Saleen is a minor recurring antagonist from the Disney animated television series, Aladdin. She is an evil mermaid sorceress with powerful aquatic abilities who attempts to steal Aladdin away from Jasmine.
Background[]
Saleen is a water elemental, specifically a siren who has the ability to control the surrounding waters as well as a variety of other aquatic abilities. One of her most prized possessions is a starfish that allows her to use various magical abilities. Her main associate is her octopus Armand. Uniquely, Saleen's fish tail features resembles that of a lionfish.
Personality[]
Saleen is rude, bratty and haughty. She acts friendly towards Aladdin and even Jasmine when they first meet, but it does little to hide her spiteful personality. Ironically, she does show compassion to her pet octopus Armand.
Role in the series[]
Saleen is first introduced in the episode "Elemental, My Dear Jasmine". She kidnaps Jasmine, after seeing the Princess being ridiculed by Aladdin. After giving Jasmine the ability to breathe underwater, she and Jasmine soon hear Aladdin's voice as he is looking for Jasmine. When she notices how handsome Aladdin is, Saleen schemes to have Aladdin to herself and curses the Princess to remain in the ocean, but not before revealing that the curse will be broken once she returns. While Saleen goes onto land in an attempt to win Aladdin's heart, Jasmine tries to find a way to get Aladdin's attention. Thankfully, Saleen's lair has enchanted water which allows Jasmine to connect with any water source. After the group finds out the truth about Saleen, Jasmine informs Genie of how to free her, Aladdin then pretends to have chosen Saleen over Jasmine and afterwards the group tricks Saleen by taking her to a fake seafood restaurant (created by Genie) allowing them to use a hidden trapdoor to send her back to the water, thus breaking the curse. Saleen then faces Aladdin and Jasmine while Armand holds off the rest of the group. Aladdin and Jasmine hold her off long to enough for Genie to get rid of both Saleen and Armand.
Saleen makes a return appearance in "Shark Treatment". She steals a valuable statue bound for Agrabah to draw the attention of Aladdin. Once Aladdin arrives, she curses Aladdin using her Starfish. The curse slowly transforms Aladdin into a shark and places him under Saleen's control.
After Genie, Iago, and Abu fail in their attempts to retrieve the starfish and reverse the curse, they realize that Saleen's assistant, Armand, has been pushed aside in favor of Aladdin. The three take advantage of the octopus's jealousy and are eventually able to reverse the curse. Saleen tries to kill them all, but Armand traps her in a giant glass bubble, during which Aladdin, Genie, Abu, and Iago make their escape. Armand later sets her free, and Saleen vows that they'll get them next time, but she is never seen or mentioned in the series again.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Saleen's design is based on an old concept art of Ursula, the villainess from The Little Mermaid.
- When Saleen uses her magic to give herself legs, she comments: "Legs. What's all the fuss about?" It's a joke/jab at The Little Mermaid, where Ariel wishes to have legs to go on land.
- Earlier in the episode, when Armand is doing Jasmine's hair, he styles it like Ariel's, to which Saleen replies "she looks like every other princess under the sea", another light-hearted jab at the film.
- Saleen's hair is the same color as the actress who voiced her: Julie Brown.
- The word "saline" (of which Saleen is a homonym) refers to salt content - i.e., 'saline water' would be saltwater.
- Saleen's attempts to steal Aladdin for herself are similar to those of another villain in the series, Sadira. However, Saleen is considerably more malevolent in her attempts, and, unlike Sadira, she never changed her evil ways nor formed a friendship with Aladdin.
