What’s up all y’all gamers and animation enthusiasts?! I hope you all have been having a good Summer. I know I’ve been enjoying camp, some amazing reveals at E3 *insert applause*, and a chance to rewatch some of my favorite movies. This includes a bunch of Disney movies!
As I’m sure you all know, Disney is on top of the freaking world right now, having bought out all the biggest franchises and companies. It is both awe inspiring and at the same time ridiculously terrifying seeing how far they’ve come. This company has become so damn cocky that they don’t even need to write original stories anymore to make money. But you know what, I think it’s time to take a step back and look at something from a much simpler time. A time when yelling gibberish into the mic was considered music and practical effects still had a place in the market. I am of course talking about the Disney Renaissance era! (during the 90's of course)
And the term Renaissance is rightly deserved. To think Disney nearly lost everything and were bankrupt at any point in time. And the movie that nearly killed them isn’t even that bad! Granted it’s not good either, but it’s no Chicken Little. Little by little Disney found its feet again, and soon enough they were cranking out memorable stories one after the other. And my personal favorite out of all of these is-
RB’sB: Oh great, here it comes.
Here what comes?
RB’sB: Don’t you play dumb with me! You’re not fooling me again with this shtick. Not after your f***ing Death Note review!
What does any of this have to do with Death Note?
RB’sB: Fine, I’ll play along. But don’t think this means you’ve fooled me! You go on and on about how much you love a specific period of time and its media. You mention one that you’ve supposedly watched recently. You make us think it’s the popular version, and then BAM! You pull the rug from under our feet and review the one everybody hates. Hell, just look at the title of this journal!
…I have no idea what you’re talking about man. You know I’m talking about Aladdin right?
RB’sB: Well… yeah?
Come on man, don’t try to pretend there’s more than one Aladdin. There can only be one Aladdin. That movie is so good! Sure there have been some pretty awful live action remakes lately, but Disney would never go back and remake something that’s already perfect.
RB’sB: I uh… are you serious right now? When’s the last time you’ve been on the internet?
Well I haven’t touched it since last year’s E3. I didn’t wanna be spoiled by any leaks. Was it worth it? Probably not. But at least I got to experience that awesome Banjo reveal and Keanu Reeves firsthand. Why do you ask?
RB’sB: Oohhh, I see what’s going on here.
What?
RB’sB: Nothing! Not a single thing at all. Please, by all means, proceed with your review of the one and only Aladdin.
Well thank you bro. Anyway, before we start, let’s establish a few things. As we all know, this movie tends to get praised for two things, and two things only. The music and the Genie. Both of these things are of course incredible, but it also has an unfortunate effect on the rest of the movie by overshadowing the rest of the good elements. When’s the last time you heard a review of Up that doesn’t focus solely on the first 10 minutes? Or how about a discussion of Inglorious Basterds that doesn’t talk about Hans Landa?
Because of this, I am issuing a challenge to myself. Today I will prove to you all that I don’t just love this movie for Genie and the music. I will only talk about these two elements for as long as they appear in the movie. After all, the Genie is like 25% of the film, yet he takes up 90% of the discussion surrounding this movie. Besides, it’s not like this is my first time talking about these two elements of the movie. Yet another reason to keep things brief. I think that covers just about everything, so let’s do this!
Our story begins with… uh oh. Our first musical number. Aladdin, you are not making this self-issued challenge easy on myself. Don’t worry guys, I’ll keep things brief. Arabian Nights, as far as opening numbers go, does a fantastic job in setting the mood and acquainting you with this world’s setting. A lot of Disney movies from the 90’s are really good at doing this. And best of all, it’s not another run of the mill “our lives are perfect and nothing could go wrong” song that I’m just now realizing manages to show up quite a lot in these musicals. But Aladdin’s opening number starts off with a mysterious tone as we’re treated with a beautiful night time desert. I’m surprised by how unpopular desert settings are to most. I love deserts! Sure they only have a few colors, but they are so striking, and the best examples are the ones that make me feel like I’m right there on the verge of dehydration. But as the song starts to pick up in tempo, we also get the city of Agrabah, a well realized town with tiny details on every frame.
