Aladdin Week: Aladdin

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and to Aladdin Week.  And well, folks, we've reached the main event.  My review of the film that started it out.  A film that I often heard growing up called the boy's film from Disney.  Kinda silly, looking back but I can see that.  Would Wreck-It Ralph fall under that category of the new films?  That's besides the point.  This is Aladdin.  And folks, we've got a lot of ground to cover.  So,  hop on a magic carpet and fly with me to Agrabah as I look at Aladdin.  With that out of the way, let's begin.

Trailer

Man,  they don't  make trailers like this anymore.  Compare this to the awful  first trailer for Frozen.  That was just Olaf and Sven and told you nothing of what the film was about.  Whereas this trailer lays it out for you, that there is a young thief,  a princess, a magical djiin, or Genie.   And  an evil  sorcerer.  It  has action, adventure,  romance and music by Alan  Menken.  Granted, Menken isn't mentioned by name in the trailer but they do say the person that worked on the music for this film also worked on the music for The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and The Beast.  Off topic, but am I the only  one that lumps  these three together as the big three of  the Disney Renaissance,  pre Lion King.  

The Plot

We  open  on the Peddler as he is travelling at night to set up shop and sees that we the audience have fine taste as he shows us the lamp and tells us it's  lamp.

We then cut to  Jafar and Iago, who has enlisted the help  of a petty thief named Gazeem,  that Jafar has enlisted to retrieve the lamp.  

 Jafar tells him that  to get the lamp.   It doesn't work out as we find out, as The Cave of Wonders (the location of the lamp) says this,  right before Gazeem  dies as the Cave swallows him whole.  Tough break. 

“Know this. Only one may enter here. One whose worth lies far within. A diamond in the rough!”

At this line, we cut to the marketplace, where we see our hero,  Aladdin being chased by the palace guards for stealing a piece of bread.

Meanwhile,  back at the palace,  Jasmine is frustrated with her life as a princess and being forced to marry a princess before her 16th birthday.  After  mentioning, these frustrations,  she decides to run away from the palace and we see her escape to the marketplace.  

 Where we see that Jasmine having spent so much time  behind the palace walls, does not know as she takes an apple for a young boy and almost has her hand cut off.    This is when she meets Aladdin as I mentioned during the Top 6  Aladdin Moments as Al pretends to be her brother and  she acts as if Abu is the Sultan.

  Afterwards,  Al takes Jasmine back  to his home and they share a connection over both feeling trapped. 

Princess Jasmine: You're not free to make your own choices.
Aladdin: Sometimes you feel so...
Princess Jasmine: You're just...
Aladdin, Princess Jasmine: ...trapped.

This  is a great moment right here for both of our leads as we get  to dig into their psyches and see what they truly think.

Though,  things don't  stay happy for our new friends for very long as Razoul (under appreciated character)  shows up on orders to arrest Aladdin from Jafar.  It's  all part of Jafar's plan as he had discovered that Aladdin is indeed the Diamond in the Rough that he needs to retrieve the lamp.   Al,  and Abu put up a good fight.  And then Jasmine reveals who she truly is and orders the guards to stop but it is all for not.

 





Distraught,  Jasmine orders  Jafar to release Aladdin but he tells him that he is to be killed.  Speaking of which, this is when Al and Jafar meet for the first time.  With Jafar disguised as another prisoner, an old man that tells Aladdin that things aren't always as they seem.  Boy,  sure is a long time before we get to Genie.

 Ahem, back  on topic.   Old Man Jafar releases Al and Abu.  And takes them to the Cave of Wonders, where Old Man Jafar gives them the warning of only touch the lamp and he'll have his reward.  Though,  this is a problem for Abu as he is a bit of kleptomaniac.   This  is also, when they meet up with Carpet,  who at first seems a bit shy and doesn't want them to know that he exists.  Though,  when they meet, Carpet teams up with our hero to help them find the lamp.  Though to be fair, to Abu, these riches could tempt anyone.

