The Clements/Musker Team

Rating: 7/10 (15 June 2014)

"Aladdin" is brought to us by the same team who made "The Little Mermaid." So, of course, this movie leaves me a little baffled. There are some things I like and some things I don't.
ANIMATION: The best thing about the animation is the color of the look of Arabia. I didn't see this movie until last December; before I saw it, I heard about how great the colors and the lights were. Everything pops, it's bright, and it's great.
SONGS/MUSIC: Sadly, this was the last Disney film to have Howard Ashman's work in it; he passed away before "Beauty and the Beast" was completed. Fortunately, he left us some really good songs in this movie, along with Alan Menken and Tim Rice. Not every song in this film is memorable, but they almost are. Of course everyone knows and loves "A Whole New World," which both does sound nice and contributes greatly to the movie; we really see our main characters fall in love. My favorite song is "Friend Like Me." Not only are the lyrics, music, and animation great, but Robin Williams gets just as animated as the animation.
ROMANCE: I mentioned our main characters' romance a bit earlier, and, again, you believe they're in love. Though, have you noticed this is the same romance we had in "The Little Mermaid?" The protagonist sees their romantic interest and falls in love. They save their life and admires them, but the two of them are kept apart for some reason. Then our protagonist has to take on a new form/identity to get their romantic interest to fall in love with them, the villain eventually tests their relationship, but they wind up being together again in the end...Huh. I don't see the downside in disliking their relationship, though. It still seems genuine. At least Aladdin has more time with Jasmine before he becomes a prince than Ariel did with Eric before she became human.
CHARACTERS: Most of the characters are OK. Aladdin, Jasmine, and the Sultan are OK. Iago and the Magic Carpet are a little annoying, but they're not that bad. In my opinion, the Genie - again, voiced by Robin Williams - is the best character! When I was watching this last December I said to myself, "This film is OK, but why was it a hit during the Disney Renaissance?" Then the Genie came on the screen. He is the most entertaining thing in this movie! Robin Williams puts so much energy and passion in playing this role. I like that the Genie isn't just a funny, pop-culture referencing character; he actually has development to him. That makes him both likable and relatable. I don't like Abu, I think he's too annoying and too selfish. The character I can't figure out is the villain, Jafar. People have said he's one of the greatest Disney villains...Really? I'm glad you see that, but I don't. To me, he's not consistent. Based on what I saw of Jafar in the beginning of the movie, I didn't expect him to be the type who would dress as a crazy old man or have witty remarks with a parrot. That's not to say that Jafar can't be funny, but did you really think the guy we saw in the beginning of the movie would speak as he did throughout the movie? Not only that, but his power is weak! Did you notice the Sultan did not fall under Jafar's spell when he tried to hypnotize him before the "Prince Ali" number? Why? What made him come out the spell so easily? He did it TWICE! Jafar's victims can decide when they'll be hypnotize? And why is his evilness so obvious, yet so hidden from everyone else? Out of all the times he's hypnotized the Sultan, NO ONE NOTICED?! Aladdin realized something was wrong the first time he saw it happen - no one else in the palace ever saw it?!
STORY: The story is OK, I guess. One thing bothered me, though: in the beginning, Jasmine tells the Sultan she doesn't want to be forced to be married, she wants to marry for love (Blah, blah, blah, we've heard it before). At the end of the movie when Aladdin and Jasmine come together, the Sultan decides to let them marry. "Am I Sultan, or am I Sultan," he asks. "From this day forth, the Princess will marry whomever she deems worthy." WHY IN THE CRUD DIDN'T HE DO THAT BEFORE!??! He could have stopped this whole thing from happening...MUCH LIKE ARIEL IN "The Little Mermaid!!!" Gosh! What's up with the Clements/Musker team?
CONCLUSION: I couldn't go into too much detail, but you get the gist of it. There are some things I really like, some things I'm indifferent to, and some things I don't like. Overall, I still like this movie, though. I surprisingly find myself attracted to how entertaining this movie is, even the weird Jafar moments. I like it, and hopefully you will too. BOOYIKA!