Magic Carpet

"A magic carpet...!"

- An astonished Aladdin upon meeting Carpet The Magic Carpet (better known as just Carpet) is a sentient carpet, and supporting character from Disney's 1992 film Aladdin

Animation
Carpet is known for being one of the first computer animated characters in a feature film. His complex design forced the animators to design his pattern in computer animation. He was animated by Randy Cartwright. Randy animated the hands and feet (tassels) in traditional animation, while the rest of the character was computer animated.

Personality
Despite being a carpet, Aladdin's Magic Carpet is a character of many traits, and pure of heart.

In the first film, Carpet was a bit shy when he first encountered Aladdin and Abu, but was curious enough to nervously fly over to investigate; eventually hiding once Aladdin first saw him or whenever Abu looked over. Aladdin had to coax him out of hiding, and soon, Carpet quickly befriended Aladdin and risks his own life to save him. He happily joins Aladdin on his magical adventure to win the heart of Princess Jasmine. One thing he does not enjoy is how Aladdin would not tell the truth about him truly being a street urchin, which was the only time Carpet showed any annoyance towards Aladdin.

Over the course of the series, he has shown to possess an almost-human level of intelligence, such as being shy, heroic, romantic, and unquestionably loyal.

He also seems to be very intelligent, as well as perceptive, more so than most other characters. He is usually the one that figures out what's going on before anyone else, though he has trouble expressing it to Aladdin and his friends due to his lack of ability to speak or make any sounds. On top of his intelligence, he is very compassionate, but occasionally lets his kindness speak over his common sense. Also, unlike Genie, he doesn't take losing seriously.

In the end, Carpet has been shown to have a strong bond with Aladdin, not only saving Aladdin's life on multiple occasions, but also doing favors for him such as helping Aladdin and Jasmine fall in love, despite his distate for Aladdin's lies. In return, Aladdin has said to trust Carpet with his life (in Aladdin and the King of Thieves).

Aladdin
Carpet is found by Aladdin and Abu in the Cave of Wonders while trying to find Genie's lamp. Abu first disagrees with Aladdin in letting him join their family but soon becomes best friends with him. He directs them to a lamp and tries to help them escape when the cave starts to tremble. He gets pinned down by a falling boulder, but is able to free itself to catch Aladdin and Abu as they fall back into the cave. The trio become trapped in there until they rub the lamp to unleash a Genie, who helps them get out of the cave.

Throughout the rest of the film, Carpet tries to help Aladdin win the heart of Princess Jasmine and save Agrabah from the evil Jafar. Aladdin (in his royal ego Prince Ali) and Jasmine ride on him to go on a ride around the world. When Aladdin and Abu become imprisoned in a tower by Jafar, he flies into the tower and helps them return to Agrabah to face Jafar and rescue Jasmine. In the film's final battle, he is unraveled by Jafar, but is restored once Jafar is trapped in his own lamp after becoming a genie.

The Return of Jafar
Carpet is still with Aladdin and friends and still acts as a mode of transportation. He is first seen flying Aladdin and Abu out of a lair of thieves. Later he helps Aladdin and Jasmine reunite after briefly breaking up after the presence of Iago. He then takes Aladdin and the Sultan to a quit spot to patch things up as well but are ambushed by villains led by Abis Mal and Jafar. He is kidnapped and nearly escaped until being magically chained by Jafar. After Genie and Aladdin rescue the group they go off to battle Jafar. In the start of the fight, he is turned to glass and shatters into pieces on the ground. After Jafar is killed, he is restored to normal and welcomes Iago.

Aladdin: The Series
Carpet appears as a main character in the film's spin-off television series, featuring prominently in several plots; on one occasion Aladdin's enemy, Abis Mal, stole and forced him to fly him to the location of a valuable treasure by threatening him with moths, while another episode featured him feeling dejected after the group met a race of sprites who allowed them to fly without him (Although he later proved his continued worth by tricking the sprites into settling the palace back in its original location after they got angry at the rest of the group and nearly allowed the palace to crash). He has a somewhat friendly rivalry with Genie as the two often play each other at various games such as chess (with Carpet, much to Genie's frustration, often winning). He proves to be somewhat fearless not caring how cruel or mighty their opponent might be, when Aladdin or one of his friends gets hurt, Carpet rushes into battle.

Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Carpet reappears in the film's final installment along with everyone else. In the film Aladdin and Jasmine are finally getting married but things become dangerous when the former and the palace family meet the forty thieves led by Aladdin's missing father, Cassim. Carpet joins Aladdin and the friends as they journey to discover the secrets of his past.

Notably, after meeting Cassim and convincing him to return to Agrabah, the latter was openly disapproving of Aladdin owning a magic carpet, and using it as a mode of transportation; believing it to be dangerous compared to the traditional choice of horses. By the end of the film, when Carpet saves the lives of Aladdin and Cassim, the latter shows a change of heart towards his son's companion.

