Aladdin (1992)

After the release of the Little Mermaid Disney animation came back to life after decades of mediocrity and people finally began to see the upcoming summer Disney release as a big deal. The second biggest deal of the big deals to come out in this period of renewal was Aladdin. I was certainly moved by the whole affair. I would even go on to choose Aladdin sheet music for my piano lessons and dress up as Aladdin for Halloween.

Aladdin, loosely based on the Arabian Nights fairy tale of the same name, tells the story of a young “street rat” (homeless kid) who is conned into aiding Jafar the evil, plotting advisor of the local Arab-ish (not Arab) Sultan who is looking for a way to take over the kingdom for himself. The job? Going into a magical cave to retrieve a magical lamp containing a wish granting, all powerful genie...but beware, only a “diamond in the rough” may enter. So Aladdin, being that thing, I guess, goes into the cave and meets the Genie of the lamp famously voiced by Robin “look at me” Williams who grants wishes aimed at helping Aladdin get the girl of his dreams who also happens to be the Sultan’s daughter.

Unfortunately for Aladdin Princess Jasmine isn’t impressed by power or prestige but, fortunately for Aladdin, she is apparently impressed by anything else and one of the more developed (and yet lame) Disney romances thus ensues, climaxing in a magic carpet ride that promises a “whole new world”. A song so overplayed on the radio that I now reflexively burst into song myself whenever I hear it. Such is the power of cultural conditioning.

Aladdin is/was extremely popular, especially for the “funny” antics of Robin Williams and it’s excellent broadway style soundtrack provided by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. But it is also typically quite overrated. First off, Robin Williams is more frantic than funny and his “jokes”, which are really just a100 mph string of pop-cultural references, have not aged well. Second, I don’t buy the Saved by the Bell romance between Aladdin and Jasmine that was so popular at the time. In fact, I don’t even know why this movie has to have a romance in light of the fact that no one would want to marry a girl as vindictive and snooty as Jasmine if not for the fact that she dressed like a harem girl and was impossibly rich. Wait, isn’t that precisely her problem in the movie? That those are the only reasons men wanted to marry her? You’d think the solution would be to improve her character or you’d think that Aladdin himself would see something in her other than the fact that she’s hot but this doesn’t happen. Plus how can any movie with so much talking time for Gilbert Gottfried be that good? Listening to his voice is like nursing a hang over.

On the other hand the animation at the time was the best yet for the era and Disney got all experimental on us trying out what were extremely impressive computerized special effects at the time. By today’s standards they are primitive but at the time it was great. Also the musical sequences were extremely entertaining and inventive. The story itself? It’s engaging. The characters? Better than boring. But the action is always fun to watch and you have to love the way they ended up defeating Jafar and saving the kingdom. I know it’s anathema to say this, since this is supposed to one of its strong points, but I just wish the love story wasn’t so lame.

I give it 3.6 fez wearing monkeys