Aladdin (1992)

A Disney retelling of a classic tale, this film is a delight for audiences young and old, and still holds a special place in my heart, and always takes me back in my mind to events in my life at the time of its release.

The Sultan of Agrabah (Douglas Seale) is desperate for his only child - the Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin) to find a suitor, so that she can marry and rule Agrabah in his absence. When we first meet the Sultan, he is largely under the control of his grand vizier Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) and his sidekick, the parrot Iago (Gilbert Gottfried).

Meanwhile, street urchin Aladdin (Scott Weinger) is barely surviving life on the streets. Forced to steal from street vendors just to stay alive, he lives life on the run from the city guards, and one day, finds himself thrown into the dungeons under the palace.

It is while he is in the dungeon that he meets Jafar (who is in disguise to begin with), who tells him of a Cave of Wonders, filled with more treasure than he can possibly imagine. Jafar needs Aladdin’s help to enter the cave, and retrieve a particular item, a golden lamp.

Aladdin agrees, and goes into the cave, but while trying to retrieve the lamp, finds himself trapped underground in the cave, with little hope of escape.

Trapped underground with the lamp, he rubs the lamp, and a genie (Robin Williams) appears, offering him three wishes.

I will leave the rest of the plot for you to discover if you haven’t yet seen this film.

The two directors of this film (Ron Clements and John Musker) have created a wonderful film, which I would consider a timeless classic in the tradition of earlier Disney films (early as in while Walt Disney was still alive). Together with screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, with whom the two directors worked on the script, they have brought this classic tale to a whole new audience.

With music by Alan Menken (who has composed music for so many other Disney films), and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice (Tim Rice came in later after Howard Ashman sadly passed away during the making of this film) to round out the creative team, everything comes together to make this film the best it can be.

And it is truly great. Of course, one of the things that make this film so great is of course the performance of the late great Robin Williams as the Genie. I am sure that significant portions of the Genie’s lines didn’t come from the script, but were ad-libbed by Williams in the recording studio, as was the case with so many of his great characters throughout his career.

Gilbert Gottfried is also fantastic as the parrot Iago, with so many great quotable lines, and hilarious moments. In fact, all the voice casting is fantastic, with all performers bringing their own characters to life in such a beautiful way, bringing the viewer head-first into this amazing environment.

It is hard to believe that this film was still largely hand-drawn animation; the scenery, environments, and all the characters are so incredible. This film will continue to delight audiences for many years to come, I believe, and with a live-action version of Aladdin due to be released later this year, I think the legend will continue to delight a new generation of fans.

8 out of 10.