Aladdin: Only True Disney Fans Know Genie And Eden's Tragic Romance

The Genie (Robin Williams) from "Aladdin" is one of the most iconic animated Disney characters of all time, and how could he not be? He stems from a Disney Renaissance film, comes to life thanks to the voice talents of Robin Williams and, later on, Dan Castellaneta, and graces screens big and small with a colorful, dynamic look. Although, for as popular and adored as the Genie is, few remember that he's a cartoon wish-granter in love. Yes, on the "Aladdin" tie-in series, it's revealed that he's in love with another genie named Eden (Valery Pappas).

Eden (yes, like Barbara Eden from the beloved sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie) and the Genie's romance comes with a twinge of sadness. They meet in the episode titled "Some Enchanted Genie," with Eden residing in a lamp owned by the orphan Dhandi (Debi Derryberry). After some shenanigans involving the villainous Abis Mal (Jason Alexander), who claims Eden's lamp for himself and is turned into a cockroach for his troubles, Dhandi regains the lamp. However, she accidentally wishes for her and Eden to be together forever, preventing Eden and the Genie from living their own life together. Thankfully, they're both immortal, so their time will come once their respective humans inevitably die.

With a somehow simultaneously sad, hopeful, and morbid story like that, it might seem surprising at first that Eden isn't a more prominent name in the Disney canon. Then again, her appearances in the "Aladdin" animated franchise are incredibly limited, to say the least.

With her introduction and subsequent relationship with the Genie serving as the main narrative thrusts of the episode, it's not surprising that Eden gets a lot of screen time in "Some Enchanted Genie." However, after this episode, the character only appeared one more time on the animated "Aladdin" sequel program. In "The Book of Khartoum," Genie is captured by the vile Mozenrath (Jonathan Brandis) on his and Eden's anniversary. She teams up with Dhandi and Aladdin (Scott Weinger) to free him, only narrowly escaping Mozenrath's clutches herself.

Beyond this "Aladdin" episode, Eden was slated to appear in the short-lived "Aladdin" comic book series published through Marvel. Sadly for fans of the character, she never ultimately popped up in print. The series only stuck around for a mere 11 issues before coming to a close completely devoid of Eden. There was a slight glimmer of hope via the final issue, where the publisher's note revealed that the adventures would continue and Eden would appear in the "Disney Comic Hits!" line. In the mere two Aladdin-centric stories, though, she was nowhere to be found.

As time has gone on, Eden has largely been forgotten by the few that took the time to watch the "Aladdin" TV series. For those that remember her, feel free to come up with some fun headcanons about her and the Genie's life together because it stands to reason we may never see her in any form again.