In normal times (and the year 2020 is definitely not normal times) the Christmas holiday season is the point in the year when, in the United Kingdom, the annual pantomime theatre shows get underway. Two of the perennial favorite pantos (given a further boost in recent years by the Disney live-action remakes) are Cinderella, complete with the Fairy Godmother, and Aladdin, which features the Genie of the Lamp. But are the Fairy Godmother and the Genie related? A look at the background to these two creatures of folklore and legend is warranted … [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"81340","attributes":{"alt":"New Crowns for Old, a 19th-century British cartoon based on the Aladdin story (Disraeli as Abanazer from the pantomime version of Aladdin offering Queen Victoria an Imperial
