31. Aladdin (1992)

After Beauty and the Beast, Disney decided to release a more light hearted, comedic feature; unlike some of their previous attempts at this though, such as Robin Hood or The Aristocats, which aimed to be cute and goofy, but not much else, Aladdin doesn’t rest on its laurels as Disney threw everything they had into making the best comedy they could. Aladdin revolutionised Disney’s approach to comedy and characters, being much more modern in its style and sensibilities and setting the path for what most animated children’s films would come to be in the future – every modern kid’s comedy, particularly ones NOT made by Disney, such as Shrek, takes inspiration from Aladdin. Though some might argue the pop-cultural references and very 90’s attitude make Aladdin a little dated and prevent it from having the timeless feel of films such as Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Pinocchio, I think Aladdin is deft enough with its comedy and has enough focus on other things to still be just as good after all these years.

 

The fantastic animation of the Renaissance era continues and this is probably the best we’ve seen yet – Aladdin is an absolutely gorgeous looking film, the character designs, the backgrounds, the colours, the shading, the lighting, the animation, it’s all masterful. The character animation here is one of the first times Disney really mastered how to animate human beings, as well as cute animals; by all means, they’ve had well designed human characters before, but as early as Snow White Disney has had trouble with animating human beings without making them look like stiff, uncanny marionettes and even in a modern masterpiece like Beauty and the Beast, some of the townspeople do look a bit awkward or dull and just don’t fit in with the better animated humans like Belle and her father. Aladdin abandons any attempt at realism and embraces wacky and exuberant stylisation for all its human characters, even the barely noticeable background ones; though Aladdin and Jasmine are still recognisable as attractive young people, they are definitely cartoons, not attempts at shoving realistically proportioned people into animated worlds they don’t fit into. This is to say nothing of the marvellous animation of Genie, who I’ll talk more about later, but suffice it to say, he is one of the best animated characters of all time; understanding that they were making a less serious, more fun and comic film, Disney focused more on stylised, cartoonish designs here and it worked perfectly.

The backgrounds are new and exciting, this is an environment Disney has never tackled before, so we get a lot of cool new types of setting that are very different from what we’ve seen previously – the desert, the palace, the Cave of Wonders, they’re all great. The detail of the interior of the Sultan’s palace in particular is honestly quite unbelievable, even for 1992; these scenes are truly leaps and bounds ahead of even some of Disney’s best backgrounds. On top of that, the creativity and splendour in the Cave of Wonders is a joy to look at, so much bright colour, so much great use of space and lighting; look no further than the scene where Aladdin finally finds the lamp and slowly approaches it to see just how talented the Disney artists and animators are at framing scenes and using all the tools at their disposal to create tension and emotional involvement, they really do nail it. Aladdin is a real visual tour de force and one of the best looking movies I’ve ever seen, its animation and artistry, though not abstract or experimental, is euphoric in its sheer quality and enthusiasm.

‘Now where’s that bag of sand...?’

The story is a rather formulaic tale of a down-on-his-luck guy who gets a lucky break and uses it to rise from rags to riches and get the girl of his dreams; there are a few twists and turns along the way, though they are all rather simplistic and predictable. However, the story never feels like an excuse just to show thrilling action scenes or over-the-top comedy, as though it is rather simple, it is still well written and interesting enough to hold the audience’s attention to the end. Like I said, Aladdin is more light hearted in tone than the first few Renaissance movies (even The Rescuers Down Under, which is itself a rather light hearted adventure flick) and has a lot more comedy, but this comedy is thankfully tied a lot to characterisation, even Genie’s seemingly throwaway pop-culture references fit with his character and don’t come off as lazy. Another bonus is the fact that the jokes are actually really funny; some of Genie’s gags can seem a bit easy or simply excuses for Robin Williams to show off, but they are mostly very funny and a lot of the interactions between the various characters are great too. Aladdin is introduced being chased by armed guards who are out for blood because he stole some bread, causing him to take a pause and mutter in disbelief “All this for a loaf of bread?” As if acknowledging to the audience how ridiculous the situation is; the film is able to poke fun at itself and its clichés without being snotty about it and also incorporates a lot of visual humour to accompany the well delivered dialogue. Disney comedies tend to just be cute and warm and might bring a smile to your face, but Aladdin is actually a legitimately good animated comedy in the vein of something like Looney Tunes, if slightly watered down; it’s genuinely funny and had me laughing out loud more than once.

