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The Return of Jafar was a direct-to-video movie released in May of 1994.
The story starts out in a cave where a band of thieves celebrate their successful raid, no thanks to their leader, Abis Mal. But to their dismay, all their loot is stolen by Aladdin, who with Abu and Carpet, escape after a good chase and drops off the treasure to the people of Agrabah in need.
Iago, having been trapped in Jafar's lamp buried in the desert sands, digs himself and the lamp out, and has had it with Jafar bossing him around. He dumps the lamp in a water well and flies off back to Agrabah, power-hungry as ever, hoping to devise a scheme to get back into the palace.
He runs into Aladdin and Abu, tries to gain their sympathy, fails, and almost is given what he deserves when they run into Abis Mal and his gang. They chase Aladdin and Abu and Iago around and just as they've captured Aladdin, Iago, having been ticked off enough, unleashes a few tricks to put the thieves where they belong: in pursuit by the guards. After realizing Iago's just saved his life, Aladdin promises Iago an audience with the sultan. That is, after Aladdin's "softened-up" the sultan and Jasmine. He puts Iago in a cage outside the palace, and has to lie to Jasmine to keep her from finding out about Iago. Suddenly, Genie reappears, back from his vacation around the world. Although he's lost a portion of his powers and magical abilities, he promises a terrific dinner for them and the sultan.
Meanwhile, Abis Mal and his band of thieves retreat to the desert and while Abis Mal washes up with water from a well, the rest of the thieves plan mutiny and plan to kill their leader. But Abis Mal is hit in the head by a black lamp and releases Jafar. The other thieves are scared away and that leaves Abis Mal to work with Jafar, both of them sharing the same goal -- to have their revenge on Aladdin.
Packed full of action, excitement, romance, along with evil plots for revenge, disguises, and deceit, the movie offers 66 minutes of fair quality entertainment.
My personal notes: This movie was originally made for the TV series, and the breaks for where commercials would be are quite evident. It features five new songs, including a new version of Arabian Nights (presently used on the TV series). The score however is just a recombination of the original score, obvious to those who know the original soundtrack backwards and forwards. Overall, a good movie, good plot, good songs, okay score and so-so animation.