As the song ends we meet this movie’s first character, as well as its most insignificant. Yeah, the traveling merchant scene could’ve been easily cut out. He’s narrating a story that doesn’t really need narration and providing history that’s explained later anyway, and he doesn’t even show up at the end of the movie. Though I heard he does appear at the end of King of Thieves, but I haven’t seen it. Something tells me this scene was thrown in last minute just to give Robin Williams an opportunity to do more stand up. And you know what? You can never have too much Robin in your movie. So I’m totally fine with this glorified standup routine.
After that bit of fluff we get to the actual meat of the film. We see a dark figure in the horizon approached by a lowly thief who brought him a piece of treasure. One so valuable he apparently had to “slit a few throats” to get it.
RB’sB: Whoa. That’s a pretty casual thing to just drop in a Disney movie. Then again this was the 90’s, so that makes sense I guess.
We then meet our resident evil of the movie, Jafar! Remember when Disney actually wrote villains who were evil and proud of it without trying to trick you into thinking they were good until the last minute? Well, this is the 90’s, and this era has given us a plethora of awesome villains, including Jafar, the sorcerer supreme. Well, not so much supreme, more like extra rare. Even though he only dabbles in the dark arts he’s still a more than threatening character. I like to compare his personality to Frieza. Most of the time he’s calm and composed, always having a plan of attack and rarely getting upset. But when he does, boy had you better wish you’re not in the same room as him, because he has quite a lot of anger built up within as well as the power to boot.
After his pet parrot retrieves the invaluable piece of treasure from the thief, Jafar uses the magic to create a trail that leads him to the Cave of Wonders. Untold riches within, none of which compare to the ultimate source of power, the magic lamp. But according to the cave itself (whose CGI has surprisingly aged extremely well), only the diamond in the rough can enter in his domain. Is it the thief you may ask?
RB’sB: That depends. Is his name Aladdin?
No I don’t think s-
Oh. Well that’s pretty conclusive. After the debris clears we get the introduction of our second villain, Iago! As easy as it could’ve been to just let Jafar have a normal pet bird a la Maleficent’s crow, we instead got one of the funniest animated sidekicks, as well as characters, in a Disney movie. And keep in mind, he’s in the same movie as that other beloved comic relief character. What makes Iago so funny isn’t just his slapstick or his quick mouth. In the end, it’s really Gilbert Gottfried’s performance that sells the character. I can understand those who found his voice grating, but he’s just so damn iconic to the animation world. His voice is as recognizable as Patrick Warburton and Wallace Shawn, two other hilarious voice actors. There’s a good reason Gilbert has been the only one to ever voice Iago, and to cast anyone else at this point while he’s still alive would be heresy.
RB’sB: Mmm.
After some fun banter that does a great job of establishing Jafar and Iago’s personalities, we get a very clever transition to our titular character, Aladdin, while he’s in the middle of being chased by guards with swords.
RB’sB: Geez, all that for a loaf of bread? The economy in this town must be super f***ed.
And he’s not alone. He’s joined by his own sidekick Abu. He may not be as talkative as Iago, but I’m appreciative of how he has more lines than most of the characters in Frank Welker’s catalogue. I mean come on guys, this dude is such a talented VA and most of the time he’s delegated to only doing animal noises. I mean sure, he’s getting plenty of work, and he has characters like Fred and Megatron, but it’d be nice for this guy to get more prominent roles compared to the actual amount he gets. He and Dee Bradley Baker are one in the same to me in this regard when it comes to not getting enough screen time.
As for Aladdin himself, I’ll talk about him more later as the film goes on seeing as how we’ll be getting plenty of time with the dude. But now we get our second musical number, as well as the first one to be sung by actual characters. One Jump Ahead, in my opinion, is the most underrated song of this film, and possibly the whole Disney era. It’s so fast paced and is filled to the brim with creative visual gags as Aladdin outsmarts the justice system, yet nobody seems to talk about this song! And the singing is especially impressive to me because it’s one of the few times where I actually had no idea the character had a different speaking and singing actor. The transition between Aladdin’s dialogue and song is as seamless as whenever Pinkie Pie or Twilight sing.
