An Outrageously Funny and Highly Entertaining Disney Film

Rating: Null/10 (12 August 2010)

Disney was on a roll when "Aladdin" was on its way out, with a string of successes behind them ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit", "Oliver & Company", "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast"), creativity was coming back to the Disney studios and entertaining films were once again coming out. These films mostly soared above the efforts from the 70s and 80s ("The Aristocats", "Robin Hood" and "The Black Cauldron" in particular) and they showed that animation could be very successful. Happy times for animation fans and Disney fans.
"Aladdin" keeps that tradition going. Adapting the Arabian Nights tales, "Aladdin" depicts the title characters' attempts to win the heart of Princess Jasmine, who must only marry a prince. Aladdin gets the help of an outrageous Genie in a lamp that evil Sorcerer Jafar is in pursuit of.
In terms of animation, "Aladdin" has some stunning use computer animation. Otherwise, the film is rushed. Of course, back in the early 90s, these films were rushed to meet the release date, as Eisner & Katzenberg wanted to crank out one animated feature a year. Because of this (along with "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast"), "Aladdin"'s animation is rather sloppy on some scenes. It is miles above most other animated features, but it can't come close to the best of Disney animation. (see Walt Disney's first five films, "The Lion King" and "Tarzan") The songs are great. The Genie steals the show with "Friend Like Me". "A Whole New World" is a classic Disney love song. "Arabian Nights" is good, and "Prince Ali" is a celebration song (much like "Be Our Guest" from "Beast" or "Festival of Fools" from "Hunchback"). The film is very funny, although a lot of the jokes are dated. This may explain why DVD sales weren't so hot in 2004. Who knows? One other complaint I have is the similarities to Richard Williams' long-in-production, but never finished "The Thief and the Cobbler". Both plots are similar: Evil Grand Vizier who is also a Sorcerer (Zig-Zag to Jafar) wants to take over and marry the Princess. Also, Jafar looks like Zig Zag, and so does the Genie. Williams' film was in production at the same time and was stopped because of this film. However, Disney was not the thief, because the idea was started back in the late 80s because lyricist Howard Ashman suggested Disney to adapt the story. It might have been the animators Williams' fired that went on to work for Disney.
But whatever the flaws may be, "Aladdin" has a good story, great characters and it's also very entertaining. A 9.5 out of 10.