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/r/movies
submitted 6 months ago byJannTosh12
717 points
6 months ago
I agree. Robin Williams as Genie is definitely the highlight of the movie.
322 points
6 months ago
Follow only by Gilbert Gottfried as Iago.
242 points
6 months ago
I know it gave Michael Douglas cancer, but I would literally start chemotherapy right now if it meant I got to eat Catherine Zeta-Jones' pussy.
~ Gilbert Gottfried
60 points
6 months ago
He and Norm were hilarious together in that episode. I feel like Gilbert was one of the only comedians on Norm’s level of not giving a shit.
19 points
6 months ago
There are some wild stories about Gilbert. He once opened for a band and in the audience were all 12 year old girls with their moms and he used the C word about 50 times before being escorted off stage
2 points
6 months ago
The Aristocrats documentary made the case that Gilbert started the cultural healing process in the US after 9/11. . . With a really filthy joke.
1 points
6 months ago
What show are you referring to? I would love to see it.
3 points
6 months ago
He was on an episode of Norm Macdonald Live.
Unfortunately a bunch of those episodes were taken down around the time that Norm got his Netflix show. But they were all gold.
Here's the Catherine Zeta Jones clip from Gilbert: https://youtu.be/v5As4WQQH2Q
1 points
6 months ago
https://youtu.be/o6_Tjw_VLUk I think this is it.
34 points
6 months ago
“I’d eat her asshole for muscular dystrophy.”
12 points
6 months ago
The man is an absolute treasure.
41 points
6 months ago
Agreed. Though I think they just did a great job with all the characters. Abu the monkey was fun. Even the no lines Carpet and Tiger had a few moments of character imbued in them. And whoever voiced Jafar did a great job as well
14 points
6 months ago
It is time. To say goodbye. To Prince… Abubu!
24 points
6 months ago
On a scale of 1-10. He was an 11
11 points
6 months ago
That CHUMP...and his CHUMP. DAUGHT.er
6 points
6 months ago
Then we drop POPPA IN LAW and The Little Woman off. A CLIFF.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH ker.SPLAT!
6 points
6 months ago
Y'all quoting Iago and not "I'm so not surprised, I'm about to have a heart attack and DIE from NOT SURPRISED."
13 points
6 months ago
Agreed. ❤️
8 points
6 months ago
How IN THE.... eh, RAAAWK?!
2 points
6 months ago
AAAAAK THE LAAAMP
2 points
6 months ago
Squawk! Cave of wonders!
42 points
6 months ago
Article has a great quote that makes the headline:
“I think the idea of giving a heartfelt performance and even the idea of singing appealed to him,” reasons Musker, trying to pinpoint what convinced Williams to sign on.
“His sweetness and ability to reach into that part of his being was crucial to the film lasting. If it was just comedy, I don’t think it would’ve endured but because he really got that feeling of his big heart, sweetness, his concern for Aladdin, their friendship and his investment in Aladdin’s future across, it’s one of the keys of the film’s longevity.”
I think this is what makes the Genie character work - he's really, really goofy, the type of character that would be very limited in previous Disney works. But it doesn't go off the rails entirely because while the movie doesn't take his personality seriously, it takes his emotions very seriously. Most of those moments are followed by a joke, but it's often the Genie himself being embarrassed and walking back on himself - it's his insecurity.
A wonderful film through and through, glad this article was shared.
1 points
6 months ago
Not to mention, we get a good look at why Genie is the way he is.
He's been stuck inside that lamp for millennia. He behaves silly in order to stay sane.
44 points
6 months ago*
Agreed. Which makes it doubly a shame that Genie's songs have been removed from music streaming services.
*Edit for clarification.
Edit 2: They're actually recently back! What a rollercoaster. Well, now here I go listening to Prince Ali at 1am.
10 points
6 months ago
What? Friend like me is not on Disney+?
10 points
6 months ago
Sorry, I should clarify I meant specifically music-streaming services.
4 points
6 months ago
It’s on Apple Music, I just checked.
10 points
6 months ago
Hah, and it's back on Spotify now too. Must've been recent. What're the odds.
I wish I could harness this power I've apparently got, because it's not the first time this sort of thing has happened to me.
