Film Review: Aladdin

Mr Click’s favourite Disney film is Aladdin and I’ve bought it for him on DVD twice. The first time it wasn’t available in the UK so I had to buy him a copy from the Netherlands, then they released the film in the UK as a box set with the two sequels so I bought it for him a second time. At some point they’ll probably bring it out on blu-ray and I’ll end up having to buy it for him a third time!

When the blu-ray player packed up and we had to buy a new TV to get a modern player working we moved the old TV into the bedroom and pinched my in-laws’ DVD player to hook up in there (we gave them a blu-ray player so it was a fair swap). The first Saturday morning we watched Aladdin in bed and I couldn’t help but feel a little bit glad that we had a TV in there, it’s quite nice to snuggle up in bed with a good film before you get moving for the day.

If you’re not familiar with the film, Aladdin is a ‘street-rat’ living on the streets of Agrabah and stealing to survive. He dreams of bigger things; meanwhile the Princess, Jasmine, dreams of there being more to life than just living in the castle and being married off to some suitor chosen by her father. In true Disney style she wants true love, and so one day runs away from the castle and meets Aladdin. They have a bit of fun in the marketplace before the Palace Guards come and pick Jasmine up and arrest Aladdin.

In the dungeon Jafar finds Aladdin and shows him the way out of the dungeon, leading him into the desert where there is an underground lair full of jewels. Jafer wants Aladdin to bring him a magic lamp, but Aladdin’s monkey grabs a jewel and the lair closes in trapping them underground. This is where Aladdin discovers that rubbing the lamp produces the Genie who gives Aladdin three wishes, the first of which Aladdin kind of gets as a freebie. Genie then turns Aladdin into a Prince allowing him to go after Princess Jasmine, and they’d all live happily ever if it wasn’t for Jafar figuring out Aladdin and throwing a major spanner in the works.

I think that one of the things that helps to really make Aladdin is Robin Williams as the Genie. From what I’ve read he did a lot of improvising during his recordings and it really adds to the comedy factor. I like the little bits and pieces that link to other Disney films; at one point Genie wears a Goofy hat, Sebastian from The Little Mermaid makes an appearance. There are also little nods to other actors and films, like Jack Nicholson as well. I love looking out for things like that, it makes rewatching these films more fun because you know where they’re coming.

Aladdin was also one of the first ones where digital animation was starting to play a more obvious role, which is really visible in a couple of scenes, but it’s not really that distracting when you are expecting it. It’s much the same as the ceiling in the ballroom scene of Beauty and the Beasty.

It’s also nice to have a Disney film which is set outside the fantasy Europe where most Disney Princess films took place up until this point. Being Mr Click’s favourite Disney film we watch it almost as often as my favourite, Beauty and the Beast. I tend to think of them as a bit of a trio along with The Lion King because they were the first Disney films that I was really properly aware of. Plus the music in those three films has to rank way up there with some of the best Disney songs ever written. Mr Click’s favourite is ‘Friend Like Me’ which I do like but I’m more partial to ‘A Whole New World’

So just for Mr Click, here's his favourite song from the film: