Review of Aladdin (1992) by Michael J M — 12 Dec 2011
It's hard to pick a favorite part of Disney's Aladdin, much less reflect on what it is that makes the film so incredible and memorable. Is it the writing? The animation? The instantly catchy and fun songs? The fact that characters who speak incoherent nonsense or not at all have such incredible personality (Carpet, Abu, Rajah)? The fact that Frank Welker, the best voice actor in the world, the voice of Scooby-Doo and Megatron voices multiple characters (Abu, Rajah, The Cave of Wonders)? Robin Williams as Genie?
...it's probably Robin Williams. Granted, this is probably Williams' best movie.
Aladdin teaches us that living a life of crime is perfectly okay as long as your heart is pure. Also, if your heart is pure you will eventually become rich and get a beautiful woman (it helps if you look like an early-90s-era Tom Cruise). And without magic nothing is possible. So you're basically SOL unless you find a quick-witted pop-culture spouting stand up comedian trapped in a golden lamp.
Aladdin is a near-perfect film. It's the first animated film of all time to gross more than $200,000,000. It also manages to fit a song made up entirely of sexual innuendoes in to a children's movie and make it a slow-dance staple (seriously- have you ever actually LISTENED to the lyrics of "A Whole New World"?).
Aladdin's story is endearing, it's combination of then-cutting-edge 3D animation with traditional 2D animation is beautiful and the songs remain catchy years later. Sure, there are the usual animation oversights that I notice now when rewatching the film, but those are hardly enough to detract from the brilliance that is Aladdin. There are even significant color queues throughout the film which are based on the colors of the desert - red (heat) for the bad, the blue of desert water for the good and neutrals of yellow (sand). These colors remain consistent throughout the film. When Jafar is in control, there is a reddish tint over everything and Jasmine and her father are wearing red. These queues are evident even early on in the film - the Cave of Wonders' temptations are red (the ruby) and the lamp room is colored in blues.
Aladdin is a hard film not to love, even years later.
Wilhelm screams heard: 1.
MyTake: 8/10.
This review of Aladdin (1992) was written by Michael J M on 12 Dec 2011.
Aladdin has generally received very positive reviews.
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