweled flower to Jasmine, something Abu isn't too happy about but eases up when he realizes Aladdin and Jasmine's strong relationship. Abu and Aladdin go out the palace on a stroll and find Iago. Like Aladdin, Abu is very suspicious about the parrot and regrets taking him in even after he saves their lives from Abis Mal and his gang.
Later on after Genie returns from his world tour, Abu is given the job to guard Iago while Aladdin tries to explain his presence to Jasmine and Sultan. While watching him, Iago pleads for freedom making rude monkey impersonations and to scare Iago, Abu opens the cage while Rajah is near. While it was only to intimidate Iago, the plan goes wrong and Iago is exposed to the royals. Aladdin is ordered to watch Iago by the Sultan. That night, Aladdin and Jasmine settle their differences on Iago. The next morning Aladdin and the Sultan go for a ride on Carpet while Genie and Abu enjoy a picnic.
During the picnic, Abu spots a spider which soon leads to dozens of spiders. The spiders come together and form the revenge-seeking Jafar. Abu and Genie are tormented until finally being placed in captivity. The group is rescued by Iago and they set off to battle Jafar. At this time Iago is nearly killed and after defeating Jafar is thought to be dead. He proves himself alive and Abu finally almost completely accepts him.
Aladdin: The Series
Abu with his pick
Abu makes regular appearances in this television series, often paired with Iago. Although he is still a casual thief, he has shown definite signs of a conscience, being particularly heartbroken on one occasion when he thought Aladdin wanted him to leave forever, Aladdin subsequently traveling directly into the headquarters of the Forty Thieves to rescue Abu. Through nearly all adventures, Abu is constantly paired up with Iago. Together, they often leave the mission to search and/or steal treasure from a nearby area. They are sometimes the cause of trouble. An example of this is in the episode "Smolder and Wiser" where Aladdin attempts to take a powerful weapon from Abis Mal only to be discovered after Abu and Iago tried to steal a bag of gold, causing said gold to fall out, thus causing noise. In some cases, Abu is kidnapped by enemies and used as bait for Aladdin. An important part of Abu's role is the fact that he has a pick that unlocks any lock which is handy when Aladdin the group are being held captive in an area.
Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Abu in Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Abu is excited to finally see the day his best friend and Jasmine wed. Underneath all the joy, Aladdin is anxious and nervous being that he never had a father figure and Abu feels for his friend. When they discover his father is alive, Abu joins Aladdin, Carpet and Iago to see him. As soon as they arrive, Abu is captured and held hostage. In order to be freed, Aladdin must defeat one of the many thieves. He does successfully and meets his father Cassim.
Later on after the thieves betray Cassim, Abu joins the group in the rescue and after attends the wedding. He stays back at the palace with Genie, Carpet and the Sultan while Iago goes off adventuring with Cassim and Aladdin and Jasmine enjoy their honeymoon.
Hercules: The Animated Series
Abu appeared in "Hercules and the Arabian Night" alongside Aladdin, Jasmine, Carpet, and Genie. Abu is captured along with Icarus in order to lure Aladdin and Hercules into fighting each other, but they manage to escape.
House of Mouse
Abu makes several appearances in the series House of Mouse. Abu is usually seen with Iago, Genie or Jafar. Abu's most notable role in the series in which in the episode "Gone Goofy" where Iago tells him to taste The Queen's Poisoned Apple.
Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams
Abu in Disney Princess Tales: Follow Your Dreams
In Abu's most recent appearance, He, Iago and Carpet stayed at Agrabah with Jasmine while Aladdin and Genie went away for a few days. Abu and Iago tend to hang out at the horses' stable. One morning the Sultan's prized horse Sahara mysteriously escaped the stable. It was unknown how and the possible outcome could be that the horsekeeper loses his job. Jasmine tries to learn what happened before he does and during the investigation, she finds a fig.
Figs are Abu's favorite snack and she and Iago begin to question him. Abu hesitates at first but soon reveals what happens. He ate one of the figs and became sick from it. He began to feel dizzy and fell from the horse gate. His tail was holding onto the lock and as he fell, he unleashed the lock letting Sehara out. Abu, Iago and Jasmine search the desert and finally finds an oasis. At the oasis is the horse and Jasmine's only way of getting it back is by riding back. Iago reminds her all the people who ever tried to ride him were killed by the horse itself and the only person to successfully ride it was Jasmine's mother.
The thoughts of losing Jasmine worries Abu but she calms him down. Eventually she rides the horse and all is well again.
Video Game Appearances
Aladdin
In the Sega Genesis adaptation of Aladdin by Virgin Interactive, Abu has a mini-game which involves catching apples; this is reached by finding the Abu token which appears in three levels of the game. He is also referenced in that in the Cave of Wonders level, Aladdin must touch Monkey Idols identical to the one Abu touched to continue to the next level.
In the Super NES version by Capcom, Abu follows Aladdin throughout the early levels of the game. Notably, the game includes a pyramid level which Abu wanders into, so Aladdin has to find him in there. He finds Abu in the treasure room at the end of the level.
Kingdom Hearts series
Along with many other characters from the film, Abu appears in a few installments of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. In the original game, Abu makes a minor appearance in Agrabah by Aladdin's side. He does, however, assist Sora and the others when they journey into the Cave of Wonders.
Abu's role is expanded in Kingdom Hearts II, where Jafar's lamp is uncovered by a cheap peddler. Abu steals it from him to prevent Jafar's freedom, but Aladdin returns it, not realizing it was Jafar's lamp until a newly reformed Iago tells him otherwise. The friends then head to the peddler's shop to retrieve it, but are forced to journey into the Cave of Wonders to find vast treasure in exchange for the lamp. Aladdin, Abu, and the others do so, but by time they return, the lamp is stolen by Pete. After Pete's defeat and Jafar is sealed away, Abu and the others welcome Iago into the palace.
Abu appears once again in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, where he was causing mischief in the marketplace, causing him to soon be scolded by Aladdin.
Disney Universe
An unlockable costume of Abu is featured as a playable character in the game.
Disney INFINITY
Abu is seen in Disney Infinity as rare power disc. He is a mount, due to the fact that he's in the Elephant form.
Disney Parks
Abu posing for a photo at Disneyland Paris.
Abu makes occasional appearances at the Disney theme parks.
Abu appears in the live nighttime spectacular, Fantasmic, in both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Abu makes a notable appearance at the end of Tokyo DisneySea's version of the show.
In It's a Small World, Abu makes a cameo appearance as a puppet with Aladdin in the classic ride.
Abu is also seen in the Magic Kingdom park in Adventureland for meet-and-greets. Abu is seen near the Magic Carpet attraction usually with Genie or Aladdin and Jasmine.
Trivia
- "Abu" means "Father" and also it is a epithet for men in Arabic.
- Abu is Ancient Egyptian for elephant. In the first movie he gets turned into an elephant. He is turned into an elephant again in the episode "Web of Fear."
- In "Dune Quixote" Abu is turned into a horse and a mule.
- Abu won't be in the Broadway production of "Aladdin". Abu will be replaced by Aladdin's new side kicks Babkak, Omar, and Kassim.
- Abu has oddly enough for a monkey four fingers and toes.
- The producers studied movements of capuchin monkeys for Abu.
- Abu isn't in "Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular".
- When a musical or stage production of Aladdin is created, and they have to cut characters out of the show... Abu is always the first to go!
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