Actor Tom Cruise is a pop-culture icon and one of the most successful actors ever to enter Hollywood. Disney has long been a powerhouse of production, dating back to its first major hit, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in 1937. Despite Tom Cruise’s notoriety and Disney’s massive scale, the two have never worked together on a production. Yet, the two do connect in one sense.
Tom Cruise inspired one of Disney’s most recognized Princes. We will look at the Hollywood icon that is Tom Cruise, how he (sort of) made it as the star of one of Disney’s biggest hits, and other actors who have gotten the same treatment from the House of Mouse.
Tom Cruise Remains One Of Hollywood’s Biggest Actors
One would be hard-pressed to think of an actor who has had a greater impact on modern American cinema than Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise has remained a staple in the industry, bringing in over $10 billion in worldwide earnings. When one says the term movie star, it is not unreasonable that Tom Cruise is the first to come to mind. Since the beginning of his career, he has shown a knack for drama, with roles in movies like 1989’s Born on the Fourth of July, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination, to favorites like The Outsiders (1983) and Rain Man (1988). Cruise has also embraced sci-fi movies, having starred in Minority Report (2002) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014).
Yet, Cruise is now largely admired as an action star, thanks to his Mission Impossible films. More recently, Steven Spielberg told Cruise that he had “saved Hollywood’s a** and you might have saved theatrical distribution,” with the massive success of Top Gun Maverick during a period when the box office was struggling. In a time when it seems that star power does not always mean that people will come out in droves to the theater, Tom Cruise is one of the few actors who has kept that mysticism around Hollywood stars alive. Looking at any point in his career, it is not surprising that others have found inspiration in his strong persona and stage presence. Given his range, Tom Crusie has inspired extremely opposite characters, from Patrick Batmen in American Psycho to one of Disney’s most beloved Princes.
Tom Cruise Inspired Disney’s Alladin
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it: the inspiration for Aladdin in Disney’s 1992 Aladdin is undeniably Tom Cruise. This is not just in appearance though. Yet the road to getting there is also an interesting story, as the team behind Aladdin originally used Micheal J. Fox as an inspiration for crafting the famous Disney protagonist. However, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios at the time, Jeffrey Katzenberg, who oversaw the project, was the one who recommended the shift to Tom Cruise via Top Gun as inspiration. Animator Glen Keane noted that the mix of looking slightly impish (not meant to be a dig at Tom Cruise) backed by a confident persona made for the perfect fit for the character.
Disney’s Aladdin would go on to be a massive success for Disney, surpassing the $1 billion mark globally and becoming one of its most recognized animated features. The movie’s success can be attributed to timeless storytelling, fantastic musical numbers (like “A Whole New World”), and phenomenal performances, including Scott Weinger as Aladdin, Linda Larkin as Jasmine, and comedic icon Robin Williams as the Genie. Did having Tom Cruise semblance help with the movie’s success? Not likely, but fans of the actor can certainly see his charm in the depiction of Aladdin.
Disney Has Taken Inspiration From Many Real Actors
Of course, actor Tom Cruise is not the only one who has received the Disney treatment and has acted as inspiration for some of the company’s most famous characters. Disney often used their voice actors as inspiration, with Jasmine modeled after voice actor Linda Larson. This practice goes back to the start of Disney animated films, with voice actor Kathryn Beaumont depicted in Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953) as Alice and Wendy. More recently, Dwayne Johnson has stepped into the role of Maui in Moana, including the upcoming sequel.
Other famous uses of actors’ likenesses in Disney films include Kristen Bell & Idina Menzel as sisters Elsa & Anna and Frozen, Mandy Moore as the inspiration behind Rapunzel in 2010’s Tangled, and Hollywood Golden era star Eleanor Audley’s stamp on Disney’s villainous Maleficent. Still, Tom Cruise is such a massive, world-recognized star, and his being used as inspiration for Disney’s Aladdin remains, arguably, the most significant jump from real-life performer to animated character ever. You can stream Disney’s Aladdin on Disney+.