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After our antagonists fall into a wagon of s*** (trust me it’s funnier then it sounds), our two heroes enjoy their bounty, and the following scene is one I’d argue is one of the more important moments that make the film work. It’s pretty hard to make someone who consistently breaks the law a likeable character, even if they “need” to do it. For instance, did anyone really buy the whole “my daughter is sick” sympathy card that Sandman got in Spiderman 3? There has to be a limit when it comes to justice.
Up to this point, we’ve only known Aladdin as a troublemaker, but the part where he sees the two hungry kids looking for food and gives them his is not only what makes Aladdin likeable, but it also establishes how he’s a diamond in the rough. He has a good heart that’s distracted by constant misdeeds. And when the snooty prince comes into town and knocks Al down even further a peg by calling him a street rat, get used to that term, we see just how vulnerable he really is. All he’s ever known is poverty, which is why he truly believes in the lie that he and Abu will never have problems again if they become rich and powerful.
After that quiet character moment, we are met with our other set of heroes. The Sultan of Agrabah is trying to find a successful suitor to wed his daughter Jasmine, but unfortunately for him she’s a little more 21st century than whatever time period this film is set in. Which is admittedly hard to tell with all the modern day lingo, but whatever. Jasmine is a very interesting character to me. She seems to be one of the first characters to have started the annoying trend of princesses who want something more to life and hate the idea of royalty. You know, for a company that loves to promote the idea that anyone can be a princess, Disney sure loves writing characters who hate every second of it. Hell, some would rather be presidents than monarchs. You all know who I’m talking about 😉
As is par for the course when it comes to characters who start bad trends, I think it works here. For starters, Jasmine is a teenager, and teens are notorious for being pretty moody and rebellious. Then again with me personally, my mom’s always told me I was much worse as a baby than a teenager. What’s also worth considering is that Jasmine only hates her position for one reason. She hates the idea of being forced to marry someone she just met who does it for power. She wants to marry someone for love.
RB’sB: *sniff* Aw man dude. That’s actually really sweet. I forgot how adorable Jasmine is. Especially for a bratty teen character.
Yeah, take that Star Butterfly, you annoying little s***! Also congrats on the ending to your series I heard it was pretty successful and that most people were happy with it. So with that being said, I hope people don’t keep taking that one line where she says, “Maybe I don’t want to be a princess,” out of context anymore because it’s actually understandable and possibly even relatable. And if that’s not enough, Jasmine is also an animal lover. So that’s automatic Fluttershy points for her. Her dad is also a breath of fresh air too. True he’s somewhat of a dumb dad, but he’s more so bumbling than outright stupid. He’s not heartless in urging Jasmine to marry someone. He just wants to make sure that she’s well taken care of when he’s eventually gone from this world.
RB’sB: Aw what? *sniffle* He’s a sweetheart too?! When was the last time I watched this movie anyway?!?!
Another benefit to watching these movies catching lines like this that I din't get as a child.
Sultan: I don't know where she gets it from. Her mother wasn't so picky.
You just roasted yourself buddy.
After storming off, we find out that Jafar is the Sultan's royal Grand Vizier. If this movie was written today, y’all know for a fact Disney would jump on that twist villain hype train. Also it’d be computer generated and there’d be more celebrities, but that’s a given. My point is that it’s a breath of fresh air to use dramatic irony to its fullest. We all know Jafar is evil, we’d probably know he’s evil anyway(I mean f*** look at the guy), and we’re all waiting for the characters to figure out when he’s evil. It’s because of the buildup that we anticipate the final battle, and it’s because of the lack of buildup why so many twist villains suck. Because we know he's evil, it also by proxy makes him a more interesting and diabolical character to us in the way he manipulates others to do his bidding whether they want to or not. We also learn that the Sultan isn’t just gullible, but he’s also hypnotized. So that’s another reason to love Jafar and his cunning.
