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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Having a Genie in a bottle
sure spices up the life of a street rat named
Aladdin. When Aladdin is duped into retrieving the
legendary magic lamp (it can only be taken by a
"diamond in the rough," i.e. someone who has the
potential to be noble and good) for Jafar, the
right-hand man of the king, Aladdin believes he
will spend eternity trapped in the cave of
wonders. Luckily, a wisecracking Genie who sounds
suspiciously like Robin Williams awakens to save
Aladdin from certain death. In the process, the
two become fast friends. Aladdin decides to woo
the daughter of the king but runs afoul of Jafar
and his cheeky parrot Iago (Gilbert Godfried).
Unknown to Aladdin, Jafar has plans for retrieving
the lamp and ruling the world.
"Aladdin" continued Disney's hot streak of family
friendly yet witty animated classics that broke
box office records in the 1990s. Unfortunately,
the magic was to last for only one more motion
picture ("The Lion King") but the trio of films
produced during this time (and some that followed)
broke new ground. No small part of the success of
"Aladdin" can be attributed to the songwriting
team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Menken and
Ashman (who also wrote the winning songs for
"Beauty and The Beast" and "Little Shop of
Horrors").
"Aladdin" looks great on DVD with sharp, clear
images and bright, vivid colors. I didn't detect
any analog or digital blemishes worth noting. The
disc looks even better than the laserdisc version
issued nearly a decade ago. The "Disney Enhanced"
5.1 soundtrack actually improves the dialogue and
songs giving them better clarity and added
presence.
The extras are a mixed bag but most of them are
well worth having. There are deleted scenes
presented in rough pencil animation, deleted songs
highlighted by the terrific "Proud of Your Boy"
(although I could have done without Clay Aiken's
music video which its here as well). We also get
"A Whole New World" performed by the dippy duo of
Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. The two-hour "A
Diamond in the Rough" is a fascinating glimpse
behind-the-scenes of this marvelous movie. We also
get to see scenes from the deleted storyline for
the film. Pop-up trivia facts can also be
programmed to play on the DVD player.
Of the games included "Aladdin's Magic Carpet
Ride" is the best of the bunch. It's actually not
a game per se but a magic carpet ride that's best
experienced on as big a TV set as possible and
with the lights out. It's as close to a thrill
ride as ever presented on home video. "Inside the
Genie's Lamb" is a mildly interesting and
entertaining glimpse into the Genie's habitat. "3
Wishes Game" might keep little ones entertained
once or twice. You can also select your favorite
"Aladdin" songs with onscreen lyrics to help you
sing along (God save your neighbors if you're a
bad singer).
The two audio commentary tracks feature the
directors and producer of the film while the
second has some very funny commentary from the
various character animators involved in the film.
Both provide a great deal of background on the
film, its various working incarnations and details
that dropped from the script along the way.
All in all a terrific package well worth picking
up. "Aladdin" is a funny, charming and
entertaining movie with the Disney team at their
peak. I had some reservations about the DVD
release since I was afraid they might screw it up
but they didn't. The only thing missing is a
discussion about the original song lyrics that
were changed for home video release due to
concerns about their anti-Arab sentiments. Also,
we don't get any new footage of Robin Williams but
we do see some vintage stuff from his very funny
recording sessions. |