Beyond all the gags and fun animation however, Aladdin does address some issues in a surprising mature and subtle way – a theme of freedom runs throughout the film, acting as a backdrop to the characters’ motivations and as a result, the driving force of the movie. All of the major characters (even Jafar, the villain!) yearn for freedom and the movie is shaped by their struggles to obtain it: Aladdin wants to be free to live in peace, without having to steal or constantly be on the run from the law, he feels trapped by his social class and the label of “street rat” which prevents him from fulfilling his true potential. Jasmine wants to be free to make her own choices and live her life without being controlled by her father or a man she doesn’t know, she feels literally trapped by the palace walls, which act as a prison, preventing her from ever journeying outside. Genie wants to be free to be his own master and not be a slave to someone who doesn’t appreciate him, something he acknowledges would be ‘greater than all the magic and all the treasures in all the world.’ He too is literally trapped by the confines of the lamp, to which he is bound. Jafar wants to be free to control Agrabah and do what he pleases with it, without having to report to the Sultan; in fact, the reason we are urged to view Jafar as so evil is because he is not content to just be free, but to be more free than anyone else – he needs to be able to impose his will on them and control their own freedom, which we see by the way he hypnotises the Sultan, tries to force Jasmine to marry him, treats Genie like his slave and dictates the worth and possibilities of Aladdin’s life, constantly trying to keep him down. To Jafar, controlling other people’s ability to be free is the ultimate power trip.

Fittingly, the way in which Aladdin is finally able to defeat Jafar is by exploiting this desire for freedom, goading him into becoming a Genie by suggesting that his will can never be as strong as Genie’s, who will always hold more power and thus, more influence than him, forcing Jafar to become a Genie himself so that no-one’s will or ability to be free can ever exceed his own. Of course, this backfires and causes Jafar to suffer the most horrible punishment he could endure: he loses his freedom and is trapped inside the lamp for eternity. Conversely, Aladdin does Genie the greatest kindness he ever could by finally granting him his freedom, even at the cost of his own desires; he and Jasmine are rewarded for this selflessness when the Sultan changes the law, leaving them free to choose to marry one another and live the life they choose for themselves. More than magic, riches, street smarts or birthright, freedom is the most powerful force in Aladdin, as it dictates the possibilities of all the character’s lives and paths, a poignant truth that the film addresses in a subtle and thoughtful way. This idea is never brought right out or shoved down your throat, but carefully and delicately demonstrated and left for the audience to interpret; beyond the great comedy and visuals, the film actually gives you something to think about after it’s over.

