"Beast or Famine" is the thirty-fifth episode of Aladdin that aired on October 15, 1994. It is the fifth episode to air on CBS.
Plot[]
Captain Merc is chasing the shark beast and is about to throw his harpoon at it. Then, other harpoons stick out of a sand dune and capture the Beast. Merc throws his harpoon at the dune, but other harpoons get thrown at his ship, which makes it pull down to the ground. Later, Aladdin, Genie, and Abu are walking in the desert. After falling at the edge of a steep dune, Abu sees something scary. The three see the Beast's skeleton, assuming that Merc finally killed it. But then they see Merc's wrecked ship.
Aladdin, Genie, and Abu are staying at the ship for the night. Genie talks to Aladdin about Merc while Abu is eating his banana. As Genie acts like a ranger, he takes Abu's banana and puts it in a fire. Abu gets angry and gets out of the ship. The monkey then hears something moving behind him and when he turns around, whatever it is freezes. When Abu turns back around, there are now three lumps in the sand moving behind him. Genie mentions a crocus behemoth to Aladdin and uses Abu to show him what it is. As the jinn takes the monkey back inside, a group of rat-like creatures come out of the lump in the sand. They get to the ship and see Aladdin, Genie, and Abu, who is now a crocus behemoth. When Genie turns Abu back into a monkey, the rat people are amazed with the jinn's magic and they get back in the sand dune and tunnel away.
At a cave in a nearby rock formation, they explain others of their kind (in their own language) what they saw. Then, a tall, thin, blond-haired man shows up and makes one of the rat people show him that they saw Genie. He then orders the creatures to capture the jinn and bring him to him.
The next day, Aladdin, Genie, and Abu try to figure out what happened to Murk. Then the rat people come out of the sand and go after the three. They later capture Genie to take him to the man. A shadow comes to Aladdin and Abu and they see it's Merc. Aladdin, Abu, and Merc are on the rocks behind the ship. When Merc talks to Aladdin about the rat people, Aladdin suggests that he should have someone help him, but the captain says that he doesn't need anyone. Aladdin then insists that they save Genie together.
Meanwhile at the rat people's cave, after Genie shows the creatures his tricks and realizing they're harmless, the man comes to Genie. He introduces himself as the Shaman. The Shaman tells Genie that he wants his powers and that the jinn will become weak. Meanwhile, Aladdin, Abu, and Merc use the Beast's skeleton to rebuild the ship and the three go to the cave to rescue Genie, who is getting thinner and thinner. The Shaman sees the ship approaching his cave from a crystal ball and orders the rat people to stop it. He then sees that the ship is still moving and it crashes through wall of his cave. The Shaman now has Genie's powers and he uses them to attack Aladdin, Abu, and Merc.
As the rat people are fighting Merc, Genie tells the creatures that they're not savages and the Shaman is not their leader. The rat people stop fighting Merc and go to the Shaman to take his staff. When they take his staff and throw it to the ground, the shadow that was chasing Aladdin and Abu flies around and devours the Shaman. When the rat people smash the staff, the shadow disappears and Genie has his powers back.
The creatures offer the staff to Genie, but he tells them that he belongs to Aladdin. The jinn then suggests that they have Merc as their leader. Merc tells them that he doesn't need anyone, but when the rat people offer him the staff, he changes his mind. Aladdin, Genie, and Abu happily see Merc and the rat people going on a hunt.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is one of two episodes in the entire series in which Iago does not appear, the other being "Some Enchanted Genie." He is present in every other episode.
- Jasmine does not appear in this episode.
- The Shaman bears an uncanny resemblance to the Goblin King from Labyrinth, but with a Middle Eastern redesign.
- Final appearance of Merc.
