Abu

Abu is Aladdin's pet monkey and is one of his best friends, alongside Genie and Carpet from Disney's Aladdin, two sequels and it's television series. 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 of 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 voiced by Frank Welker. He hasn't appeared in any Disney film since except The Lion King 1 1/2. Obiously he does cameo in The Lion King however, as this film reuses Aladdins character conept arts.

Personality
Abu is a monkey that is obsessed with shiny items, due to his occupation as a thief and is a kleptomaniac. 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.

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, 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).

After Aladdin returns to Agrabah to stop Jafar, Abu helps out by pinning and knocking out Iago, keeping him from alerting Jafar to Aladdin's return.

The Return of Jafar
Abu and Aladdin enter a lair of thieves where they battle them and steal there jewels and there pershos ruby flower. So they can giveaway the riches to poor folk in Agrabah and the ruby flower to Jasmin, 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 saved their lives from a gang of thieves.

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 and the next morning Aladdin and the Sultan go for a ride on Carpet and while gone 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 the set off to battle Jafar. At this time Iago is nearly killed and after Jafar's defeat thought to be dead. He breaths and Abu finally almost completely adcepts him.

Aladdin: The Series
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 but discovered after Abu and Iago tried to steal a bag of gold but the gold fell out 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 or even trapped in an area.

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 and the Arabian Night
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 or Genie. Abu's most notable role in the series in which Iago tells him to taste The Queen's Poisoned Apple.

Disney Princess Enchanted 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 dessert 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.

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
In the first Kingdom Hearts game, Abu is first seen trapped in a sand pit with Aladdin. Once the duo is free from the sand pit, they help Sora, Donald and Goofy. Abu only appears on occasion, whenever Sora and Aladdin need him to help solve a puzzle in the Cave of Wonders.

When Sora and Aladdin explore the chambers in the depths of the Cave of Wonders, they are occasionally blocked by a puzzle which involves a statue holding a large, red gem. When the command "Call" is activated from the command menu, Abu leaps from Aladdin's shoulder to the statue and taps the statue's gem a few times with his hands. The gem glows, Abu leaps back to Aladdin and the puzzle should be solved.

Abu appears once again in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, causing mischief in the town of Agrabah. He is confronted by Aladdin in the Marketplace, being yelled at by his friend for committing theft.

In Kingdom Hearts II, Abu is again getting into trouble when he steals a black lamp from the Peddler's shop. Aladdin forces him to give the lamp back, only to discover moments later that it was the lamp Jafar was trapped in. Abu follows Aladdin, Sora, Donald, and Goofy to the Cave of Wonders, so they can obtain some treasure to purchase the lamp back from the Peddler. It is here that Abu activates a trap when he grabs a floating gem, but quickly helps Sora solve the puzzle.

After the group defeats the Blizzard Lord and the Volcanic Lord, Abu tries to get away with a gem he swiped from the Cave of Wonders, but Donald takes it from him and tries to keep it for himself.

Disney Universe
An unlockable costume of Abu is featured as a playable character in the game.

Disney Parks
Abu makes occasional appearances at the Disney theme parks.

Fantasmic!
Abu appears in the live nighttime spectacular in both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Abu makes a notable appearance at the end of Tokyo DisneySea's version of the show.

It's a Small World
Abu makes a cameo appearance as a puppet with Aladdin in the classic ride.

Walt Disney World Resort
Abu is seen in the Magic Kingdom park in Adventureland. Abu is seen near the Magic Carpet attraction usually with Genie or Aladdin and Jasmine.

Trivia

 * 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"

Gallery
Abú