From: Rich_Koster@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US (Rich Koster)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Aladdin
Distribution: world
Date: 15 Nov 92 11:08:17 CST
Organization: The Amiga GateWay BBS * New Orleans, La.

Last night we saw a sneak preview showing of Aladdin in one of the
New Orleans movie theaters that will be showing it after its official
release.  Hopefully once it opens this theater will choose to show it
on one of its giant screens (like it did with The Little Mermaid)
rather than a smaller one like it did for the preview.  We also hope
that for its actual run at the theater there won't be any of the
technical glitches we saw at the preview: a noticeable flicker in
the projection, an obvious wowing and fluttering in the sound track,
and a framing problem (at the start of the reel where the Genie first
makes his appearance, the projector's framing was out of adjustment
for about a minute, cutting off the heads of the characters and
leaving a big black band along the bottom of the screen).
 
Because of this framing problem during one of the highlights of the
movie (when the Genie first appears), we aren't sure about something
and would like to hear the comments of anyone else who saw one of the
official sneak previews across the country on Saturday -- as opposed
to those who've seen the movie before the 14th somehow either in its
entirety or in short clips:
 
When we saw clips of the movie at the Disneyana Convention in
September, the Genie appearing scene included a quick impression of
him as (among other people) Adolph Hitler.  We did not see this in the
finished film -- although we might have missed it because of the
above-mentioned framing problem.  Did anyone else see Genie as Hitler
for a few seconds in the showing of Aladdin on the 14th?  Perhaps all
the showings Disney has done of short clips of the movie was not to
just build anticipation but also as a testing ground to judge reaction
to parts of the movie before its official release, and the Hitler
impression might have been cut from the movie based on audience
reaction to it during these early showings...  I remember the reaction
I had after seeing it at the Disneyana Convention, and while my
reaction quickly passed because one is constantly seeing and hearing
new things due to Robin Williams' wild style, I was quietly stunned at
the outrageousness of the Hitler bit and laughed at the shock value of
it being there (especially for a Disney movie).  I couldn't tell you
what humor there was in the Genie's impression, however, because I
can't remember what he did or said as Hitler.
 
We found it fascinating to watch the technical aspects of the movie,
appreciating the computer's additions to the film.  There are many
beautiful animated water sequences in fountains, with realistic waves,
reflections, and fluidity not found at this level in any other Disney
animation.  There is a lot of multi-planing, separating the characters
from a flat background.  The camera moves quite a bit, adding to the
pace of the picture.
 
The songs, while not up to Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid,
were quite enjoyable.  We found ourselves wondering how much better
this wonderful film could have been if Howard Ashman had not died
during its production and if he had been in top physical condition
while working on it rather than wasting away a little more each day.
 
We felt they did a much better blending of traditional animation
technique with their new use of computer animation than the ballroom
scene of Beauty and the Beast.  The whole movie is funny and quite
romantic-looking at the same time.  We recognized clips from the
early showing we were given at the Disneyana Convention, and also
were able to pick out the parts which used backgrounds we had seen on
display in the lobby area of the Animation Tour at the Disney-MGM
Studios.  All in all, it is a wonderful movie and we are looking
forward to seeing it again once it is officially released.

-- Via DLG Pro v0.995

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