ALADDIN. Directed and produced by John Nusker and Ron Clements; written by Ron Clements, John Nusker, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Animated, with voices of Scott Weinger, Robln Williams, Linda Larkin and Jonathan Freeman. Rated G.
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You know your kids (at least the younger ones) will enjoy any Disney animated feature. The question is, will it be enjoyable for you parents, too? And, even harder, can you make it a whole family experience and expect the teenagers to like it, too?
The answer, in the case of Aladdin, even more so than for Beauty and the Beast, is a resounding YES!!
And the main reason for this universal appeal is the truly inspired choice of Robin Williams for the genie's voice. He is at his manic, mile-a-minute best in such a role and it is wonderful fun to see the animation try to keep pace with him. As he does split-second impressions of everyone from William F. Buckley to Arsenio Hall, we get visual parodies of them, too.
My only complaint (and it's not really a complaint) is that I'm sure we'll have to see the movie at least another time or two before we'll be able to catch all the jokes, visual and otherwise. The pace is just too breathless.
Aladdin himself (spoken by Weinger) and his romantic interest Jasmine (Larkin) are, not unexpectedly, upstaged by the genie. But they're not totally without interest. Jasmine's character, in particular, is a refreshing heroine. She shows that feminine charm and spunk aren't necessarily mutually exclusive characteristics.
The villains of the piece, the evil wizard Jafar (Freeman) and his comically obnoxious parrot Iago (Gilbert Gottfried) are suitably creepy. Freeman's voice, in particular, is deliciously sinister.
The special effects, which build on some of the revolutionary techniques seen in Beauty and the Beast, are even more remarkable than in the earlier movie. And the quality of the animation is, if anything, superior, too.
Not so the music, although some of it is quite catchy. None of the songs are anything like bombs, to be sure, but there's not another "Beauty and the Beast" or "Under the Sea" (from The Little Mermaid) this time.
I doubt that many viewers will mind, however. They will probably be laughing much too hard to care.
December 2, 1992