 

Aladdin is able to obtain the lamp but Abu couldn't keep his paws to himself as he goes for a giant ruby, which angers the Cave of Wonders and causes it to collapse.  Using Carpet, we get the awesome escape sequence from this film as the action goes on.

Having escaped the cave,  Aladdin delivers the lamp to old man Jafar gives him his reward as he attempts to kill him.  Jafar believes that he was successful but alas he was not as we find out that Abu kept the lamp after biting the Old Man.

After rubbing the lamp, who should appear but the most popular character from the film, Genie and informs through song that Al is his master now.

 



Genie reveals that he can grant three wishes,  however he cannot make people fall in love,  kill someone, or resurrect someone from the dead.

 




Okay,  I've noticed a lot of people say that once Genie enters the picture, it becomes a different film.  In that before he showed up, the film was rather serious and straightforward but then it becomes much more of a comedy.  And to an extent, that is right but Genie isn't the only comedic character in the film. Iago gets a laugh every now and then but I do understand with Genie in how he breaks the 4th wall and references things that kids in the audiences probably didn't get.  Then again, that's what you get with Robin Williams and they let him improvise most of his dialogue.   Back on topic,   after learning the  rules and that he is Genie's master now,   and this is where we get a great moment of Al asking Genie what he wanted.  This is where we learn that Genie just wants his freedom.  This goes back to his line from Genie's introduction.

PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS! Itty-bitty living space!

This is a funny line but if you tie it with Genie's freedom,  we  learn that Genie is a slave to his lamp.   That is when Al makes his promise to Genie that after he uses up his first two wishes,  he'll use his first wish to free Genie.  And this when we see Al gush about  Jasmine and Aladdin is reminded that  Genie cannot make people fall in love,  but he uses his first wish to be turned into a prince.    And  I have to say, that while this is a great moment,  seeing Abu tun into an elephant is still one of the strangest things in the film. Also,  I love the Sebastian cameo.  

 

 





This leads to  the Prince Ali number and meanwhile in the palace, we see Jafar is mind controlling The Sultan through his snake staff in an attempt to marry Jasmine to become the Sultan.  An idea suggested by  Iago.  Pretty clever idea, if you ask me.

 




I  just love the parade sequence for Prince Ali.  Especially, the part with Genie as the talk show host a la Macy's Parade.

Also,  why would someone need 70 golden camels?    That's beside the point.   Prince Ali enters to introduce himself and while Sultan is impressed, Jasmine is disgusted by the way, the man are talking about her.  Jafar is suspicious of this new prince as well.   Ali's  first impression with Jasmine doesn't go so smoothly.  Later that night, Al realizes that he made a mistake and knows that he needs to make a better impression.  This is after probably  two of my favorite Genie moments.

As Genie tries to convince Aladdin to...

This goes over as well as one might expect as in not at all.   Y'know, it was this moment right here, where I realized that Genie was the closest thing to family for Aladdin.  We'll talk about this some more in the Characters section.  This leads to the romantic song after another bad impression from Prince Ali, where  he tries to convince Jasmine that he agrees that she is not a prize to be won.  And he takes her on a magic carpet over and under through an endless diamond sky.

Though as we see at the end of this number, Jasmine is suspicious of Ali's true identity, when she brings up Abu but Aladdin comes up with a story of liking to dress up like a commoner to go to the market.  Jasmine buys it for now because of what she did. When Al returns, he is one Cloud 9 from his date with Jasmine but that doesn't last too long as Al is kidnapped, tied and gagged and thrown into the ocean but thankfully, Genie was there and uses Al's second wish to save his life.

Now, as a kid this scene kinda bugged me because  Aladdin really didn't make the wish but growing up,  it doesn't bug me as much because this scene right here in my opinion,  shows how much Genie cares for Aladdin and was willing to save him.   After being rescued  Prince Ali returns to the palace and exposes Jafar's plan.   After noticing the lamp,  Jafar catches onto who Prince Ali truly is.  As he caught a glimpse of the lamp.  At this Sultan wishes to make Ali, his new vizier.   And this is when Al almost goes back on his third wish because he believes that without Genie,  he can't pull off the facade. As this is Iago steals the lam,  doing a  a pretty good Jafar impression.  Also, this is probably the only role that I can tolerate Gilbert Gottfried in.