Jasmine sneaks off on her own to try and get away from the bonds of arranged marriage. This might be seen as a case of characters running away from their problems, something I freakin’ hate! But unlike Blake Belladonna who literally abandons her only friends and acts like a whiny emo for two volumes (I said it and I’m sticking to it!), Jasmine once again gets the “she’s just a teenager” excuse. This is a pretty normal thing for kids to do. They just need time to cool off and they’ll likely come back. And even if she didn’t her father most certainly would’ve made sure she did return.
It’s the next day, and we see Aladdin and Abu doing their usual routine of stealing food just to get by. He then finds himself smitten with a mysterious hooded figure. I still don’t believe in love at first sight, but I think the film makes it clear that this is more like lust at first sight. Another common thing for teenagers now that I think about it! Basically the film isn't trying to say that he immediately falls in love with her in this moment. It's more like mesmerism.
Seeing as how she’s lived in a castle all her life, Jasmine naturally almost gets herself killed after not paying for food.
RB’sB: Again, the Hell is with the economy in this town?
Luckily Aladdin is quick witted enough to defuse the situation, and Jasmine is intuitive enough to trust Al and play along.
RB’sB: I still love the whole monkey sultan bit, especially with the way Jasmine’s VA delivers it.
And let us not forget Frank Welker, who still manages to deliver so much personality without any actual words. We cut to Jafar and Iago who use some magic to figure out who the diamond in the rough is. This may sound like a bit of a chosen one dilemma, something that rarely works these days without some form of subversion, but it only shows up here for a little bit to service the plot and is quickly dropped later in favor of the characters. No harm, no foul. Although there is plenty of harm to Iago in this scene, and it’s wonderful. This film really feels like Disney is channeling its inner Warner Bros.
We then get what is essentially a date between Al and Jas. I'm serious when I'm saying that these two have some of the best chemistry out of any Disney couple. Not only are they both well realized characters as opposed to one of them just being eye candy, they also have really interesting conversations where they talk about their problems. It’s so refreshing to see two romantic leads bond over simply talking to each other, rather than constantly stumbling on words over how good looking the other is. It also does a great job in bridging the gap between the poor and rich. People aren't defined by the amount of money they have and we all have our own battles and demons to fight.
Before things can go way beyond a G rating, the guards interrupt the couple’s moment and have Al arrested. Jas reveals she’s the princess in an attempt to save him, but this was a direct order from Jafar himself, who has other plans for our little street rat.
RB’sB: Whoa dude, that’s not very nice.
What? I consider it a compliment. Rats are survivors and get a lot of unnecessary flack for simply finding unorthodox ways to thrive. Plus they make for pretty amazing Pixar movies.
Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I got here.
RB’sB: …Guess I can’t argue there.
Aladdin is now in jail, along with Abu who is unable to help beyond undoing his shackles. I feel really bad for him in this scene. No, not because he’s in jail (I mean he kind of had it coming), but now he’s more embarrassed then ever with his upbringing. How can he possibly be with royalty? It's scenes like this that further build up Aladdin's lie, something that characters need to in order to change by the end of the story.
Suddenly, a creepy old man greets him. And no, not the kind who carries questionable weaponry on him.
RB’sB: Wait a minute, if only Al can enter the cave, then how come Abu gets to as well?
Hm, well either he’s also worthy, or the cave is like a security system that turns off once the criteria is met. That's honestly the best I've got. We get some stunning imagery of all kinds of wondrous looking treasure. The Cave of Wonders lives up to its name I guess. We then meet another great character, Carpet! Carpet is as simple as a design can get. No voice, no face, not even any body parts. Just miming and tassels to emote with. Characters like Carpet can only work with great animation. Otherwise it’s a lot harder to relate to them seeing as we are people and not rugs. And Carpet manages to be a fun and loyal character who’s brimming with personality.
Al gets to the final room with the help of Carpet and finds the mysterious lamp. It may look like a piece of junk, but it’s what’s in the inside that counts. That’s why it looks crappy as opposed to being blinged out with jewels or something.
Hello iconic shot.