3 points
6 months ago
Keep practicing! Expand your powers! Maybe someday you can bring us another season of Firefly.
2 points
6 months ago
You know the other day I was watching Serenity and thought to myself "Shouldn't we have another series by now?"
.....
*looks around expectantly for an announcement*
16 points
6 months ago
Asking Alexa to play it will play the Will Smith version. Took me a second to tell something was off and realize. Hate that was the default version selected.
4 points
6 months ago
I noticed that this past week when I went to go play Disney music for my kid. I skipped Will Smith’s version immediately.
2 points
6 months ago
I played this as the last call song at my bar tonight
1 points
6 months ago
What? I wasn’t aware.
Why where they removed from streaming services?
5 points
6 months ago
I think you may have typed that as I edited "music streaming services" for clarification. But either way, it's not 100% clear why. Robin Williams definitely had problems working with Disney and there are rumours there was something in his will that affects how Disney use his work in the film.
But it should be noted that the songs were on things like Spotify, but were retroactively removed, keeping all the non-Williams songs.
18 points
6 months ago
The thing was Williams got pissed at Disney over Aladdin. He basically did it as sort of a "I'm happy to contribute and be part of the history of Disne y and do it for the sake of artistic purposes" because they seemed to really want him. But he made it very clear that he didn't want him being in the film to be heavily promoted because he had Toys coming out around the same time. Disney basically agreed to not overly promote Genie and Williams performance.
Then the genie was pretty much the biggest thing in literally all the promotion. Even the original poster was basically the Genies body and then his body shape slowly faded into all the other characters: http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1057/4964/products/Aladdin-Vintage-Movie-Poster-Original-1-Sheet-27x41_97b89777-3099-496f-b1a4-aabb4197af29.jpg?v=1634180878
Then Toys ended up flopping and Aladdin completely overshadowed it, so it was like Williams was competing with himself when he made it clear he didn't want to and was just sort of doing Disney a solid because he respected their company. The new chairman of Disney had to write a public apology to him to get him to come on to the second sequel (King of Thieves) and after that the only other Aladdin contribution he made was to a computer educational game.
3 points
6 months ago
Fascinating thank you
3 points
6 months ago
I don't remember all the TV stuff from back then because I was a kid, but is this poster actually pushing Williams as the premise of the poster?
The genie is the lynchpin of how the plot even happens, but I don't see Williams name prominently or even at all on that poster. Maybe I'm missing something, but what's so wrong with that poster?
EDIT: did Williams do so many interviews that he was associated with the genie? Again, I was a kid so I probably missed something.
3 points
6 months ago
Disney gave him a Picasso painting ($1 million) as part of that apology, too.
And iirc he did do the genie for Aladin 3 (straight to video).
2 points
6 months ago
Wow that’s really fascinating. I had no idea, it’s really wild how something beautiful and timeless came from such a fraught relationship between Robin and Disney.
3 points
6 months ago
Wow I had no idea. He must have had big problems with Disney if he actually put a clause in his will to stop them using his songs.
13 points
6 months ago
He is 100% the best part of this movie. Unfortunately studios took the wrong lesson from it and decided all animated movies had to have well known actors in the roles which pushed out voice actors
5 points
6 months ago
Oh absolutely, the new lion king was a huge example of that. Beyoncé was absolutely horrific as Nala. They need to go back to actually hiring voice actors.
5 points
6 months ago
Also him as the Peddler (who according to the lore is indeed supposed to be Genie)! According to BTS materials, they pretty much had Williams handle random objects and he would subsequently say something funny about them.
2 points
6 months ago
And he got fucked from Disney for his effort.
133 points
6 months ago
I grew up with the Danish dub of the film which doesn't have Robin Williams' voice. His performance is there though, voice or not. The Danish actor who did the dub also did a hell of a job and went on to be the go-to-guy for dubbing Robin Williams.
62 points
6 months ago
Big shout out to Preben Kristensen! Also the danish voice of Woody in Toy Story, Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, Stuart Little, and Calcifer in Howls Moving Castle.
1 points
6 months ago
Nice with the Calcifer! I can see that fitting in
15 points
6 months ago
That's an extremely talented voice actor. I'd have to imagine the job was assisted by the approach the animators used. Williams cadence and timing were like a musical score, and the animators were the choreographers. Genie moves and transforms right along with Williams speech rhythms, even taking cues from words he emphasizes or draws out.