After  Iago takes the lamp to Jafar and  he becomes Genie's new master.

Jafar uses his first two to become Sultan and then the most sorcerer in the world.   During this he reveals Prince Ali  is merely Aladdin and sends him to the end of the earth.

 

 

Al,  Abu, & Carpet return to Agrabah to battle Jafar,  who  tries to make his second wish that the Princess will fall in love with him.   Genie  tries  to inform  Jafar that  can't be done but Jafar won't hear it.  When Aladdin returns,  Jasmine sees this and goes along.

 




Okay,  maybe it's  just me but I am surprised that they were able to get away with Jasmine wearing this.

It kinda reminds me of Leia's  slave outfit.

Back to this movie,   Jafar catches sight  of Al and traps him Jasmine in an hourglass.

And we get a great final fight between Aladdin and Jafar, that comes straight out of a video game. Such as Jafar turning into a snake.

Which is a great moment in how seamlessly Jafar transforms into a snake to show the young street rat, how snake like, he can be.  This is when Aladdin tricks the villain into using his third wish to become a genie because he pointed out to Jafar, that even in this form, Genie is more powerful then him and he can take the powers away.

Though,  Jafar does forget one thing that even though, he has all this power. He is bound to the rules of the Genie and must stay in the lamp like the good Genie before him.

Which means, he'll be trapped in a lamp and Genie sends him off to the Cave of Wonders for a few millennial.   After which,  Aladdin does indeed keep his promise and uses his third wish to free Genie and Sultan remembering that he is the ruler changes the law so that the princess can marry anyone she loves. And with that, Genie is off to see the world.   And we end with a short reprise of A Whole New World.

 

Of course, we do see Genie one last time, as he breaks the 4th wall at the end of the film.

All in all, this is a fun film and it holds up rather well all these years later.



Plot Devices

Before we move onto characters, there are two other areas that must be touched. Plot Devices and Locations.  Let's start with Plot Devices.


Golden Scarab Beetle

I almost forgot  about the Golden Scarab, seeing as it is in so little of the film but it serves a big purpose as it leads our villain to the Cave of Wonders and maybe it's just me but  when it flies,  it's trail reminds me of pixie dust.







Genie's Lamp

The first plot device to mention is Genie's lamp.  This is important that is what starts our story off and this is the main thing that our story revolves around at the beginning.  Although, there is one thing that has always confused me about the lamp.  Genie says it has itty bitty living space but yet in later films an the TV show,  it is shown to be rather spacious.

I mean,  just look at this image.

I found this on YouTube and  it looks to be from some computer game, where Iago moves into Genie's lamp.    It's like, they forgot that line.  And I'll be honest, it does bug me a wee bit.  Because while yes, that line is for the most part, played for laughs.  It's also an important line in show while Genie may have all these great powers, he is a slave to the lamp.   I mean,  this is a point that is made when Jafar becomes a genie too.  So, I kinda hate that they ignore this line.

I mean Aladdin even recites this line, when Jafar is sucked into his lamp.   I know for most, this would only be a minor point of contention but it is something that has always bugged me.



Jafar's  Snake Staff

Now, the next thing that one must take into account for plot devices is Jafar's Snake Staff.  While not as important as the lamp.  As this is  what Jafar uses at first to try and trick the Sultan into marrying Jasmine.  Though, that is a cool looking staff.   Especially when the eyes light up and I'm so happy that Naveen Andrews has it in Once: Wonderland.  Although, the story behind the staff in the show is a little weird in how it used to be his lover.

And just for fun,  here's a picture of both Jafar's  and I'll just say that even as a hardcore Once fan,  animated Jafar is superior to Naveen Andrews' Jafar.   Hey, let me indulge in my Once fandom.

Location


Agrabah

I remember during his Disneycember review, Doug Walker mentioned that he thought Agrabah kinda looked like Vegas.  I'm not so sure on that.