RB’sB: Mmmmmm.
Things are looking up until Abu done f***s up and touches another piece of treasure. I would be a little angry, but it’s a problem that arises from a character flaw (in this case being a kleptomaniac) as opposed to forced stupidity for the sake of plot, and Abu is normally very helpful if a bit of a jerk sometimes. We then get our obligatory Disney action scene to make little boys not regret watching the movie. You know the ones! There’s the elephant graveyard scene from Lion King, the wolf fight from Beauty and the Beast, and who could forget literally the entirety of Mulan? And hey, clearly it works because I liked those scenes then and now. Al and Abu make it by the singed hair of their chins after Carpet gets crushed by rock.
RB’sB: Damn, if that old guy wasn’t Jafar they totally were gonna just leave their new friend to die there. #carpetlivesmattertoo
It was an intense scene. Some things would probably slip your mind too. Abu saves Al from literally getting stabbed to death (damn I forgot the amount of potential murder in this movie), and our three heroes get trapped in the collapsing cave, leaving Jafar to revel in his victory… That then turns out to be a failure.
RB’sB: Pfft. Cry baby.
Oh hey, it’s the scene you’ve all been waiting for. No point in putting it off anymore as far as I’m concerned. Abu managed to snag the lamp from Jafar during the chaos, and Al decides to rub the lamp. At that moment, a legend was born. Up to this point Aladdin, while certainly enjoyable, has been nothing extraordinary. It’s been a nice little romance story with memorable characters and set pieces. But the moment that blue smoke starts emitting from the lamp, the entire game completely changes. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Genie time!
Genie is an animation enthusiast’s wet dream. He embodies all the chaos and fast paced gags of old cartoons from times past. Because he’s all powerful and magic, the animators literally have endless potential when it comes to the kinds of jokes they can tell. But even with all the best animators in the world, none of that would even matter without a voice that could match all that controlled chaos. Robin Williams is… was the only person who could possibly live up to the boundless energy and potential of a character like Genie. He had already established himself as a man of character acting who can change his voice and personality at the drop of a hat with the ease of an actual magic user. To this day I’m still baffled by how much talent and comedy one person can contain within themselves. He’s so good at improv that most of his script all comes straight from his wacky mind. I’m sure there’s literal days worth of unused footage that had to be cut for time. I could go on about Genie forever, but he only appears in 25% of the movie, so that’s all he’s gonna get in my review too. So let’s just move on to his song.
I mean, what do you want me to say? It’s freakin’ Friend Like Me, one of the most iconic Disney songs ever. If you thought his introduction was chaotic, you haven’t seen anything yet. What we’ve got here is visual gag after visual gag, and there’s so much variety to it all as well as with the voices Robin uses. He may not be a Broadway man, but when you’ve got as much charisma and energy as this guy you don’t really need to sound like Paige O’Hara. Songs like these require you to build up momentum as you go along, so naturally the highest and loudest notes are hit by the end of the number. Genie is so compelling that I don’t even care that there’s not even a background sometimes. He probably requires so much effort to animate anyway that it’s really hard to nitpick in good faith. It’s still a damn shame that both this and Robin’s next number are not available on Spotify. But even then it would be sinful to listen to the song without the animation to go along with it. Also, if you like covers, here's a really cool edit someone made of Genie singing with a female YouTuber that has a great voice.
Like doing a Vincent Price impression to illustrate he can't raise the dead.
They make their way to a remote island where Genie makes that one face that everybody uses in their reviews for disbelief. I don’t blame them. It’s a great face. Al tries to think of what his first wish should be, but he can’t stop himself from thinking about Jasmine. Winning her over can’t be as simple though as a romance spell since it’s against the rules. Thank God might I add because those damn romance spells lead to all kinds of unfortunate implications in animation. Kudos for avoiding it outright. No, Al and Genie come up with a different more creative plan to win her hand, but not before Genie has his first real down to Earth moment. As easy as it could’ve been to simply make the Genie into a joke machine for Robin Williams and leave all the character stuff with Al, the writers go out of their way to flesh him out. He may have phenomenal cosmic power, but he also has real human moments and wishes of his own.
RB’sB: Don’t forget the itty bitty living space.
How could I? Ten thousand years in a place like that must give ya a real crick in the neck. Al promises Genie to set him free with his last wish, and we get what is essentially Extreme Makeover: Prince Edition. See it for yourself because words can’t do this scene justice with how great it is.
Meanwhile while all this was going on, Jasmine has been distraught because she feels responsible for Al’s capture and supposed execution as told to her by Jafar. We get a short but sweet where the Sultan sits down with Jas and listens to her problems, something only a good dad would do. We’ve also been getting plenty of Jafar and Iago moments of diabolical scheming and plotting.
I talked about these two as individuals, but together they are an absolute delight of villainy. Unlike most evil duos where one is clearly more dominant while the other is constantly abused, Jafar and Iago are much more symbiotic in their scheming, even amicable at times. Iago may be the sidekick technically, but he’s anything but passive. And Jafar may be the one going for ultimate power, but he always listens to Iago’s ideas and gives him credit where it’s due. Basically Jafar and Iago are well written characters, and together they’re better than the sum of their parts. Much like George & Harold and Rick & Morty.
With the lamp supposedly gone forever, Iago comes up with the backup plan of Jafar marrying the princess in order to become Sultan the old fashioned way, and then dropping both Jas and the Sultan off a cliff. But before he can use his staff to hypnotize the Sultan into allowing this union, music is heard off in the distance. A parade of sorts. Or perhaps, the best damn musical number in my opinion. That’s right guys, it’s time to talk about Prince Ali!.... again.
For those who don’t know, I’ve covered why I like this song in a previous deviation where I talked about a bunch of my favorite musical numbers from animated movies, so I’ll keep things brief here. Basically this song has the benefit of Genie hamming it up and wicked visuals, only this time things feel a bit more grand. Genie is now joined by a whole parade of performers, all hyping up how awesome and amazing Prince Ali himself is, factual or no. If I found out that my monarch’s potential suitor had the strength of ten regular men and lets people see his Persian monkeys at no fee, I might swoon a little myself. And that crescendo near the end where they finally get to the palace is absolutely breathtaking, especially if you’re a music lover like me. Funny enough, this is the only time Genie uses a human form to operate. Could you imagine if he had spent a good majority of his time onscreen as a human instead of the iconic blue design we know and love?
RB’sB: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Al, or Prince Ali in this case, ingratiates himself into the palace by letting the Sultan ride his carpet and essentially getting into a d*** measuring contest with Jafar.
RB’sB: I never really got this scene. Why does Genie just leave?
I believe it’s because Al has to do this part by himself. Genie is bound only to fulfilling his master’s wish, and he’s kinda pushing it already what with the whole parade and everything. Plus they’ve gotta keep the magic a secret. While they’re in the middle of quite literally trying to plan out the rest of Jas’s life, she walks in and is understandably quite p***ed at them. Everyone’s reactions here are priceless as well.
Even Jafar can't look her straight in the face.
Later that night we see everyone chilling out as Ali stresses about how to win Jasmine over with his new persona, while Genie tries to convince Al to just be himself. I really like the way this scene’s handled. Sure, the whole “be yourself” moral is done to death, but Al is in a particularly weird position. He literally can’t be with Jas as himself, and his own insecurities scare him too much. In order for a character to have positive development, there has to be a lie that they firmly believe in, even if it’s obvious to us as an audience that the protagonist is wrong. It’s all about the journey in seeing how that character comes to the conclusion on their own, which is why Al has one of the best character arcs of any Disney protagonist, right up there with Kuzco and Beast.
Genie finally concedes and helps Ali with romancing Jas. I love the detail of how the curtain flies open when entering her room as if it’s an actual camera. What follows is the movie’s most awkward scene, and by that, I mean the best kind of awkward. The reason Ali is stumbling over his words now as opposed to before is because he’s not being himself anymore. The more you try to tell a lie, the more it grows and becomes more painfully obvious. Earlier in the movie he was able to describe all the reasons he liked Jas to Genie such as her humor, intellect, and beauty. But now all he can muster up is that she’s “punctual.” Jas herself is great in this scene and does a great job in calling Ali out for his approach and possible ulterior motives that so many other suitors had. Wanna know how to write an empowering scene? Bam. There ya go everyone.