Jafar and Iago, played here by Abbott and Costello

Key to the effectiveness of both the story and the comedy are the characters and they’re a pretty good bunch: Aladdin is a great protagonist, as the Disney Renaissance continued, Disney seemed to finally understand the idea that just having nice, but boring heroes with good moral fibre but not much personality wasn’t very interesting and started mixing up the way they addressed their protagonists. Subsequently, Aladdin is a new kind of Disney hero, though we’ve seen similar character types in Tramp, Peter Pan, Dodger and so on, this kind of laid back, streetwise trickster has never been the hero of the movie before and it’s interesting to see how differently Aladdin tackles the traditional problems a Disney protagonist faces.  He is brimming with charm, he’s cheeky, he’s roguish, he’s clever, he can be manipulative, but has a good heart; again, he’s similar to Tramp and Peter Pan and such, but Aladdin has a sensitivity and depth to him that sets him apart – he is legitimately frustrated with his life, as although he’s obviously intelligent, versatile and capable, he is looked down upon and not given a fair chance just because of how he was born. This is legitimately sympathetic, but Aladdin is never whiny or mopey about it, he’s always optimistic and always keeps trying to better his situation, never letting life keep him down and of course, though he does try to run away from his problems by pretending to be someone else, he eventually accepts who he is and faces his problems head on and emerges victorious; Aladdin is a very admirable and likeable character and a great hero who is active, driven and charming. He can also be very funny, thanks not only to his coy and witty dialogue but also his great animation – his smug looks, cheeky grins and the way he easily turns others around and nonchalantly slips out of dangerous situations is reminiscent of Bugs Bunny and Groucho Marx and though he’s obviously not quite as funny as them, Aladdin is still a very successful attempt at the classic smug trickster comedy character, you always root for him and always enjoy seeing him getting one over on his enemies.

Jasmine is a rather good female lead, but doesn’t get as much to do as Aladdin and seems a bit generic at times. While the idea of an independent, active princess in a Disney movie who refuses to have her life chosen for her and wants more out of life than the small world she knows was revolutionary once, the novelty is wearing off a little now that we’ve had it attempted with Ariel and perfected with Belle, who is just a better and more original form of this character than Jasmine. Nonetheless, it’s nicer to see this character type continue than to revert to the dull template of Snow White, Cinderella or Aurora and while Jasmine does borrow a lot from Ariel and Belle, she has more attitude and bite than those two and is a lot more willing to break politeness to call people out on their behaviour; she’s kind, but stubborn, as well as witty and intelligent, making her a fitting partner and foil for Aladdin. She’s also not as perfect as Belle and has her flaws, in that despite her dreams of living outside, she is a little naive and impatient and is shocked to discover how brutal life outside the palace really is; this is especially nice to see, because after a whole film of Ariel yearning to live on the surface world, despite her knowing nothing about it, only to get up there and be completely vindicated by having everything be perfect, it’s like Disney realised they goofed and did it right with Jasmine, who quickly discovers that the seaweed isn’t always greener in somebody else’s lake and things aren’t always what they seem – another of the film’s central themes. Sadly, Jasmine’s character is then kind of sidelined and we don’t see any further development of this idea, but it’s fun while it lasts; she may not be especially original, but Jasmine is probably the most realistic Disney princess yet, at the very least.

Aladdin and Jasmine’s relationship isn’t bad, they complement each other well and have a nice dynamic, but they do fall for each other a little too quickly, both in terms of the movie’s run time and the actual time that passes in the story, ready to marry after not even two days of knowing one another; sadly, though they do have much more time together than many of their predecessors, they still don’t have enough to really develop a genuine and believable relationship. Unlike Belle and Beast, who had a whole movie to get to know one another and whose romance was the focus of said movie, Aladdin just has too much other stuff going on – from the comedy, to the action, to the stuff with Jafar – to really give Aladdin and Jasmine’s romance the focus it needs. It’s still better than probably any other previous Disney romance besides Belle and Beast and it’s nice that Jasmine doesn’t like Aladdin when he’s pretending to be someone he’s not and he has to kind of win her over again, but they still don’t really work well enough for you to really care all that much about whether or not they end up together.

‘Wish I could be part of your world... Oh wow, hold on you guys are like, really poor, forget this.’