Cheap joke,  I know but I had to go for it.  I will say that Agrabah is one of the more stylized locations in a Disney film and there is a lot of life in it.  The Sultan's palace is in my opinion,  one of the most memorable palaces in the Disney canon.    Now,  one cannot focus on the palace alone as you also need to look at the marketplace.

The marketplace  does a great job of capturing a busy feeling going on with the hustle and bustle of the people moving about and the merchants trying to sell their items.  Now, the marketplace has been recreated in both Tokyo Disney and the Magic Kingdom as Agrabah Bazaar.

Which ,  I know at least Magic Kingdom, this is home to The Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride.  Which isn't that great of a ride, really.

I've gone over this ride in the past but it's just really a Dumbo clone.   But we aren't here for that.  Seriously though, why can't we get an Aladdin dark ride.


Cave of Wonders voiced by Frank Welker

The Cave of Wonders is perhaps the most important location in the film as that is where the lamp is found and yes,  the Tiger God  is voiced by Frank Welker, who does a great job as making the tiger god feel like a higher being.   Also,  I love the inside with all of the riches inside as it is tempting as I said up top.

Now just like the marketplace,  the Cave of Wonders has been put into the parks,  at Disneyland (though I don't think it's still there),  Disneyland Paris, and DisneyQuest at Downtown Disney.

 

I've only see the one at DisneyQuest as that is an entrance to a magic carpet video game/ride.


Characters

Starting with this review,  I'm going to do something different for my  animated film reviews.   If the character had a different VA for singing,  I will also list the singing VA and the  supervising animator that worked on said character.  I feel the animators should get credit for their film as well.  Let's begin.


Narration

The Peddler voiced by Robin Williams, Singing Voice:  Bruce Adler, Supervising Animator:  Duncan Majorbanks

Now,  here is something interesting, in the original draft of the script,  it was supposed to be revealed at the end of the film that The Peddler was actually Genie.   Now this would've been a great reveal in my opinion and I do wish that had been kept because his mannerisms are that far off   from how Genie acts in the film  Seriously,  just look at the "Too Close"  Joke.

Ah well,  just one of many great things that didn't make it into the final product.  And for those wondering, why this idea was ditched.  They saw more sequel opportunities, if they left Genie fully powered.  So, that probably explains this...

 Oh well, there still are some great nods to this though such as the fact that The Peddler's robe is blue and he is wearing a red belt.  Or the fact that he's voiced by Robin Williams.


Main Characters


Aladdin voiced by  Scott Weinger, Singing Voice:  Brad Kane,  Supervising Animator: Glen Keane

I  like Aladdin,  he's  a good person, that just seems to get in over his head and  that is understandable, when he is given the lamp.  He's been a street rat for all of his life,  and now he has all of this power.    That is a lot for someone to take in.   And as I've pointed all this week,  Aladdin is a good person and yeah, he does lie to try and impress the princess because he thinks that she won't be interested in marrying a commoner.  Kinda make this reference appropriate foreshadowing.

How fitting.   This  ties nicely with Genie trying to get Al to tell Jasmine the truth.

Now,  I feel that we also need to look at Prince Ali.

Aladdin's facade of  Prince Ali is more important to look at as it shows what great lengths,  he was willing to go to, to be with Jasmine.   Though, he really doesn't  change too much of his personality.  Sure,  at first, he's a little cocky but that is because he's adjusting to his stature of being a prince.  Hey, he's still a better prince then this guy...

Ali  is a million times a better prince, then Achmed could ever be.     Now, while  Aladdin lying about being a prince, was not the best course of action. I understand why he did it as at the time,  he thought it was the only way to get close to Jasmine.   Which is true.     Touching  on Brad Kane,  he does a great job as Al's singing voice.  He matches up to Scott Weinger's  Aladdin voice quite well and it doesn't sound off, at all.  Also,  Scott Weinger, also appeared as Aladdin  during the Disney World episode of Full House.  That was a great in joke.  Seeing as he played D.J.'s boyfriend on that show.

