Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker
A kind-hearted street urchin and a power-hungry Grand Vizier vie for a magic lamp that has the power to make their deepest wishes come true.
Ah, the tale of Aladdin and the genie in the lamp. Believe it or not, I saw Disney’s live action adaptation long before this animated classic. And I’m using the term “classic” here simply because it is perceived as one, although not by me.
‘Aladdin’ is a wonderful story and there are many life lessons disguised behind a façade of cute characters a young audience will love. They, off course, won’t understand the deeper meaning of what is presented here. They will laugh, fall in love with the characters, and have a good time.
Our hero, Aladdin, is a young thief with a pet monkey, Abu. Our heroin, Jasmine, is a princess. Interestingly, Aladdin is much happier than Jasmine, even though he owns nothing and doesn’t have a place to stay. He is a free spirit. Jasmine on the other hand has all the wealth she can dream of, but she feels trapped and wants to escape from it all.
When these two characters meet, it opens the door wide for character development, while the viewer starts searching his soul. There’s so much to learn from this bright, colourful, and lively animated movie. The antagonist is Jafar, along with his equally evil parrot Iago. Jafar tricks Aladdin into finding a lamp, which houses a genie that can grant the owner three wishes. Needless to say, Jafar has no good intentions and wants to use the wishes for his personal and selfish gain.
The Genie is wonderfully voiced by Robin Williams and by far my favourite character. I also rather enjoyed the Genie’s story of a ‘man’ wanting to be free. The film takes us on a magical and action-packed adventure in a fight between good and evil – told in a kid’s cartoon style. Good ending.
‘Aladdin’ was a massive success, earning $504 million on a budget of $28 million. (And the producers are laughing all the way to the bank…). The film also received 57 award nominations, winning 35 including Oscars for Best Original Song, and Best Original Score. It also received Oscar nominations for Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects Editing.
Would I watch it again? I doubt it.
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