Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies.
Make sure to leave a comment if you like this site! And if there's something you think could be improved, please let me know. But in a constructive way, please. And just a note; I'm not a Native English writer, so my incorrect grammar may be notable.
And finally; If you haven't seen the films, beware of spoilers! And the funny lines aren't meant to be nothing than funny. So I hope you won't find them offensive. If so, I apologize
I'm soaring, flying. Without High School Musical :) |
Though their dream project Treasure Planet was a straight forward adventure movie that felt overall more subdued than their zanier fare. At least The Princess and the Frog was a throwback to their sass and fun! Their latest film was Moana, their very first CGI feature. While it felt as more subdued as a whole, it was still filled with their aforementioned trademarks and components. As the wisecracking, snarky sidekick and action!
At least I'm not painting with the colors of the wind ;) |
Brace yourself. It's going to take all night :) |
What truly identifies Aladdin is Robin Williams as the Genie (and the Peddler as well, who originally was going to be the Genie in disguise). While Aladdin wasn't his first job for Disney (1987's successful Good Morning, Vietnam were), it certainly is his most remembered and iconic part. The directors wrote the part with only Robin Williams in mind, though the executives still had different ideas for the Genie (Jeffrey Katzenberg wanted a more realistic Genie, while Howard Ashman wanted a Cab Calloway type). The idea of a transforming Genie allows the time-swapping flexibility that the Genie possesses.
What eventually convinced Katzenberg to let Williams be the voice was test animation of him in full action! Though the Genie's role was initially supposed to be much shorter than expected. The directors wrote the dialogue initially in a Williams-way. While Williams did sixteen hours of work, add libbed and recorded a scene in twenty-five different ways! Even impersonations of George W. Bush were done (which didn't make it into the final film).
The celebrity impersonations were something that the directors didn't expect. Some Williams' fans truly considers his role as the Genie as his very best performance. Though Williams was not the first A-list star to voice an animated film, he's associated with the trend which continues to this day. And at least this movie allowed Williams to sing, as he did in 1980's Popeye! And he made his contribution to Ferngully the same year as Aladdin.
Though Disney would try to replicate the Genie with upcoming sidekicks as Timon, Hugo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Phil (Hercules), Mushu (Mulan), Terk (Tarzan), Zini (Dinosaur), B.E.N. (Treasure Planet) and Olaf (the latter being inspired by Genie), it's evident that Genie is the most inspired out of all of them.
Don't worry, I closed the refrigerator after twenty hours :) |
Some reviewers have claimed that and were picking on the Renaissance formula that was started by Mermaid after just three movies. Personally, though, I've would claim that Aladdin contains plenty of cartoony gags, action, fun and Gilbert Gottfried's Iago to keep it up until the Genie appears (though Danny DeVito was suggested first as Iago).
While several people have labeled Aladdin himself as bland, I personally happen to disagree with that.
Let's pretend that it's in 3D :) |
Let's be glad that this page wasn't dedicated to Kuzco ;) |
Witchcraft! ;) |
I believe I can fly ;) |
Yet I don't need to be a maniac, either :) |
I made them appear :) |
While most of the pranks comes from the Genie, the rest of the comedy is executed by cartoony gags (though The Emperor's New Groove would be the closest Disney would come to a Warner Bros comedy, which was labeled by Disney experts for being the funniest Disney feature since Aladdin). And as aforementioned, Aladdin does have enough action to keep up, as the impressive escape from The Cave of Wonders (the Tiger Head being the first CGI character ever made from Disney).
If anything, while this may seem like a personal, fanboyish scrutiny, it
would be easy to label Aladdin as an updated version of The Jungle Book. Since both takes place in similar (though not identical) settings and having plenty of comedy! The dynamic between Baloo and Mowgli is reminiscent to Aladdin and Genie's. The Pop Culture References may seem like a contradiction, due to that Disney movies are supposed to be timeless, but it gives Aladdin an unique flavor of it's own.
I'm taking her with me, since your not handsome enough :) |
Originally the composers Howard Ashman and Alan Menken had decided that Aladdin would be set in Baghdad, Iraq, but they were forced to change that. Mostly because of the Gulf War (though head of layout Razoul Azadani went to his homecountry Iran to research).