This  also reminds me that I read somewhere when the film originally went into production, Aladdin was supposed to be modeled after Micheal J.  Fox.  Really?  That was until the animators saw the popularity of Tom Cruise and decided to use Cruise as Al's character model.  Here ya are, straight from Aladdin's character page on the Disney Wiki

Aladdin was originally intended to be based physically on Michael J. Fox i.e. small and skinny before Jeffrey Katzenberg decided Aladdin needed to be a stronger, Tom Cruise-looking hero instead.

Jasmine voiced by Linda Larkin,  Singing  Voice:  Lea Salonga,  Supervising Animator:  Mark Henn

The best way to describe Jasmine is to say,  is that she's  spunky and independent.  She wants to be able to make decisions for herself and be her own person.  I see this following the trend of the princesses getting more personality, which started with Ariel and Belle and thankfully,  continues onto Tiana, Rapunzel,  Elsa and Anna.  Which  speaking of Rapunzel,  Jasmine's desire isn't too far off from what Rapunzel wanted.  Jasmine wanted freedom as she felt trapped  in the palace.   Which we see in Aladdin's place as they both go over feeling trapped in their place in life.

Princess Jasmine: You're not free to make your own choices.
Aladdin: Sometimes you feel so...
Princess Jasmine: You're just...
Aladdin, Princess Jasmine: ...trapped.

Now,  I also want to mention  Lea Salonga,  Jasmine's  singing voice does a wonderful job for her as well and she is probably, my favorite singing VA in the film.  And she still does the singing for Jasmine today such as when Jasmine appeared on Sofia The First, that was Lea Salonga providing the singing voice for the princess of Agrabah.  Okay,  I need to clarify something,  while Lea Salonga is still the singing voice for Jasmine,  she didn't do the singing for Jasmine in the  sequels and was replaced by  Liz Calloway and there is a notable difference between the two singing voices.

Granted, she doesn't look that great in CGI  but that's an issue for another day.  One last thing is that many years after this film, Lea Salonga would come back and do the singing for another Disney character as she was also the singing voice for Mulan.  And the great thing is that she was able to give the two, two very different and distinctive singing voices, so that Jasmine and Mulan do not sound like one another.

Supporting Characters


Genie voiced by Robin Williams,  Supervising Animator: Eric Goldberg

Genie, is probably the earliest Robin Williams role,  I remember and he may be my favorite Robin Williams character.  I just love the fun energetic nature of Genie and how over the top, he is.  And Robin Williams owns the role.  Especially considering that he was allowed to ad-lib most of his dialogue.  Williams was given topics and subjects but was allowed to come up with his own material. on the spot.  Which to no-one's surprise made it a challenge for Eric Goldberg to try and animate Genie.   He selected William's best gags and bits of dialogue and   drew up animation for those.  Now,  Ron Clements and John Musker created the character of Genie in mind for Robin Williams but Jeffery Katzenberg threw out names such as Eddie Murphy,  Steven Martin, or John Candy to play the role of  Genie.  And also, isn't that the line up sans Martin that Dan Akroyd originally wanted for Ghostbusters.    Nothing against those guys but I'm glad, it was Williams in the end playing Genie, as I can't picture anyone else..  Oh right,  we need to address the elephant in the room.

NOT  Abu.   For those that may not know,  Disney did something that kinda pissed off Robin Williams and I gotta  side with Robin Williams on this.  Here ya are, straight from the film's Wiki page.

In gratitude for his success with the Disney/Touchstone film Good Morning, Vietnam, Robin Williams voiced the Genie for SAG scale pay ($75,000), on condition that his name or image not be used for marketing, and his (supporting) character not take more than 25% of space on advertising artwork, since Toys was scheduled for release one month after Aladdin's debut. For financial reasons, the studio went back on the deal on both counts, especially in poster art by having the Genie in 25% of the image, but having other major and supporting characters portrayed considerably smaller. The Disney Hyperion book Aladdin: The Making of an Animated Film listed both of Williams' characters "The Peddler" and "The Genie" ahead of main characters, but was forced to refer to him only as "the actor signed to play the Genie".[22]
Williams and Disney had a bitter falling-out, and as a result, Dan Castellaneta voiced the Genie in The Return of Jafar, the Aladdin animated television series, and had recorded his voice for Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Following Jeffrey Katzenberg's departure from Disney, former 20th Century Fox production head Joe Roth, whose last act for Fox was greenlighting Williams' film Mrs. Doubtfire, replaced Katzenberg and arranged for a public apology to Williams by Disney. Williams agreed to perform in Hollywood Pictures' Jack, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and even agreed to voice the Genie again for the King of Thieves sequel (for considerably more than scale), replacing all of Castellaneta's dialogue