The side characters are also fun, the Sultan is similar to previous characters such as Maurice and Hubert in his role as the goofy, bumbling father, but his blissful naiveté is very endearing and stops him from ever being too derivative or annoying; the fact that he lives so extravagantly compared to the rest of his citizens can also be reconciled without making him seem unlikeable, as it is implied that Jafar uses his hypnotic staff to take advantage of the Sultan and make decisions for him, meaning the kindly Sultan is literally blind to the city’s problems, allowing him to be childish and aloof without coming off as selfish and callous. Abu is quite an interesting sidekick, it’s surprising just how selfish and bad-tempered he is for a Disney good guy and he has a lot of good physical comedy, he’s a great partner for Aladdin, though he does kind of fall out of focus in the second half. There is perhaps no greater testament to this film’s animation than the fact that it manages to give a personality to the Magic Carpet, who not only doesn’t speak, but doesn’t even have a face and yet manages to be brimming with character, being very funny, energetic, playful and mischevious, for a guy with no facial expressions he’s very fun to watch. Iago is great fun and though Gilbert Gottfried’s rather... uh, distinctive voice can get a little grating at times, he’s mostly really enjoyable to listen to, he’s well animated, he’s humorously callous and bad-tempered and a really good foil to Jafar. Iago and Jafar also kind of have this weird sort of ambiguously gay relationship, not literally of course, but they bicker and snark about other people like an old married couple and then there are things like Iago seeming jealous of Jasmine and, when rushing to pack only the essentials when they prepare to go on the run, he takes the time to consider whether or not to pack a picture of him and Jafar. Iago just seems... a little TOO into how great Jafar is and really wants to be praised by him, it’s really weird and funny, without ever being too blatant or over-the-top, he is definitely one of the best villainous sidekicks, on a similar level to Lefou. Jafar himself is a great villain, taking inspiration from a number of classic Disney villains, perhaps most noticeably Shere Khan; charming, refined, sarcastic, sadistic, often foppish and pathetic but very threatening when he needs to be, he’s everything a good animated villain should be – intelligent, powerful, funny, with awesome animation and voice acting, Jafar is the whole evil package and is just a riot to watch.

The most memorable of the side characters is of course, Genie, who comes in about half way through the movie and proceeds to totally steal the show. Though as I said he can at times be a little too much and there is definitely a very 90’s attitude to him, Robin Williams puts so much energy and spontaneity into his performance that none of the pop-cultural references or visual gags feel forced and though they don’t all hit the mark, he throws so many out that enough do hit the mark to make it work. Genie is so incredibly well animated with his extreme and creative movements, so often he could simply just point at something and make what he wants appear, but the animators find so many different and interesting ways for him to do things, so that he’s never boring to watch. He is just so fun, so over-the-top, so crazy and imaginative, he is a perfect example of what a comedic cartoon character should be, taking advantage of the unique possibilities that only animation can offer. Like Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck, he really is a classic cartoon and in terms of pure technical quality and imagination, may very well be the best animated of all of Disney’s characters; Genie represents the very power of animation itself – he has no limits and anything he can imagine is possible.

‘I didn’t think he’d do “Moon River” but then bam, second encore!’

Menken and Ashman return for one final musical score, as Howard Ashman sadly passed away during production, meaning Time Rice has to cover some of the lyrical duties; though unfortunate, at least Ashman went out on a high note, with some of the most enjoyable of all of Disney’s songs. Matching the more stylised and wild animation and wacky, comedic tone of the film, the songs in Aladdin are mostly very energised and spirited, they are big and brassy Broadway show tunes that are all about being as loud, bombastic and crazy as possible. There are two exceptions to this, the first being “Arabian Nights”, which is a slower, more atmospheric introduction to the mysterious world of Agrabah; it’s a memorable and catchy tune and similar in style and purpose to the wonderful opening theme to The Jungle Book, but it doesn’t quite match the energy of the later numbers, though this works just fine considering it comes first. The only time the musical style stumbles is when another slower, more atmospheric comes up half way through the film in the form of “A Whole New World”. This is, obviously, the “Whole New World Number” of the film, a term I chose to name after this particular song because, not only is this the generic, slower, sappy love song about dreams and wishes etc. etc. with a goofy cover by a pop singer during the credits that every Disney movie seemed to have during the Renaissance in particular, but because this is one of the times where it fits the least and really does feel forced. “Beauty and the Beast” is definitely a “Whole New World Number”, but it is at least a sweet song about a couple we have grown genuinely attached to and is part of a more serious and dramatic film; Aladdin is a much more easygoing movie, with much lighter and more energetic songs – “A Whole New World” just does not fit alongside the other songs and is neither a good enough love song, nor is it about a couple we care enough about to excuse its awkward placement alongside much different and much better songs. It’s not a bad song, I just don’t think it belongs here and definitely felt like it was written just to fill a quota – ‘Quick guys we’ve been writing too many upbeat, fun songs, we need to sneak a slow, boring love song in there cos that’s what we have to do in every film now.’ It’s hardly the worst time Disney ever did this, but I’ll never for the life of me understand why “A Whole New World” is such a big song, or why it’s one of the most remembered parts of the movie, I just don’t get it.