However, the real fuzz were from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination League enraging over Howard Ashman's initial lyrics to Arabian Nights ("where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face. It's barbaric, but hey it's home"). But strangely enough, Disney refused to change the lyrics at first. Though it's with no doubt Howard's most daring and explicit lyric to date, one should wonder if he would continue to push Disney in a controversial direction (as Stephen Scwhartz would do with Pocahontas and Hunchback, with Savages and Hellfire).
Another complaint were how the marketers had Arabian accents, whereas Aladdin and Jasmine spoke standardized American. But the most radical change is the setting from China to Arabia (though the characters in the original tale were after all muslims). Despite how the tale is Middle-Eastern and belonging the collection of A Thousand and One Nights, they were collected by the French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from a Syrian storyteller named Hanna Diab.
Eric Goldberg, who knew Musker priorly, made his supervising debut with the Genie after leaving his own company in London that made TV commercials. Goldberg was the very first animator to be cast on the assignment and wanted to animate the Genie from the get-go. Goldberg made the Genie Jewish, so that Williams could give Genie Yiddishism. Genie's design was simple due to his flexibility, though Goldberg didn't decide his final color. Despite Goldberg claiming that he didn't look for Williams for inspiration.
I forgot my nap, so therefore I look like this ;) |
Aladdin was originally supposed to have a mother, who was a part of the story for a long time, before being completely thrown away (though she was originally going to be older and plumb, appears in the Aladdin comic story, The Mysterious Amulet. The film was originally conceived to be a straight-forward adventure, before Musker and Clements took over the project (despite how they were offered Beast first). They were encouraged to not stick entirely to Ashman's script. Linda Woolverton was originally a part of the writing team.
It's worth to notice that Musker and Clements are a rare duo to both produce and write their films, as well as directing them. With Aladdin and afterwards Treasure Planet, they collaborated with Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Who would gain an impressive screenplay-list afterwards with Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean-saga, Zorro and Godzilla, just to mention a few. It's no secret how Musker and Clements themselves have cameos in their films post-Mermaid, which Aladdin was their first film to do that.
The 40-Jazz Cabaret style were a conscious choice from Ashman, who wrote three songs for the movie; Arabian Nights, Friend Like Me and Prince Ali. Menken was considering writing himself, before approaching Tim Rice to write One Jump Ahead and A Whole New World. Rice and Menken never composed together before Aladdin, though. And it's no secret that Tim Rice would pen the lyrics for an following Disney project afterwards about a lion who was supposed to be a commoner (yes, note the sarcasm, folks ;)
And to scrutinize the show a little, it would foreshadow upcoming elements in upcoming Disney movies: Sadira would be a predecessor to Esmeralda (both being female who were raised on the streets), just a naughtier version. The various monsters in the show were reminiscent of those from Hercules (an episode named A Sultan Worth His Salt even takes place in Greece). And Jasmine would impersonate a soldier in an episode the same way Mulan did in The Secret of Dagger Rock-episode (the show even had an episode set in China in Opposites Detract, yet in a different location than Mulan)! It even pays an homage to Beast in two episodes (in Garden of Evil where the Sultan picks a flower from a forbidden garden and in Seems Like Old Crimes Part Two, where it's climax is awfully reminiscent of the one in Beast)
A third and final full-length feature was made in Aladdin & The King of Thieves, which centers around Aladdin and Jasmine's marriage. Though the ending of the first movie indicates a marriage, it never confirmed that the lovebirds actually wedded.
No matter what, Aladdin is a Disney treasure that is worth to behold. It truly deserved it's success it got theatrically and it's easy to see why it's so beloved. Though perhaps not my very favorite growing up, I still liked it a lot and saw it several times on VHS at the age of 10. Regardless of Robin Williams or not, this movie offers a fun, compelling and entertaining adventure that deserves to be worshipped for it's sheer entertainment. So rub the lamp and set the movie free ;)
It all started with a lamp. The Mouse line has been used to death ;) |
References:
Mouse Under Glass (David Koenig).
The Music Behind The Magic - The Musical Artistry of Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice (Steve Hochman).
Aladdin Platinum Edition.
Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Hercules (Bob Thomas).
The Art of Walt Disney: From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms and Beyond (Christopher Finch).
Disney's Aladdin; The Making of An Animated Film (John Culhane)
Aladdin Diamond Edition
Walt Disney Classic Aladdin Deluxe Collector's Video Edition.
The Mouse That Roared: Disney and The End of Innocence (Henry A. Giroux).
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