Hercules and the Arabian Night
In the special crossover event, Carpet and Aladdin battled the Greek hero-in-training Hercules after they were fooled to believe he had kidnapped Abu. Rivaling Hercules' flying companion, Pegasus, Carpet assisted Aladdin throughout the battle until it was discovered that Hercules was framed as part of the scheme concocted by Jafar and Hercules' nemesis Hades in an attempt to have the two heroes kill each other in combat. After the truth was revealed, Carpet and the others headed down to Hades' home in the Underworld to defeat the duo.

Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams
In this story, during a time where Aladdin and Genie are away, Carpet serves as Jasmine's personal assistant, tagging along with her on various royal events such as parades and openings in the bazaar, as well as making sure she keeps up with them all, whilst still being ever so loyal and friendly to her in the prices. Nonetheless, he appears to support Jasmine's dream of becoming more than a mere "peacock princess" and immediately lends a helping tassel when the prized horse of Jasmine's deceased mother escapes the palace due to the accidentally bumbling of Abu.

Sofia the First
Carpet appears along with Jasmine in the episode "Two to Tangu", where he hears Jasmine whistling and he appears out of a tunnel and flies her with another Magic Carpet flying Sofia and Amber following him behind during the song "The Ride of Your Lives". Then he flies Jasmine back to Agrabah after saying goodbye to Sofia and Amber.

Cameos and other appearances
In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Carpet makes a cameo during the song "Out There". He is seen under a man's arm straight after Belle's cameo.

Carpet makes several cameos in the series House of Mouse. His most notable is in the episode "Donald Wants to Fly". In the beginning he flies Mickey onto stage. Later he performs an incredible stunt even having Phil say to Hercules "Whoa, you can't beat that rug!" In the episode "Donald's Lamp Trade", he rescued Donald from the basement after his attempt to steal forbidden treasure. He also appears in the episode "Chip n' Dale" for a few moments as he helps them retrieve the nuts Goofy passed out.

In The Lion King 1½, Carpet made a cameo during at the end, in the cinema with Aladdin and Jasmine.

Carpet also made a cameo in the beginning of The Princess and the Frog. When Tiana is going to her second job, he is shown as the floor rug a woman is shaking out.

In Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Carpet appears as a vehicle used by Jafar who established his base on a floating island in Wonderland. In a flashback, he is also used to capture Cyrus, during its fall caused by the Red Queen.

Kingdom Hearts series
Carpet appears in the Kingdom Hearts game series, although his role is limited to appearing only in Agrabah. He is found within Aladdin's house in Kingdom Hearts, and serves as an ally to Sora and his friends in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. In his appearances in Kingdom Hearts I and II, he serves mainly as transportation in Agrabah.

Carpet also makes an appearance in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days with Genie. A notable part about this appearance was how he was eerily able to see the connection between Sora and Roxas when he believes the latter to be Sora, although Genie dismisses it.

Disney INFINITY
Carpet appears in Disney INFINITY: 2.0 Edition as a rideable mount, being a rare Power Disc.

Disney Parks
Carpet appeared in the parade along with Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, and Abu. He also has an aerial-carousel ride named The Magic Carpets of Aladdin at the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney Studios Park (under the name of Flying Carpets Over Agrabah) and Tokyo DisneySea (under the name of Jasmine's Flying Carpets).

In World of Color, Carpet appears in the A Whole New World musical sequence along with Aladdin and Jasmine.

Carpet also appears in the computer animated show, Mickey's PhilharMagic. In the show Donald Duck travels through various Disney films on the hunt for Mickey's sorcerer hat. He appears during "A Whole New World".

Carpet also plays a large role in the stage musical, Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular in Disney's California Adventure. Here, he is played by a female actress and acts alongside Genie as a comic relief. During the "Whole New World" scene, he becomes a lifeless prop.

Trivia

 * Carpet's gender was never revealed until Aladdin met Genie where he called him by his nickname "Rug Man". Also, when he met Princess Jasmine, he kissed her hand, and it means he's male.
 * Although the circumstances are unknown, Carpet and Genie apparently knew each prior to the first movie possibly to them both sharing imprisonment in the Cave of Wonders.
 * In The Return of Jafar and the TV series, Carpet was less detailed, but became slightly more detailed in Aladdin and the King of Thieves. This could be probably due to the smaller budgets used during production of both.
 * Near the end of the song "One Jump Ahead", Aladdin and Abu jump onto a rug to escape from Razoul and the other guards, and ride it to safety on the ground while Razoul and the guards accidentally land in a cart full of "Crazy Hakim's discount fertilizer" manure, which foreshadowed his later presence.
 * According to Disneystrology, Carpet's birthday is November 7th.
 * Carpet, with Jasmine's help, taught Sofia and Amber how to ride a fellow magic carpet.
 * In The Return of Jafar, Aladdin and the King of Thieves and in the TV series, animation of the magic carpet isn't made using the computer, but rather by traditional animation and therefore has a simpler pattern.

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