← Back to Reviews
in
Aladdin
Disney struck gold and created a merchandising empire with 1992's Aladdin, a delicious musical adventure that features what is probably the funniest animated character in cinema history.
Set in the fictional Arabian city of Agrubah, we are introduced to the evil Jafar (voiced by Jonathan Freeman) trying to retrieve a magical lamp from the Cave of Wonders but learns that only certain people are allowed entrance to the cave, which also contains millions in gold and silver, but Jafar only wants the lamp so that he can become the new Sultan. It turns out that one person allowed entrance into the Cave of Wonders is a mischievous street urchin named Aladdin (voiced by Scott Weinger; sung by Brad Kane) who steals food from the marketplace aided by his pet monkey Abu. Aladdin is instantly smitten with Princess Jasmine (voiced by Linda Larken; sung by Lea Solonga) who has run away from the Palace because she is being forced to marry Jafar. Aladdin finds the lamp and while trying to clean it off, releases a magical, maniacal genie who offers the young lad three wishes.
Disney creative forces have crafted a classic good VS evil story but have given the story a contemporary facelift with the Genie character (brilliantly voiced by the late Robin Williams), a character who because of who he is, is able to defy logic and realism and morph into anything the story requires him to be. It's difficult to tell who is leading who here, whether the writers are leading Williams or Williams is leading the writers, but whatever is going on here has result in the funniest animated character ever created. On my list of favorite voice performances in animated films, Robin Williams' gene was #1. Williams work is so on target here that he was actually awarded a special Golden Globe for this performance.
As always with Disney films, comic relief is always provided in the form of animals, but even they have to take a backseat to Genie/Williams here. Gilbert Gottfried is terrific as the voice of Iago, Jafar's pet parrot and though they didn't really have any dialogue, I loved Aladdin's monkey turned elephant named Abu and Jasmine's pet tiger Raja. I also loved the magic carpet who provided a romantic ride for Aladdin and Jasmine and got our hero out of a lot of close calls during the course of the story.
The tuneful musical score by Howard Ashman, Alan Mencken and Tim Rice includes "Arabian Nights", "One Jump Ahead", "To Be Free", "On a Dark Night", Williams' showstopping "Friend Like Me" and the Oscar winning "A Whole New World." Everything works here, but if the truth be told, the only thing you go away from this movie remembering is the incredible Robin Williams, RIP.
Disney struck gold and created a merchandising empire with 1992's Aladdin, a delicious musical adventure that features what is probably the funniest animated character in cinema history.
Set in the fictional Arabian city of Agrubah, we are introduced to the evil Jafar (voiced by Jonathan Freeman) trying to retrieve a magical lamp from the Cave of Wonders but learns that only certain people are allowed entrance to the cave, which also contains millions in gold and silver, but Jafar only wants the lamp so that he can become the new Sultan. It turns out that one person allowed entrance into the Cave of Wonders is a mischievous street urchin named Aladdin (voiced by Scott Weinger; sung by Brad Kane) who steals food from the marketplace aided by his pet monkey Abu. Aladdin is instantly smitten with Princess Jasmine (voiced by Linda Larken; sung by Lea Solonga) who has run away from the Palace because she is being forced to marry Jafar. Aladdin finds the lamp and while trying to clean it off, releases a magical, maniacal genie who offers the young lad three wishes.
Disney creative forces have crafted a classic good VS evil story but have given the story a contemporary facelift with the Genie character (brilliantly voiced by the late Robin Williams), a character who because of who he is, is able to defy logic and realism and morph into anything the story requires him to be. It's difficult to tell who is leading who here, whether the writers are leading Williams or Williams is leading the writers, but whatever is going on here has result in the funniest animated character ever created. On my list of favorite voice performances in animated films, Robin Williams' gene was #1. Williams work is so on target here that he was actually awarded a special Golden Globe for this performance.
As always with Disney films, comic relief is always provided in the form of animals, but even they have to take a backseat to Genie/Williams here. Gilbert Gottfried is terrific as the voice of Iago, Jafar's pet parrot and though they didn't really have any dialogue, I loved Aladdin's monkey turned elephant named Abu and Jasmine's pet tiger Raja. I also loved the magic carpet who provided a romantic ride for Aladdin and Jasmine and got our hero out of a lot of close calls during the course of the story.
The tuneful musical score by Howard Ashman, Alan Mencken and Tim Rice includes "Arabian Nights", "One Jump Ahead", "To Be Free", "On a Dark Night", Williams' showstopping "Friend Like Me" and the Oscar winning "A Whole New World." Everything works here, but if the truth be told, the only thing you go away from this movie remembering is the incredible Robin Williams, RIP.