At this point, Ali gives up and realizes that he can’t win her over this way. So he takes a dive off the building much to Jas’s shock. Even more shocking though is that he didn't fall and is actually riding on a magic carpet. After being told it’s safe, Jas agrees to go for a ride.
RB’sB: She has a pet tiger and wonders if something is safe? Also, remember kids, you can win anyone over so long as you have a sweet ride.
Oh yeah, I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Jas would look for an excuse to get away from the palace after so many years, found out Ali is more empathetic than all the other princes, and intuits that it’s actually Aladdin from the callback line “Do you trust me?” It’s totally just that one thing to be taken out of context that people do with so many moments from this movie all the time.
RB’sB: …Well you don’t have to be a d*** about it.
Oh hey, it’s Academy bait the song. Relax everyone, I kid. It’s just as great as everything says. It’s a beautiful duet with beautiful singers set to beautiful landscapes. It’s about as Disney as you can get with any song. Definitely one that’s better to be experienced as opposed to explained, so I'll go ahead and move forward.
The two enjoy a showing of fireworks, and Jasmine quickly calls Al out for his lies. I am very appreciative of this form of continuity. There’s no way she wouldn’t be able to put two and two together, much like how everybody can’t realize Clark Kent is Superman. And at the same time, they only met once, so it's reasonable that she wouldn't recognize him right away. This is an example of how quick romance can actually benefit the story. But the lies continue as Al claims to be a prince who just needs a break every now and then. As far as lies go this one is pretty good. It’s not like Jas is in any place to object considering she was doing the same thing not too long ago.
Another thing I love about this scene is the way it portrays Al and Jas’s chemistry. Movies, especially animated ones, don’t have all the time in the world to develop romance with paragraphs of dialogue. Sometimes all it takes to make a couple believable is to simply show them being comfortable and content around each other.
RB’sB: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
After sharing a kiss that definitely had tongue in it, Ali gets kidnapped by the palace guards per Jafar’s orders and sends Al over the side of a cliff. When I watched this scene as a kid I was legitimately terrified that Al was gonna die. Even when I’m older and watching this scene, I’m still on the edge of my seat because of how relatable the idea of choking is. And the animators make this whole scene feel very claustrophobic. Luckily Genie is there to intuit that Al would probably use his second wish to be rescued, and by this point the two realize that they have become real friends that care about each other (lamp notwithstanding). Keep this in mind for later.
Genie: Oh, Al. I'm gettin' kind of fond of you, kid. Not that I wanna pick out curtains or anything.
Ali gets back to the palace and unveils Jafar’s method of secret meddling by breaking the cane hypnotizing the Sultan. The Sultan himself proves himself to be a true leader by attempting to have Jafar dealt with swiftly. In fact, the movie would probably have ended right here if Jafar hadn’t discovered the lamp in Al’s pocket. I can excuse Al for not trying to hide it a bit more here because it’s not like he knew Jafar was the old man that tried to kill him.
Everything seems to be right with the world. The Sultan is ecstatic that his daughter has found a good suitor, Jas still thinks Al is a prince, and Al has won everybody over. Except it’s not Aladdin that saved the day technically. It’s Ali. And Ali would never even be here if it weren’t for Genie. And if Genie is gone, how is Al supposed to keep up the charade by himself? Al may be a prince technically, but he’s not a prince on the inside. He barely even got through one date as his alter ego. All this coupled with his own insecurities and flaws is why I believe Aladdin is completely in character for the scene where he refuses to set Genie free, as cruel as it is. And the film lets this sink in too.