The other three songs however are all clever, playful and amazingly fun – “One Jump Ahead”  is a fun introduction to Aladdin’s character and to the style and pace that the movie’s going to follow, with all that great Disney lyricism, how can you argue with a song that rhymes something with “nom de plume”?  The energy is ramped up even further with the fantastic “Friend Like Me”, which manages to both be a strong character based introduction for Genie as well as a heart pounding, showstopping number in the vein of “Under the Sea” or “Be Our Guest”. In my opinion, “Friend Like Me” bests both these songs comfortably – a real accomplishment considering how great those songs are – it’s one of Disney’s absolute best. The music is great, the lyrics and rhymes are crazy, the animation is wild and incredibly imaginative, there is just so much joy and passion to it, so much thought put into how best to visualise each one of Genie’s outlandish wish suggestions, there is so much to look at and so much to listen to that you have to watch it more than once to even appreciate everything that’s going on in this jam packed number. The big, jazzy, swing music sound, the neon-like lighting and colours, the energised movements, it’s like watching a crazy Vegas show, but put on in a way that only Disney could, I absolutely love it. “Prince Ali” is another great showstopper, with the same type of energy, though obviously not quite as crazy with its visuals; the tune is so catchy, I get it stuck in my head every time I hear it and the lyrics are delightful, some of the words they manage to work in are incredible – “genuflect”, “coterie”, “fakirs”, the amount of thought and effort put into making the lyrics as clever and interesting as possible is really admirable. It’s not often that a musical can boast two big numbers of such quality, but Aladdin isn’t just any musical, it captures a very specific style and attitude perfectly, one that would often be imitated, but never quite matched.

Hello my rag time gal

Aladdin is bursting with fun, energy, creativity and imagination; it’s a whole new style for Disney which introduces a more wacky, modernistic approach to humour and characterisation, without betraying what made Disney great in the first place – the power of dreams, love and most of all, hope. The focus on comedy and more light hearted tone do mean that Aladdin can feel a little lacking in depth or purpose, but it still manages to tackle some very serious themes without being showy or obvious. While something like The Fox and the Hound might have a lot of heart, but not much bite and something like Oliver and Company has a lot of attitude but no real soul, Aladdin has a great balance of both and while it doesn’t have quite as much heart as say, Beauty and the Beast or Bambi, it more than makes up for it with everything else it has going for it, which is quite a lot, indeed.


Other Thoughts:

• Some nice symbolism for that theme of freedom when Jasmine opens up a birdcage to let a bird go free, before the Sultan takes the bird into his hands and puts it back into the cage. Really very smart actually, if a little transparent.

‘Hmm should I pick up on my daughter’s very obvious hints at showing she’s ready to leave the nest and I should let her go? Nah I’m just gonna put the bird back in the cage, I’m sure that won’t send any bad messages.’

• I love how dumb Aladdin looks here, it cracks me up.

‘Durrr is dis da lamp????’

9/10

Next Week: The Lion King!

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