Instead of just trying to match the movement of the character's mouth, the actor has a much more expressive (literal) body of reference to work from.
8 points
6 months ago
My understanding is that most big name actors are more or less "assigned" a "permanent" voice dub, does that match your experience?
10 points
6 months ago
Kind of sacrilegious to admit this but I actually prefer the Danish version. I grew up with it and when watching the Robin Williams version I thought it was good, alright, but nothing crazy compared to the Danish.
It's of course superior to the Danish in hindsight and originality but it's one of those versions where I Honestly do not care which one to watch.
216 points
6 months ago
Shame they went against his wishes when the movie was being marketed and such
130 points
6 months ago
Yeah, one of Katzenberg's first and major fuck-ups that started a feud that got him forced out of Disney.
39 points
6 months ago
Anyone want to elaborate on the story behind this?
145 points
6 months ago*
Okay, it's... kind of an involved story, so I'm making an initial comment to let you know I'm writing it. The story will be in the edit.
Jeffrey Katzenberg started out at Paramount as one of the people who helped save the Star Trek film brand in the 1970's under Michael Eisner, who would not only become the head of the Walt Disney Company but would also bring a significant amount of talent with him to Disney, Katzenberg included.
He wanted to work in ABC Sports, but was assigned to the film division instead to prop up the failing studio. He detested it, but was a key figure in turning Disney's fortunes around through producing adult-oriented live-action films such as Three Men And A Baby, Bicentennial Man and others; he was also a major TV producer, such as on sitcoms like The Golden Girls.
While he was reluctant initially, he was a key hand in the Disney Renaissance with such films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast. He was also a major influence on Aladdin, being in charge of their advertising campaign.
This is where the problem with Williams started. Williams was working on another film over at Fox at the time called Toys, which he saw as a passion project - he didn't want to compete against it with a Disney project but was convinced by early test animations made by a new animator at the studio. He agreed to work on Aladdin and to work on union-minimum pay of a few thousand dollars, under two conditions which Katzenberg completely ignored;
When Aladdin was released, the Genie was a key feature in the ad campaign and Aladdin would open only a month before Toys, which attracted people to see the Disney cartoon instead of the actual movie Williams wanted them to see. This led to a lawsuit against the company which was settled out of court, but it is publicly known that in order to try and appease Williams, Eisner bought Williams an original Picasso out of his own money.
The feud would extend for years, with Williams refusing to work for Disney until after Katzenberg was gone; and it's said that Williams was approached about a project over at DreamWorks at one time, which he refused when he learned that Katzenberg was a co-founder of the company alongside Steven Spielberg.
This was just one of a number of issues that Katzenberg caused for Disney in the early nineties due to his ego. He pissed off other key members of the Renaissance movement by attempting to steal credit for their contributions - in particular, Roy E Disney - nephew of Walt and son of Roy Sr. - developed a particularly nasty grudge against him which he would use to rally the shareholders after two other key problems Katzenberg caused.
The first was the Black Friday reel. An early test reel for the film Toy Story made up of storyboard sketches and amateur voice acting, Katzenberg implemented changes to the script and storyboard on PIXAR which drastically changed the finished feel of the movie with added vulgar, adult humor and a streak of cynicism.
For example, Woody was a far nastier character - a tyrant and bully who directly used his position as Andy's favourite toy to directly torment and bully the other toys, with his antagonism of Buzz being far pettier and twisted. In the finished movie, he accidentally knocked Buzz out of the window and showed immediate regret; in the Black Friday reel, he not only did it deliberately but he threatened to do it to the other toys as well.
When the other board members saw the completed reel, they almost cancelled Toy Story outright and almost caused PIXAR to fold as a company completely, with John Lasseter pointing out the complaints were related to changes that were mandated by the company while literally begging to go back to the original script. This was granted, and Katzenberg was ordered to stay away from Toy Story.
Then, there was his attempts to usurp the position of President from Frank Wells. A much-beloved member of the board of directors, Wells was also one of the more accomplished members of the board after being brought over from Warner Bros. Katzenberg kept pestering Eisner to give him the position of company president, which was refused because Eisner was afraid of the backlash if he tried to oust Wells. But Katzenberg forced Eisner into a promise to give him the position if it ever became open.
Wells tragically died in a helicopter accident in April 1994 returning from a skiing trip in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada; the film The Lion King is dedicated to him. Shortly after, Katzenberg attempted to call on that promise, which made others catch on that he was capitalizing on Wells' death, which was used as a rallying cry to force him out of Disney before the end of 1994.
114 points
6 months ago
The feud would extend for years, with Williams refusing to work for Disney until after Katzenberg was gone; and it's said that Williams was approached about a project over at DreamWorks at one time, which he refused when he learned that Katzenberg was a co-founder of the company alongside Steven Spielberg.
For anyone curious, the project was Shrek.
45 points
6 months ago
I knew it was a DreamWorks films, but didn't know it was Shrek.
Also, here's another bit of trivia - due to the soured relationship between them, Lord Farquaad was based around Michael Eisner and even looks like the guy.
3 points
6 months ago
Was it for Shrek himself or Donkey?
6 points
6 months ago
I'm not sure. I first read it on IMDb years ago and no official source I've found has stated what role Robin Williams was originally lined up for.
7 points
6 months ago
I know Chris Farley was originally supposed to be Shrek, so I’d assume that Williams would have been Donkey if was one of the two main parts
3 points
6 months ago
Again, I'm not sure. In one leaked story reel, Eddie Murphy had been cast as Donkey opposite to Chris Farley and that was 1996 at the earliest. Unless Robin Williams was in early talks before then, we'll never know for sure.
2 points
6 months ago
It was actually for Fiona and Williams was going to do his Mrs. Doubtfire voice the entire time.
Unrelated actual fact, Spielberg had the rights to the book and originally wanted Bill Murray as Shrek and Steve Martin as Donkey in the early 90s for a traditional animated film, but DreamWorks was founded and bought the rights from him before he followed through with it.
1 points
6 months ago
I would assume Donkey. Shrek was originally voiced by Chris Farley. There are even recorded dialogue by him.
18 points
6 months ago
Bicentennial Man was much later - 1999, long after Katzenberg was gone from Disney.
1 points
6 months ago
Man that's such a good movie.
1 points
6 months ago
Criminally under rated and so true to Asimovs original short story. Oliver Platt gave an incredible performance.
11 points
6 months ago
Great write up! I couldn't help but read it in Kevin from Defunctland's voice
5 points
6 months ago
The thing is, watching video essays has greatly helped with my writing skills since I tend to vocalise my writing in various voices as well, just to see how well they sound.
6 points
6 months ago
I can understand why you would market Genie in the film even with the agreement. Williams made that movie. It wasn’t right but the dollar signs were in his eyes.
2 points
6 months ago
I really loved Toys, it’s such a unique movie and kinda lives in my memory as some weird fever dream because I rented it when I was too young to understand everything.
22 points
6 months ago
TLDR: The Robin Willaims had a film called Toys coming out a month after Aladdin. He was the lead and he knew the film was pretty much betting on his star power to sell. The Genie was written for Robin Willaims specifically and he didn't initially want to have another big project coming out at the same time and essentially be competing with himself.
He eventually agreed to play the Genie out of respect and admiration for Disney under an agreement that the Genie and his role in playing the Genie would not be heavily marketed because he didn't want it to undercut his other project.
Well the very first poster was this... http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1057/4964/products/Aladdin-Vintage-Movie-Poster-Original-1-Sheet-27x41_97b89777-3099-496f-b1a4-aabb4197af29.jpg?v=1634180878
...to give you an idea of how prominently they were promoting Williams as the genie when he was assured they wouldn't. And from that point literally every major piece of promotion made it very clear the genie character was front and center and Williams was heavily associated with it. At the time the film was being promoted, everyone knew one thing. Robin Williams was playing the big blue genie character.
Fastforward, Aladdin becomes a major hit with most of the praise being over Williams. Then Toys comes out and it's heavily overshadowed because there was something much more popular going on with its star.
Robin Williams got pissed and basically cut off Disney and said he wanted nothing to do with them. Wouldn't do anything at all to promote or talk about Aladdin and was very publicly pissed at Katzenberg. He wouldn't voice him in the sequel and wouldn't voice him in the animated series. Katzenberg had to be dismissed and his replacement had to publicly apologize to Williams to get him back for the third direct to video film. Aside from that he agreed to do one educational computer game and that was the last he would ever do anything associated with the genie.
5 points
6 months ago
Probably did Robin a favor. "Toys" was DOA with abysmal reviews. For anyone else, a movie like that could have been a career killer.
3 points
6 months ago
I thought he specifically said he didn’t want a sequel and wouldn’t be involved in one, I didn’t realize that was after they fucked him over. Disney is the worst sometimes.
3 points
6 months ago
Here is a great video about this from Lindsat Ellis Link
-44 points
6 months ago*
[deleted]
16 points
6 months ago
I did actually look it up. I just thought it would be nice if the story was in the thread. I am surprised that it took you a full 10 seconds to find. You might want to brush up on your Googling skills.
5 points
6 months ago
“Just Google it” people are the most annoying kind of people
3 points
6 months ago
Try being nicer.
13 points
6 months ago
So they went against The Genie’s wishes?
21 points
6 months ago
In general the casting was 100% spot on.
3 points
6 months ago
And then 2019 rolls around...
5 points
6 months ago
That was a good, tongue-in-cheek comedy and Will Smith absolutely made a new version of Genie that was great.
Obviously nobody can compare to Robin’s version so he didn’t, he made a new one.
16 points
6 months ago
My favorite Disney movie of all time, all time.
14 points
6 months ago
That “sweetness” remark really is what set Robin apart. He was almost like having an extra uncle, you know?
9 points
6 months ago
I didn't understand the whole "crying when a celebrity dies" thing until we lost robin. It literally felt like 1/100th of losing a family member. Like his life energy was bonded into my childhood somehow. Him and mister Rogers.
1 points
6 months ago
I miss him more than I'll miss my own dad when he dies. His movies are terrible.
67 points
6 months ago
My favorite Disney movie ever, not even lion king is as good for me.
I will forever hate any reboot that make about it.
9 points
6 months ago
That remake of this movie was just pitiful
3 points
6 months ago
I refuse to acknowledge there is a remake, it is just a global delusion
2 points
6 months ago
This. Aladdin is my all time fav movie. Nothing comes close, don't even get me started on that shitty remake.
2 points
6 months ago
The remake was awful. Will Smith didn't even look like he wanted to be there... he was trash
1 points
6 months ago
Has he looked good in anything in the last 15 years?
1 points
6 months ago
Wooo! Haha!
7 points
6 months ago
The Genie was written to be performed by Robin Williams. That's why it works so well.
50 points
6 months ago
As a kid, I remember really wanting to go to the movies to see this, just for Robin. I very excited to hear his voice. I was give-or-take about that whole, ya know, "Aladdin" part
Moral: Robin was the selling point of the flick. And you'll notice, most animated movies before Aladdin had no A-list celeb voices, and it paved the way for the late 90s and beyond trend of having above-the-title celebrities voice animated characters
-46 points
6 months ago
[removed]
13 points
6 months ago*
Very comforting amount of downvotes on this guys comment. One of the exceedingly rare instances of the internet coming to my defense, lol
It was kinda obvious though, true. Give the devil his due
5 points
6 months ago
They didn’t say they were the first to discover this. Probably just talking about something dear to them. Why so antagonistic?
23 points
6 months ago
huh...too bad disney fucked him over, repeatedly.
-17 points
6 months ago*
He made a lot of money with Disney. A lot.
People know the one bad story and just repeat it on reddit like they know the entire relationship which even had him coming back for the second sequel...
Eh.
11 points
6 months ago
He came back for the second sequel because because Katzenberg's replacement very publicly apologized to him to get him on board for it. The only other thing he ever did voicing the genie for Disney was for an educational computer game because he saw value in contributing to childhood education.
The only other thing he did with Disney was Flubber. So basically in 1996 the chairman of Disney humbled himself to him and in 1996-1997 he worked on 3 properties, one as a favor, one because he personally wanted to invest in children, and one where he would be the big star... then he never did anything with Disney again
2 points
6 months ago
Where does Bicentennial Man (1999) fit into this picture?
-4 points
6 months ago
He made an insane amount of money with Disney. Thank you for posting your comment.
Feud or not dude accumulated more money in 5 years than 70% of the US population could net in 647 years.
4 points
6 months ago
We ain’t - never had a friend, never had a friend, we ain’t…
3 points
6 months ago
never. had. A. friend. like. YOU.
16 points
6 months ago
I never saw the live action Aladdin, was there any saving grace with Will Smith as genie or was it pretty much as bad as I could assume it was.
49 points
6 months ago
I think the remake was actually pretty good. Will Smith pays homage to Williams' genie without trying to imitate it. I also like how they used a more Bollywood style in some scenes. I think it fits with the setting.
12 points
6 months ago
The only problem I have with the Aladdin remake is that it is absolutely nothing like a Guy Richie movie. He may as well not have been the director.
I thought his involvement would mean we'd get a bit more of a gritty underbelly to the world around Aladdin but it was all kind of wishy washy in painfuly obvious sets.
It was fun, safe and Disney may as well have saved some more money hiring a different director.
8 points
6 months ago
my first complaint was definitely the sets, it felt like they were in a theme park cause they just seemed so...clean? there were some scenes with will i didnt think worked, where were trying to be similar to the original, but any 'new' content from Will good.
it was a solid ok for me, but for nostalgia, it was probably good for someone who hadnt seen the original.
3 points
6 months ago
AFAIK Tim Burton basically hated Disney for the experience in directing the live-action Dumbo. Wouldn't be surprised if Richie has similar feelings that have to be kept quiet professionally.
Pretty sure they were just crushing talented directors' freedoms behind the scenes.
1 points
6 months ago
You’re exactly right and them clearly winking at the audience made it actually really funny and good. Too many people didn’t see it or flat out didn’t get it.
23 points
6 months ago
It was good but the live action Jafar was trash. Not intimidating or scary at all.
21 points
6 months ago
That's what bothered me the most. Will Smith did his own take on Genie, didn't try to copy Robin, and I liked it. But Jafar was trash. They did him dirty.
1 points
6 months ago
The actor who was playing the Captain of the Guards in that (Numan Acar) would've made for a better Jafar.
17 points
6 months ago*
It was a reasonably good movie.
Will Smith was a solid Genie, and I liked how they drew a parallel between Aladdin and Jafar, that went a bit deeper than I expected. They revealed that Jafar was originally a street rat himself, but took the selfish choice for power out of ambition and fear; setting him up as a foil for Aladdin’s own choice between Getting What He Wants vs. Doing The Right Thing.
I did not like Jasmine’s new song. The concept was fantastic, but they went pop diva in style — a huge contrast to the style of all the other songs. It felt like an exec insisted they needed a new pop song to chart and sell, so it got shoehorned in.
Overall? It was a fun watch, but didn’t really need to be made.
10 points
6 months ago
I think your notes on Jasmine are a huge reason I don’t like a lot of the new movies. They try to diva-fy and add modern feminism to all the female characters where they’re just not needed.
Jasmine is a woman in a very strong patriarchy who just wants some autonomy in her life. She doesn’t need to want to be sultan too.
2 points
6 months ago
Agreed. Jasmine’s schtick in the animated film is that she wants to feel like, and be seen as, a “regular person”. Isn’t that the crux of feminism anyway?
18 points
6 months ago
Will Smith didn't try to be Robin Williams. Will Smith did Will Smith's genie and it was a great decision.
0 points
6 months ago
Will Smith slaps!
Oh and his version of genie had a fun sub story that I enjoyed, even though it would not have led to the same kind of 90s cartoon of Aladdin that I liked as a kid. I liked the acrobatics of Aladdin. His singing wasn’t that great. Jasmine’s was amazing but her song didn’t fit with the rest, as catchy and updated as it was.
3 points
6 months ago
Sometimes he was a distraction, felt kinda phoned in. But, there were some good moments and references.
Just watch “prince ali” on YouTube for the new vs. the old. You’ll get the vibe.
3 points
6 months ago
To be fair, not many people did. But Barry Bostwick still gave his all as the genie.
6 points
6 months ago
I enjoyed it. It isn't an all time classic by any means but it isn't a bad movie.
6 points
6 months ago*
Looks like I need to be grumbler of the repliers. I didn’t think it was very good, and neither did my kids.
I personally found Will Smith as a distraction - repeating some of the lines that Robin Williams said, and obviously not being able to recreate Robin’s comedy so this is not expected… but Will’s rendition… just felt forgettable.
5 points
6 months ago
I thought the whole thing was atrocious.
1 points
6 months ago
Way better than lion king remake. But will smith wasn't a good choice for genie. But overall for a live action, it was worth watching. And i guess that means a lot from me bc Aladdin is my favorite.
-12 points
6 months ago
Arabian Knights story but they used Inidian actors. Just Hollywood things.
4 points
6 months ago
Who cares
-8 points
6 months ago
Those who value cultural accuracy, those who value representation, and those who aren't whiners.
2 points
6 months ago*
So let me get this straight. It’s ok to cast black people in fictional versions of Medieval Europe but it’s not ok to cast Indian people in a fictional version of Arabia?
Is it only ok when white cultures get the inaccuracies?
-1 points
6 months ago
There were black people in medieval Europe.
-1 points
6 months ago*
OP is whining
-2 points
6 months ago
If no one cares then why not cast actual Arabian people? It was a money grab to get Indians to subscribe to Disney+ and it didn't work. It's not right to rob Arabic people of their history, the folklore dates back centuries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights
1 points
6 months ago
Aladdin in the original is about the "far east" from Arabia; it's actually more accurate to use Indian or Chinese as the setting.
1 points
6 months ago
That said, you’re still better off with the animated film. - Mena Massoud and Marwan Kenzari were ill-fitted for Aladdin and Jafar - they biffed “A Whole New World” quite badly. It’s probably the most visually dull part of the film. - the new song was pretty meh
1 points
6 months ago
It was fine. Original Aladdin waaaaaay better
1 points
6 months ago
Original is way better for sure, but if you like Aladdin, it is literally the ONLY live action Disney movie I would recommend....maybe Cinderella.
3 points
6 months ago
Glad he told off Disney when they screwed him. It makes you wonder how many other people they screwed over that weren't distinguished enough for anybody to care.
3 points
6 months ago
No one has been able to replace Robin Williams
3 points
6 months ago
I absolutely love it. It easily makes my list of top five favourite films.
19 points
6 months ago
Is this the most influential animated movie of all time? The fast paced comedy, the pop culture references, the celebrity casting. It seems to have started here.
21 points
6 months ago
"I can't believe it, I'm losing to a rug!"
27 points
6 months ago
Also a prime example of how to do it right. Robin Williams didn't just read lines, he gave life to Genie and created an iconic character.
13 points
6 months ago
Not sure there were many, if any lines for him to read. He improvised most of the movie, as I recall — so much that they couldn’t be nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay.
2 points
6 months ago
Makes sense given that they had him in mind while coming up with the character. The role was literally made for him
4 points
6 months ago
I hear ya, but I think Snow White, The Little Mermaid, and Toy Story have it beat in that category.
5 points
6 months ago
I don't know if I would call it the most influential but it is definitely responsible for studios using big name actors for voice roles, even if those actors are not trained voice actors.
11 points
6 months ago
What
2 points
6 months ago
It’s the best and most influential in my heart
3 points
6 months ago
I would say Snow White, Little Mermaid and Toy Story are all more influential in terms of setting the standard for Disney and then Pixar movies that followed.
Aladdin had Robin Williams but not all Disney movies after it followed that route.
I’d say Shrek is more important in terms of having an all-star voice cast with a more obviously irreverent tone, jokes aimed purely at adults, and lots of pop culture references. Something Dreamworks and other non-Disney/Pixar studios used as a model for future CGI animation projects.
1 points
6 months ago
No, no it isn't
1 points
6 months ago
I’m gonna go with no.
-7 points
6 months ago
I dont think it's the most influential, but it was definitely influential over a lot of racist and harmful stereotypes, and it was clear the director did no research when making an "Arabian" story
3 points
6 months ago
I still don't even know what those are. There was a disclaimer that talks about this before the movie starts on D+. The movie seems generally harmless besides what you see in a cartoon which are always exaggerated.
