A self-identified “90s Disney kid,” Kara Carneal remembers watching “Aladdin” for the first time when her parents bought it on VHS. While she liked much of the storyline, Carneal says she just couldn’t handle Jafar. “That was my first time ever experiencing fear,” she laughs in an interview with TODAY.
com. “I remember being so scared of him. I only ever watched the movie one time.
” “Aladdin” terrified her so much she slept in her parents’ bedroom for years. Decades later, turns out she’s still afraid. Carneal went viral last year when her friend, Kyle Phillipi, pranked her while wearing a Jafar costume under the pretense of “immersion therapy.
” “I never thought that it would come back to haunt me in such a way,” Carneal laughs. Philippi, speaking to TODAY.com, says a mutual friend tipped him off to her fear.
“One of her closer friends says, ‘Well, you know, Kara has that fear of Jafar,’” Philippi tells TODAY.com. “And I was like, ‘Sorry, what?!’” And so, the idea for the prank was born.
Carneal and Philippi’s mutual friend bought the costume, then Philippi burst into her apartment in full Jafar gear, speaking to her in a commanding voice. The resulting video, which features Carneal simultaneously terrified and laughing, went in November 2023. “Broke into my friend’s apartment once I found out that she has an irrational fear of Jafar,” the caption says.
The prank got such a spirited reaction from Carneal (and Philippi�.
