The true star of Aladdin is Robin Williams. His stream-of-consciousness ramblings helped create a Genie more indebted to the zany Warner Brothers characters than to any previous Disney supporting characters. Manic audience laughter is not a quality one usually associates with Disney, yet this is exactly what Robin Williams accomplishes.
Arguably the biggest name actor yet utilized by Disney in a feature film, Robin Williams' surreal stand-up comedy observations are the core of the Genie's character. The Genie is dependant on Williams' voice as the source of his humor and the animators' drawings of the Genie do a fine job complimenting Williams' running commentary and asides. Williams' Genie is capable of amazing metamorphoses, just like the cartoons of the silent era, and Williams is able to work in a series of amazing celebrity impersonations. Endlessly morphing from one shape to another, the Genie is the perfect visual counterpart to Williams' often bizarre sensibility. The Genie alone is worth the price of a rental, or perhaps a purchase.
Disney wisely gave the Genie the lion's share of screen time for without Williams, there really isn't a lot to recommend Aladdin in retrospect. Aladdin unlike The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast is likely to annoy adults in several respects. Prior to the Genie's appearance, the film is a hodgepodge of brass Broadway-style musical numbers and a collection of highly sentimental characters. Aladdin, the Cute Rogue, and Jasmine, the Cute Feisty Princess, are fairly simplistic characters compared to other recent Disney creations (although, in fairness, Aladdin is more believable than Prince Charming). Their chief distinction is that they are the first time Disney created Semitic-looking lead characters.
The story is more reminiscent of the classic Douglas Fairbanks film The Thief of Bagdad than to the original Aladdin fairytale (in which there were two genies in Aladdin's command and in which Aladdin's vagrant ways cause the death of his mother). Ironically, the action sequences in The Thief of Bagdad are far superior to those in Aladdin; Disney was unable to synthesize a drawn hero to compete with the legendary Mr. Fairbanks. The action sequences also fall short of the standards in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Superman two films which also seem to have influenced Aladdin. (The flying carpet ride at night evokes Superman's night flight with Lois Lane in the original film). The film's moral "Be True To Yourself" rings false since it is only with the aid of magic that Aladdin is able to accomplish most of his goals in the movie. It is largely due to Robin Williams' skill as an actor that the above flaws are usually unnoticed by filmgoers.
At least this time the villainy of a Disney villain is somewhat plausible; Jafar wants to rule the world after years of being subservient to Jasmine's diminutive (and somewhat dimwitted) father. Jafar's evil develops during the picture too, as he changes from simply being a conniving magician to a would-be despot to a demonic genie. For just about the last time in a Disney film, the villain is not motivated by sexual desire; Jafar seems oddly unaroused by Jasmine in the scanty slave girl outfit he forces her to wear. Iago, is alternately amusing and annoying, the obligatory Evil Animal Counterpart to the lead villain.
Disney inexplicably followed this feature film with two made-for-video sequels and a Saturday morning TV series, all of which demonstrated that Aladdin's success was not easily repeated. These sequels replaced the freewheeling spirit of Robin Williams with limited animation and trite story lines. Robin Williams' return to the series in the final installment consisted mainly of a few sequences which had virtually nothing to do with the main plotline. Yet a film should not be judged by its sequels. Like all Disney features, Aladdin has state-of-the-art animation and ace voice acting - a combination rarely encountered in the productions of Disney's rivals. And once again, computerized graphics are seamlessly integrated with traditional cel animation, another feat only Disney has mastered. Children will enjoy Aladdin and forgive its flaws, but don't be surprised if your children end up empathizing more with the Genie than with Aladdin or Princess Jasmine.
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Other NonAnime Reviews Prince of Egypt Review* Quest for Camelot Review Sleeping Beauty Review * Space Jam Review Tex Avery Screwball Classics Review* |
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