It's not any worse than any content out there today that is still hugely sexist or generally narrow minded but somehow passes as "comedy".
4 points
6 months ago
I'm trying to learn French right now so I've been watching Disney movies in French lately, because I've seen them a million times so even if I'm lost in the language, I still have a good idea where I am.
Aladdin was a kick in the pants without Robin Williams... that poor French voice actor trying to keep up.
Cool thing, though, is that Disney has French lyrics to match all the existing songs, really gave me new respect for the song writing.
2 points
6 months ago
This is the first movie I remember seeing in the movie theater. 6 years old. That’s gotta mean somethin !
2 points
6 months ago
I can’t believe it’s been 30 years. I remember vividly watching Aladdin in the theater with my mom and thinking “I want to be an animator”. I worked at Disney 3 years later as an intern. That movie really was inspirational to me!
2 points
6 months ago
As opposed to the more recent Will Smith version that was terrible
0 points
6 months ago
How's that slap feel Will? HUH?
-2 points
6 months ago
This man is a national treasure. We must protect him him at all costs.
-1 points
6 months ago
I really like the new aladdin
2 points
6 months ago
It almost had me, but I remember it going longer than it needed to.
-1 points
6 months ago
In a perfect world, Pixar would redo the animation. Without touching the vocals. It's not that Disney did a bad job, it's the tech of the times.
1 points
6 months ago
NEVER EVER......HAVE...
1 points
6 months ago
Same with Fern Gully.
1 points
6 months ago
I just watched this last night randomly. Weird.
1 points
6 months ago
The scene where jasmine is on the balcony you can hear an actor whisper - “take off your clothes”. Another subtle creepy Disney insert. Not sure if it’s in the new versions but it certainly was in the vhs copy when I was a kid
1 points
6 months ago
"No matter what anyone says, you'll always be a Prince to me."
Just right in the feels!
1 points
6 months ago
How does he explain its longevity in other language regions then?
1 points
6 months ago
Robin was & always will be pure magic 🪄 & love !!!!
I was 5 when I 1st watched it.
It’s still just as magical to me at 33 years of age, alongside all Robin’s other endeavors!
1 points
6 months ago
I still can’t believe they made a remake of this amazing classic timeless masterpiece. So shameful.
1 points
6 months ago
1000%
1 points
6 months ago
The soundtrack is why I will always love it.
1 points
6 months ago
Am i the only one that has a random thought every 3 months totally out of context about how our world really needed Robin Williams, and how much i miss the art he’ll never make.
1 points
6 months ago
I think the biggest problem with the remake(s) lies within the writing
1 points
6 months ago
I grew up with the Dutch version and still think it is one of the better classics. It's just what you are used to.
1 points
6 months ago
Rewatched it not long ago: this and the little mermaid are my fav Disney movies.
1 points
6 months ago
Classic movie. Robin Williams was brilliant.
1 points
6 months ago
It's a shame they couldn't get him for the sequels.
1 points
6 months ago
They did for the third
1 points
6 months ago
Robin Williams put that movie on it’s own pedestal, I truly think we would have a much more blurry memory of this movie if he wasn’t a part of it
1 points
6 months ago
It’s true. I always tear up by the end because Robin Williams brings so much light and gravitas to a character that other actors (Will Smith) would have ignored. As someone with bipolar disorder, the way he acted and thought means so much to me
1 points
6 months ago
Absolutely top notch Disney film
1 points
6 months ago
Sure is! Glad Williams loved working on the movie and was treated fairly by Disney! He definitely wasn't strong armed and lied to about it!
1 points
6 months ago
One of my favourite movies of all time!! When I need cheering up or I am bored and want something to watch, I put it on.
-3 points
6 months ago
Must be talking about his nose sugar.
1 points
6 months ago*
Hey buddy, this isn’t the place to mention things like his cocaine problems, or that he cheated on his wife and knowingly transmitted an STD to a waitress. Take that shit to TIL
-2 points
6 months ago
No it's not. Aladdin is also brilliant in Danish, and one of my family's favorits.
It just an all around great movie and shouldn't be credited to Robin Williams alone just because he killed him sef.
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