It is so wonderful to watch a movie that was released nearly 20 years back and still feel that it was a timeless work of art. I had watched Aladdin around the time of release itself way back in 1992-93 thanks to my movie addiction (which has still not been cured coincidentally) which started a really long time back. I still remember humming “A whole new world” by Brad Kane and Lea Salonga for the movie and then the single by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle all through college and how much of a sought after track it used to be. A truly ever green number that deserved every bit of the Oscar that it received that year for Best Song. A pity that Animation movies did not have a separate category at the Oscars till 2001. Aladdin would have been an auto qualifier for the award and would be if it were released even today. Not too many movies in the history of animation have the timeless quality that Aladdin gets to the table. No wonder that Wikipedia calls it out as part of the Disney film era known as the Disney Renaissance.
There are obviously very few of you out there who would not know the story of Aladdin (Scott Weinger) so I really would not waste my time or yours in explaining the gory details. It would suffice to say that Disney has stuck true to the classic Arab tale of the street urchin who stumbles onto a huge treasure, gets conned by an evil wizard, Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) who is also the minister of the Sultan of Agrabah, falls in love with the Sultan’s daughter Jasmine (Linda Larkin) and also gets the services of a wonderful Genie (Robin Williams) along the way.
The casting of Aladdin is simply superb to say the least with the stand out voice casting being that of Robin Williams. If you click on the video link at the end of this review for the trailer you will notice the absolutely fabulous performance from Williams as the Genie. It is outstanding to say the least. I would consider it as probably the best performance in the field of animation to date. The ones that would come close to Robin Williams as the Genie would be Ellen DeGeneres as Dory in Finding Nemo and Jeremy Irons as Scar in Lion King who have voice overs which are fabulous. Even then Robin Williams would be miles ahead. Incomparable to say the least.
Ron Clements & John Musker are something of a made for each other pair in animation movies. They have made only 6 movies between the 2 of them and all of them have been together. How is that for a sense of commitment? I guess we could all learn a thing or two about collaboration from them. However, I would guess Aladdin was their moment of truth and they have not been able to recreate the magic at the same level ever again. Having said that, their future creations have still been miles ahead of the crap that we have seen over the past few years. Needless to say, Aladdin is a fabulous watch and definitely a 8 on 10. Don’t miss out on it. Playing these days on one of the movie channels.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2421621785/
There are obviously very few of you out there who would not know the story of Aladdin (Scott Weinger) so I really would not waste my time or yours in explaining the gory details. It would suffice to say that Disney has stuck true to the classic Arab tale of the street urchin who stumbles onto a huge treasure, gets conned by an evil wizard, Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) who is also the minister of the Sultan of Agrabah, falls in love with the Sultan’s daughter Jasmine (Linda Larkin) and also gets the services of a wonderful Genie (Robin Williams) along the way.
The casting of Aladdin is simply superb to say the least with the stand out voice casting being that of Robin Williams. If you click on the video link at the end of this review for the trailer you will notice the absolutely fabulous performance from Williams as the Genie. It is outstanding to say the least. I would consider it as probably the best performance in the field of animation to date. The ones that would come close to Robin Williams as the Genie would be Ellen DeGeneres as Dory in Finding Nemo and Jeremy Irons as Scar in Lion King who have voice overs which are fabulous. Even then Robin Williams would be miles ahead. Incomparable to say the least.
Ron Clements & John Musker are something of a made for each other pair in animation movies. They have made only 6 movies between the 2 of them and all of them have been together. How is that for a sense of commitment? I guess we could all learn a thing or two about collaboration from them. However, I would guess Aladdin was their moment of truth and they have not been able to recreate the magic at the same level ever again. Having said that, their future creations have still been miles ahead of the crap that we have seen over the past few years. Needless to say, Aladdin is a fabulous watch and definitely a 8 on 10. Don’t miss out on it. Playing these days on one of the movie channels.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2421621785/
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