Yeah,  Williams  asked Disney to not promote him as the headlining star of this film and to not have his character overshadow the others but that wasn't the case  and Williams wanted this because his film, Toys was coming out a month after Aladdin and for financial reasons,  Disney as you read up there, went behind Willaims' back.   And that's why  Robin Williams  didn't return to voice Genie until the third film.   As  I said,  I have to side with Williams because that was an underhanded and dirty tactic that Disney pulled.   They blatantly ignored the wishes of one of their stars, just because he was the most profitable name in the cast.  And  it is fair to say that this film laid the groundwork for Katzenberg's time at Dreamworks of how he would promote the celebrities gotten  to star in their animated films over the actual film itself. To be fair though, this is a trend that all animated films are doing nowadays.  Though,  I don't recall Frozen mentioning the voice cast in their trailers. Then again, those trailers were really bad.   Also  going over Genie not appearing on 25%  of promotional material,  just look at the poster and you'll see that wasn't the case.

Yeah,  that most certainly does go against Robin Williams'  wishes.   Now, does this controversy  taint the Genie for me.  No,  Genie is still my favorite character in the film because he's hilarious but the reason,  I felt the need to bring this up is because I feel that it would've been unfair to look at this film without mentioning what went on behind the scenes.


Abu also voiced by Frank Welker, Supervising Animator: Duncan Majorbanks

As you may have noticed, if you've read my reviews for any length of time,  Frank Welker is the  go to guy for animals such as he also voiced Max and Pascal in Tangled.   Now as for Abu,  I believe that Paw put it best in his Music Movies review in saying that Abu should be a character that we hate because of his jerkish nature and not to mention his problem of being a kleptomaniac. But the way, Abu i portrayed in the film, jut makes him so endearing and likable.  I'm still weirded out by Genie turning him into an elephant though.

Yeah,  I don't know why but something about elephant Abu creeps me out.  I mean,  I know it's Abu but I've never liked that part of the film.


Carpet -  Supervising Animator:  Randy Cartwright

Carpet  in my opinion is one of the most stunningly gorgeous characters to look at because of all the rich detail that was put into him.  Something that would lessen as the franchise went on sadly but  in this film,  he looked so good.  As for the character himself,  I like Carpet because you get to see how loyal he is to his friends and will do anything to protect them.


The Sultan  voiced by  Douglas Seale,  Supervising Animator:   David Pruiksma

I think the best way to describe The Sultan is to say that he's a mix of The King from Cinderella and  Maurice from Beauty and The Beast.  Though, I wouldn't be too shocked if they took more inspiration from the former.   One  such great example is how they are both trying off their offspring be wedded.  Though, the biggest difference between The King and The Sultan, there were very few moments in Cinderella, where you felt as though The King was truly looking out for his son's best interests and it was more for political reasons.  Granted, that is the case here as well but there are more moments of genuine love  between The Sultan and Jasmine then there were between The King and Charming.  Again,  neither are bad characters but Sultan  is more memorable.


Rajah also voiced by Frank Welker, Supervising Animator: Aaron Blaise

I like Rajah a lot,  you can see how loyal he is to Jasmine and how much he clearly loves her and will do anything to protect her.   Okay, this is going to sound weird but when I was little,  I thought Rajah was a girl. I don't know why! I just did.  