Genie basically shuts him out, Abu and Carpet leave after being yelled at, and Aladdin has a hard hitting moment of self-reflection; this leads him to come to the conclusion on his own that he’s been believing in a lie this whole time. It’s precisely why I believe Fluttershy was in character in Putting Your Hoof Down as opposed to Fake It Til You Make It. In the former, she (like Al) has a moment of humility in seeing how she hurt those closest to her. Al’s character arc has reached the home stretch, and now all that’s left is to come clean.
Unfortunately we’ve still got about 20 minutes left. By this point in the film Jafar and Iago have been fun characters who have done pretty dastardly deeds every now and then. But I wouldn’t really say they’ve done anything to make as memorable as the greats like Scar and Maleficent. All that changes though when Iago steals the lamp so Jafar can use Genie to do his bidding. All before Al can get a chance to set things right. Most films would probably have our main character continue to lie and only tell the truth once the villain intervenes. I believe the fact that Al was this close to fixing things up makes their takeover all the more effective.
I feel so bad for Genie in this scene too. He’s normally as happy as a clam while working. But being forced to do Jafar’s dirty work has to be like a flaming dump truck to the face.
Here we get one of the more controversial parts of the movie. Upside: Jafar finally gets his own villain song. Downside: It’s not a fully original song and is just a reprise of Prince Ali. I don’t mind that it’s only a reprise. In fact, I think that makes it way more effective here. Jafar took one of the most victorious and celebratory songs of any Disney movie and completely turned it on its head by using it to taunt and expose our poor hero. My only real complaint is that it’s far too short. But if you’d like to hear a more fitting villain song for Jafar, check out You’re Only Second Rate from the sequel. It’s really good and sort of feels like an analogy of Dan Castellaneta. trying to recreate Robin’s performance.
Al is now at his lowest point. Jafar has almost won completely, but he’s not out for the count yet. Despite being sent to the ends of the Earth, he uses his resourcefulness to save Abu and Carpet and return home to save the day. Jafar may have ultimate power as well as ownership of Genie, but Al and Jas still have ways to win. Al uses his escape art skills to get around the castle and even tangle with Jafar as a giant snake, while Jas goes as far as seducing Jafar just to divert his attention.
RB’sB: Isn’t she just 15?
I’d rather not think about it. I love how the solution to this final battle isn’t arrived at through brute force or even the arbitrary power of love or some cliché crap. It all comes down to our characters’ abilities to think fast and use the villains’ hubris against them. Al tricks Jafar into becoming a genie with his final wish, receiving all the baggage that comes with it. With our villains defeated, our heroes reconvene. This scene is so damn heart warming every single time because everyone in this movie f***ing earned that happy ending. Jasmine earned wedding her true love, Genie earned his freedom, and Aladdin more than earned the chance to rewrite history by going from rags to riches just like that. And of course by riches I mean love. Don’t @ me.
And that was Aladdin! Final thoughts bro?
RB’sB: Well it feels good to finally agree with you on one of your reviews for once. This movie is still as great as I remember!
Even after more than 25 years, Aladdin still holds up as one of the reasons the 90's was such a great time to be a Disney fan. The animation is beyond superb and eye catching, and what makes it unique from most Disney films is how well it handles faster more comedic movements as well like one big Looney Tunes cartoon. The music is a special kind of timeless that will be remembered and celebrated for years to come. Aladdin is fantastic protagonist with a great arc, Jasmine is severely underrated and is a lot more interesting than people give her credit for, Jafar and Iago make for a wonderful villainous duo, and I think enough has been said about Genie. Part of me is still somewhat peeved at this film for starting the trend of relying on celebrities over character actors, but that'd be like hating Toy Story for being the first CG film, or South Park for being a successful adult cartoon. Trends do not define the real quality of good products. But is Aladdin my favorite Disney movie? Well... I'd hate to spoil the surprise
So, now that I'm done here, you wanna go to the movies bro?
RB'sB: *sigh* There's no point in hiding it anymore. Carrick, you deserve to know that while you were gone, Disney made a remake of this film. And they cast Will Smith as the genie.
....
RB'sB: Carrick?
I'm.... I'm sure it's fine. I won't be one to judge a film without giving it a fair shot. So let's go see it then and give it a fair and non biased-