Wish granted!

Rating: 10/10 (20 June 2008)

My Take: The sort of cinematic magic Disney has come to offer.
After spawning success with their LITTLE MERMAID, the studio's latest work in many years, Disney proceeded with ALADDIN, which comprises another witty and enjoyable charm drawn from colorful animation, enjoyable characters, swift bits of action and solid bits of comedy. Some of the humor falls flat (lets face it, when the humor doesn't come from Robin Williams' Genie or Gilbert Gottfried as the noisy wisecracking parrot, the humor falls a little flat), but everything else fits so perfectly, and it all clearly shows what kind of success Disney spawns.
The first half, where Aladdin (voiced by Scoot Weinger) and his life as a "worthless street-rat", falters a bit at times, but it practically catches up in the second half, mostly from the introduction of Williams' manic Genie, who not only fits Williams, but also fits his personalities and manic humor, mostly including nods to Williams' comic impersonations of stars, from Robert DeNiro to Jack Nicholson. If just for Williams, ALADDIN is a true delight for the adult audience. But Williams isn't just the only delight in ALADDIN. Characters of various colors and musical numbers of sheer delight all come together to create a true family movie delight.
Directors John Musker and Ron Clements (the magicians behind MERMAID) has brought together this enjoyable affair, complete with appealing characters that would act as a trademark for future Disney enterprises. From a straightforward lead of Aladdin and Princess Jasmine (voiced by Linda Larkin) to the nifty effective villainy of Jaffar (voiced superbly by Jonathan Freeman) and his meddling parrot companion (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried), the film gives us characters we can root for, and characters to be delighted from, good or bad guy. The animation is a true delight, ranging from an active foreground to an elaborate background, ALADDIN delights with sheer colorful brilliance. This is Disney at top form, and what instant classics are made of! Sit back, and enjoy this magic carpet-ride into a wonderful enterprise best be described in three simple words: Shining, shimmering splendid.
Rating: ***** out of 5.