Razoul  voiced by Jim Cummings

Razoul  is a character that seems to be ignored in most reviews of the film, which is a shame because he's a good character.  Jim Cummings does a great job of making you hate this guy and just wanting Aladdin to not get caught by him.  Razoul is the type of character that you love to hate.  And also, maybe it's just me but his voice for Razoul sounds a lot like his Pete voice.   At least how he voiced Pete in Goof Troop.



Music


Arabian Nights








This  is a great  opening number as it gets you excited for the movie.  Heck, there's  a reason, why this was chosen as the theme for the TV show because it does what a good theme song should, it gets you excited.



One Jump Ahead





This is my favorite song from the movie.  It's a great introductory number to Al and it has such a great up beat and energetic nature, that is hard to not get caught up in.  Also,  I love the part with Abu and the sword.  This song is just a blast to listen to.


One Jump Ahead (Reprise)





This is easily, my second favorite song in the film and if you recall, the Top 6 from the start of the week, it landed pretty high.  I like this as it gives the characters time to stop and reflect before moving onto the next wild adventure.  Speaking of that.



Friend Like Me








Man,  this song is just a lot of fun and a great taste of what is to come with Genie and I love that Robin Williams did his own singing for Genie as he does a great job. It  is just a great number all around and just a blast.



Prince Ali






This song is just a great showcase for Robin Williams' comedic skills and his impressions.  Also, I love the parade in this number as it just a lot of fun.  Although,  the part where the guards dance and  say "He's got the monkeys".  is odd.

I  just don't get why they got excited about the monkeys.  Eh, who knows?  Still a fun song, all around though.



A Whole New World







Probably one of the most romantic songs from any Disney film and it's not to hard see why with the visuals and the performances that Brad Kane and Lea Salonga give in this number, really bring you into their world and experience Aladdin and Jasmine falling for each other over the course of this magic carpet ride.  I have to wonder,  knowing that Carpet is sentient,  did he feel like a third wheel on this date.  Because that could've been awkward but I'm just over thinking this beautiful moment.



Prince Ali  (Reprise)





I love this song.   I just love how Jafar takes a song that was used previously to celebrate  Prince Ali and turn on it's head to mock and humiliate Aladdin for the street rat, he truly is.  And that evil laugh at the end is just a perfect capper to end this number.




A Whole New World (Reprise)







And we close with a very short reprise of A Whole New World.  My thoughts, not bad but I do wish it was little longer but it is a nice way to close the film.







Villains


Iago voiced by Gilbert Gottfried,  Supervising Animator:  Will Finn

I like Iago and this is easily, the only thing that I can tolerate Gilbert Gottfried's voice in.  Otherwise,  I cannot stand his voice.  Iago is a great henchmen to Jafar and the way, that these two work together is just fantastic.  They made a great team and Iago is pretty funny and also very resourceful and one of the smarter henchmen such as being able to perfectly impersonate others' voices such as when he tricks Aladdin into thinking that Jasmine was calling him.



Jafar voiced by Johnathan Freeman, Supervising Animator:  Andreas Deja, Supervising Animator for Old Man and Snake Jafar:  Kathy Zielinski

Jafar is a great villain, he is a master manipulator.  He'll do anything to get his way and uses his power to get what he wants.  And he tries to find any way to get what he wants.  Also,  he has to have some of the most transformations such as the Old Man.

Sultan Jafar

And then of course,  the snake and Genie Jafar

 



You remember what I said up top about  the final fight feeling like the final battle in a video game with the last boss.   That is seriously, the vibe that comes off in the film's climax with how many different forms Jafar takes. I seriously love Jafar and I think that he is one of the best Disney villains as he is willing to do anything to get his desire.  And he doesn't care what he does to others around him.


My Final Thoughts

I like this film a lot.  But I do find myself at times yearning for the film that could've been with the songs that Howard Ashman wrote and the Peddler reveal but the script was changed so much after Ashman passed away.  A great talent was lost, when Howard Ashman passed and while, we may not have gotten the original idea for the Aladdin film.  This is is still, a a fantastic film.  This film is a lot of fun with wonderful characters,  gorgeous animation,  one of the best locations in a Disney film, and wonderful songs.